Small-town post office and town hall

A city hall, or town hall is the headquarters of a city's (or town's) administration. The usual term in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand is "town hall"; London's City Hall is an exception. Both "town hall" and "city hall" are used in North America, depending on the size of municipality. Post office and town hall in Lockhart, Alabama, Sunday, June 30, 2002. ... Post office and town hall in Lockhart, Alabama, Sunday, June 30, 2002. ... Small-town post office and town hall in Lockhart, Alabama A post office is a facility (in most countries, a government one) where the public can purchase postage stamps for mailing correspondence or merchandise, and also drop off or pick up packages or other special-delivery items. ... Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are concentrated. ... A city is an urban area, differentiated from a town, village, or hamlet by size, population density, importance, or legal status. ... A street in Ynysybwl, Wales, relatively stereotypical of a small town A town is usually an urban area which is not considered to rank as a city. ... The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country in western Europe, and member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the G8, the European Union, and NATO. Usually known simply as the United Kingdom, the UK, or (inaccurately) as Great Britain or Britain, the UK has four constituent... Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is the sixth-largest country in the world, the only country to occupy an entire continent, and the largest in the region of Australasia/Oceania. ... New Zealand is an independent sovereign state in the south-western Pacific Ocean. ... Greater London and the Regions of England. ... World map showing location of North America A satellite composite image of North America North America is the third largest continent in area and in population after Eurasia and Africa. ...

As important government buildings, many city halls are known for their distinctive architecture. Architecture (in Greek αρχή = first and τέχνη = craftsmanship) is the art and science of designing buildings and structures. ...

The expression "city hall" can be used by metonymy for municipal government or for government in general, as in "You can't fight city hall." In rhetoric and cognitive linguistics, metonymy (in Greek meta = after/later and onoma = name) is the use of a single characteristic to identify a more complex entity. ... A government is an organization that has the power to make and enforce laws for a certain territory. ...

The expression "town hall" has more friendly connotations, often suggesting the town meeting form of government. Town meeting is a form of local government commonly practiced in the U.S. region of New England, but uncommon elsewhere in the United States. ...

See also

• List of city halls