red plaque records that it was built on the site of the Peterloo Massacre in 1819.

The Free Trade Hall was bought by Manchester Corporation in 1920. It was targeted in the Manchester Blitz of December 1940; severely damaged, it sat as an empty shell for some years following the end of World War II. A new hall was constructed behind two walls of the original façade in 1950-1951, to a design by Manchester City Council's architect, L. C. Howitt.