Located at 770 Elizabeth Street, it was built in 1880–82 in the Victorian Italianate architectural style with Second Empire elements by John Smedley, Edward Hughes and Ambrose Thornley.

[2] In 1880 the council leased a block of land in Elizabeth Street for the town hall, and was obtained from the Cooper family at a rental of £10 per annum.

[8] On 21 April 1941, William McKell, Leader of the NSW Opposition and the local MP for Redfern, gave a policy speech launching his campaign for the 1941 state election at the town hall.

[11][12] In 1996 the Town Hall was substantially refurbished by Architects Stephenson and Turner, through the NSW Government State Library's Grant Program and South Sydney Council.

"[1] The 2003 Waterloo Heritage Conservation Area plan has recommended the reinstatement of the original verandahs and iron railings and fencing that were lost.