Ponce City Hall
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Casa Alcaldía de Ponce – City Hall
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Casa Alcaldía de Ponce
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 Location of Ponce and the Casa Alcaldía in Puerto Rico
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| Location | Calle Degetau, Ponce, Puerto Rico |
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| Coordinates | 18°00′39″N 66°36′50″W / 18.010730°N 66.613905°WCoordinates: 18°00′39″N 66°36′50″W / 18.010730°N 66.613905°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1846 |
| Architect | Francisco Gil Capó |
| Architectural style | Neoclásico Isabelino |
| MPS | 19th Century Civil Architecture in Ponce TR (AD) |
| NRHP Reference # | 86003197 |
| Added to NRHP | November 19, 1986 |
The Ponce City Hall (Spanish: Casa Alcaldía de Ponce) is located on Calle Degetau, across from Plaza Las Delicias in the Ponce Historic Zone in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The building serves as the seat of the executive branch of government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce, including the office of the Mayor of Ponce. It is the oldest colonial building in the city, dating to 1840. The building was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1986 as Casa Alcaldía de Ponce-City Hall.
The Ponce City Hall has one of the most unusual histories of any city hall throughout the world, because it was a jail until the end of the 19th century. Rooms currently used as offices were jail cells before, and the courtyard of the City Hall was the place where executions took place. The last public hanging on the island happened in its courtyard. It has been visited by four U.S. presidents, and three of them actually gave a speech from the City Hall's front balcony: Theodore Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, and Franklin Roosevelt. George H. W. Bush visited, as well.
Construction of the building started in 1844 and was completed in 1847. Engineering and architectural design for the building was directed by Francisco Gil Capó under the oversight of Mayor Salvador de Vives. The facade is said to be constructed of "simple but elegant lines." Its large front facade clock was acquired in England in 1877 at the time the city was given its city charter by Queen Isabel II of Spain. The interior has two courtyards designed in the typical architecture of the time and a spacious stairway leads to the main hall of the Municipal Legislature and the office of the mayor.
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