St. Lawrence Hall is a meeting hall in Toronto, Canada immediately north of the St. Lawrence Market. It was built on King Street East, close to the 'new city hall' - which was on the south side of Palace (now Front) Street - in 1850 after an 1849 fire destroyed much of the market. The Renaissance Revival style building was designed by William Thomas. It was created to be Toronto's public meeting hall home to public gatherings, concerts, and exhibitions. Its main feature was a thousand seat amphitheater. For decades the hall was the centre of Toronto's social life. It was here that prominent politicians such as John A. Macdonald and George Brown (fathers of Canadian Confederation) addressed the people of Toronto.