town hall

a hall or building belonging to a town, used for the transaction of the town's business and often also as a place of public assembly.

Origin of town hall

First recorded in 1475–85

Vitter has been holding a series of town-hall meetings and tele-town-hall meetings, signaling the obvious intention.

There’s No Getting Rid of David Vitter, America’s Most Contemptible Senator |Michael Tomasky |January 22, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
I visited Ohio the week before the election for a Cleveland town-hall meeting to generate enthusiasm for the Romney-Ryan ticket.

Obama’s Dirty Little Secret to Winning the 2012 Presidential Election |Michael Medved |November 12, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
She spoke at churches, in town-hall meetings and at schools.

Wisconsin Spa Shooting Brings Back Painful Memories for the Moms of Mass Killers |Winston Ross |October 25, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
When a town-hall questioner named Barry spoke, someone yelled “YEA BARRY!”

Anxious Moments and Dry Humor for Obama Faithful Watching Debate in Park Slope |David Freedlander |October 17, 2012 |DAILY BEAST

And both men mixed it up early and often as if they were surrounded by a ringside crowd rather than a town-hall crowd.

Brett O’Donnell: Obama Won on Points, But Romney’s Got the Edge |Brett O’Donnell |October 17, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
Further on, the scene at the town-hall and the arrest of the authorities became a most horrible drama.

The Fortune of the Rougons |Emile Zola
The porter of the town-hall had been placed there by the Emperor.

Les Misrables |Victor Hugo
Guns were fired, the magistrates assembled, and there was a public breakfast in the town-hall.

James Boswell |William Keith Leask
The speech of Claudius, engraved on plates of bronze, is yet preserved in the town-hall of Lyons, in France.

Curiosities of Literature, Vol. II (of 3) |Isaac Disraeli
The colonists came from their English homes already familiar with the town-hall and its uses so far.

The Bay State Monthly, Volume 1, Issue 5, May, 1884 |Various

town hall

the chief building in which municipal business is transacted, often with a hall for public meetings