14/04/2026
𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞: Municipal Building No 2 ⏳
Market House, built in 1858 as Mossel Bay’s first municipal building, was replaced in 1879 by the building shown on the first image (c 1895) below when Market House became inadequate for the municipal and marketing requirements at the time. The second image shows the building, in Market Street, in its current state. It was constructed by Weymouth & Pickard at a cost of ₤1 115 next to the first building. Its original size was 21,3 metres by 9,1 metres by 3,66 metres wall height. In addition to housing the municipal offices, it also served as a town hall and a market hall from where, inter alia, ostrich feathers, skins, horns, grain products, brandy, to***co and vegetables were traded. The building included an office for the market master and had storage space for up to 600 bales of wool. A market bell can be seen to the left of the building. Ventilators can be seen on top of the roof. The central entrance porch, which can be seen on the current building, was added in 1896. This building, together with the first building which was declared a National Monument in 1977, housed the Mossel Bay municipality until 1975 when the municipality moved to its current premises in Marsh Street. From 1975 to 2001 the building served as a cultural museum and more recently as an arts and craft market. The building, now called Town’s House, forms part of the local tourist information complex on the corner of Market Street and Church Street. In addition to a shop where locally produced arts and crafts, paintings, gifts and souvenirs are sold, it also houses Heritage Mossel Bay’s historic photo exhibition.
Sources and Acknowledgments: Mossel Bay Tourism; Mossel Bay 500 Years by S Stander; PhD thesis by H M Scheffler, “Die Laat-Victoriaanse Mosselbaai 1870-1902” (Stellenbosch University); Annotated Survey of Buildings of Architectural, Historical and Contextual Importance in the Central Area of Mossel Bay, National Monuments Council, 1985.