The former Clyde Town Hall built in 1869, and the former Clyde Public Library built in 1874, stand as reminders of the wealth brought by Otago’s gold rushes of the 1860s and Clyde’s status as a busy gold rush town. The buildings have historical, architectural and social significance. Clyde (or Dunstan as the town was known in its early years) was the administrative centre of the Dunstan goldfield. Photographs from the 1860s show the main street with its tight cluster of hotels, stores and businesses. Among the Sunderland Street buildings were the first town hall and the neighbouring council chambers. After the town was incorporated in 1866, the councillors discussed the need for a new town hall. Following acrimonious debate, councillors selected the site of the old town hall – a section of land that the corporation did not own, but had occupied, taking over the Victoria Hotel and Theatre as the first town hall. Councillors chose the design of Dunedin architectural partnership Mason and Clayton for the new building (probably the same design they had prepared earlier for the Dunstan Freemasons), and advertised for tenders on 1 March 1869. Joseph Over won the contract and politician Vincent Pyke laid the foundation stone in April 1869. The Tuapeka Times described the town hall as ‘a very handsome stone building of classic architecture, presenting a portico with four pillars.’ From its earliest days the town hall was used by other groups, including the Dunstan Lodge No. 103, the Masonic charter in the town. On the adjoining section, on what was the site of the council chambers, the councillors chose to build the Clyde Public Library (later known as the Athenaeum), funded jointly by the town corporation and the Clyde Public Library Committee. Queenstown architect Frederick Burwell designed the library, and it was built by Clyde contractor J U Cambridge. The town hall and the public library are both built in classical style, emphasising the stability, authority and enlightenment of a classical age. The former town hall has an imposing street façade with solid Doric columns and a triangular pediment. The former Clyde Public Library is more decorative, with Corinthian pilasters, a dentil course below the rectangular pediment and supporting scrolls on the façade to Sunderland Street. The buildings are significant landmarks on Sunderland Street, and an important pairing. In 1954, the town hall was sold to Dunstan Lodge No. 103, who also took over the adjoining athenaeum. The town hall was converted to a lodge room and the athenaeum to a supper room. In 2014, the building continues to serve as the home to Dunstan Lodge No. 103.