Description:The County Buildings opened in Martin Street on 29 October 1895. Previously councillors had used the facilities in the Borough Hall and the Shire Hall.
A competition was organised to find an architect, in which the Council requested 'good, thoroughly businesslike offices'. The winning design was by Henry Thomas Hare, who was awarded £150. The building itself was constructed by Henry Lovatt of Wolverhampton and took two years to build.
The building was lit by electricity, at a time when many public buildings were lit by gas, and the Council Chamber was equipped with an early air conditioning system, still in use today.