According to an 1858 newspaper article, the then new Sherborn Town Hall was "a neat structure of sufficient size for thez wants of the Town and containing two graceful stairways leading to the large meeting hall."  

Designed by Elbridge C. Boyden, the architect of the Worcester's Mechanics Hall, the Town had specified, "an edifice not so spacious and costly as some of our neighbors but one that in some good degree comports with the intelligence and taste of the age in which we live."  

When finished in 1858, the building was found to be well suited for many purposes:  It housed the Town's high school (sixty students were enrolled there in 1859), the Town library, Town meetings, Board of Selectmen and other Town offices along with various charitable and cultural clubs and organizations.

In 1876, after a fire damaged much of the first floor, the building was renovated, removing one of the two original stairways and making a new room in the northwest corner, which became an expanded Town Library.  The brick vault that juts out on the southern side was added in 1893.

Through the turn of the century, the second floor was rented out to local organizations.  The building was heated by stoves until approximately 1932 when the current heating and plumbing systems were installed. 

In 1971, the Town Clerk and the Board of Selectmen's Office was moved from the 1858 Town House into the Dowse Memorial Building, newly vacated by the Town Library.  In late 1981, in the midst of controversy over the location of municipal offices, the Town Building Inspector prepared a report to the Board of Selectmen, suggesting that the 1858 Town House was in poor condition and that its use by the Town should be discontinued.  The Police Department continued to occupy the building until July of 1984.  The building remained unoccupied until the summer of 1985.

At a Special Town Meeting held on January 17, 1983, a report by the Municipal Study Committee recommended leasing the 1858 Town House to a non-profit organization for renovation and use.  This was accepted.  In 1985, The Sherborn Community Center Foundation Inc. was formed.

In 1993, the restoration of the building won the Massachusetts Historical Commission Preservation Award.  It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States.