Busy architects Joseph H. Pierce and Hiram H. Bickford were most responsible for shaping the look of Elmira from their office on Lake Street between 1885 and 1925. They designed several hundred buildings around town. Here they brought the ornate Neo-Renaissance style to the streetscape in 1895. The pediments are terra cotta figures representing agriculture, science, and the arts. With decorations on nearly every inch of the building City Hall stands as an early representation of the style that was to dominate American municipal buildings in the years to come. It also represents the height of architectural achievement in Elmira at the peak of its prosperity.
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