Rupert City Hall 

The move to formalize Rupert’s government occurred in July of 1905, when a group met in the office of M.M. MacKay on the north side of the town square. Their petition for village status was granted by Lincoln County on April 17, 1906. The new village trustees, with M. M. MacKay as mayor, met thereafter in the Commercial Club room on the second floor of the “Flat Iron Building,” located on the triangle between Fremont Avenue, and 6th Street. When the Wilson Theatre was completed in 1920, the city clerk, water and electric departments moved into the west storefront of the new Wilson Theatre building. These three lots were transferred from the public domain to the Wheeter Lumber Co., on August 31, 1907. In 1921, Gem State Lumber Company was here. In 1937, the City of Rupert purchased the lots from the Rupert Sales Corporation for $500 and back taxes. Then with a $29,455 matching grant and labor from the Works Progress Administration, most of the present Rupert City Hall/Civic Building was constructed. City offices were on the ground floor, the City jail was on the south side and the public library was on the second floor. The attached Gymnasium/Civic Center was rented out to local schools. The architecture of the later wing additions, including additional offices and modern restrooms, complement the original building. This municipal structure of the period incorporates Art Deco elements in the facade and the original concrete-arch buttresses supporting the civic center roof.