Today’s Bit of Webster History celebrates a notable birthday. Last week, the current Webster Village Hall turned 60 years old. 

The current Village Hall, located at 28 West Main St., was constructed in 1964 on the former site of Klem Chevrolet. In 1921, Walter Klem and his brother Frank took over the Johanson blacksmith shop, and eventually started selling Chevrolets. In 1963 the property was sold to the Village and Klem Chevrolet later moved to 740 Ridge Road.

The Klem building was demolished and construction of the new Village Hall began in 1964. Officials moved into the new building in the middle of January, 1965 and the first official function held there was a meeting of the Village Board. 

On January 27, 1965, the Village hosted a grand community celebration and open house. The event was advertised in the Webster Herald as an opportunity for village residents to “view and inspect the new village hall and its facilities, which include Customer Counter, Billing Machines, Vault, Mayor’s Office, Meeting Room and DPW Office and Garage.” Vice-Mayor Donald King was on hand to show off the facility, assisted by Trustees Milton Case and James Hall and several staff members. Mayor Hawley couldn’t be there because he was ill. 

Prior to 1965, the Village Hall was located next door in the area which is now an entrance to the back parking lot behind Village Hall. The two-story building was constructed in 1912. The first floor housed the Fire Department’s equipment, along with three steel cells used as the village and town jail. Two big front rooms on the second floor were used for village and town offices. A large assembly room in the back was used for elections, trials, and various meetings. The basement served as a warehouse for the public works department.

Thank you to the folks at the Village Hall and the Village’s Historic Preservation Committee for pulling all this information together.   

Want to learn more about Webster history? Visit the Webster Museum, located at 18 Lapham Park in the village. It’s open every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 2 to 4:30 p.m. There’s no admission charge. Or log onto webstermuseum.org. And if you’re especially interested in historic village properties, visit the Historic Preservation Commission website at websterhpc.com.

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(posted 2/8/2025)