The Old City Hall and Fire Station, at the corner of North High and Stella streets, sits in a residential neighborhood between California's two commercial districts.
The two-story, Italianate design is a stylistic hold over from the Victorian era but sits in contrast to the utilitarian additions from the 1910s and 1930s.
"(It) is locally significant as an early municipal government building," the National Register of Historic Places nomination said. "Architecturally, the structure is important because it illustrates the survival of the Italianate style past its prime, a carry over which was common in outstate Missouri towns during the late 19th and early 20th centuries."
An earlier city hall had sustained severe fire damage prior to 1889 and the city bought this lot in 1890.
A one-story calaboose and detached storage shed used by the fire department were demolished prior to 1917, when a one-story brick addition was built to house the town's fire truck.
The building was used for municipal offices until 1975. It was leased briefly to the Moniteau County Historical Society.