England has many “head houses” like this one—town halls at the front of a series of market stalls—and one can still be seen in Philadelphia at New Market (c. 1805). The New Castle market stalls were entered through the big arch and once extended down the grassy median on Second Street; although demolished c. 1880, traces of their roofline are faintly visible today against the rear of Town Hall. The three-story brick hall—in basic form, about a forty-foot cube—housed the town council on the second floor. The cupola, with ball-and-sail weathervane, is one of Delaware's best (see the frontispiece on p. iv). The edifice now houses the zoning office, a newspaper, and the office of the Trustees of the Common. A renovation (Buck Simpers Architect + Associates) brought the building up to code so that town meetings could again take place inside. Behind stands a statue of William Penn (1984, Charles C. Parks).