Walmer was a town in its own right before ultimately becoming part of Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha) in 1966. Originally a farm known as Welbedacht, it was loaned to Johannes Potgieter in 1776 and subsequently granted to Antonie Michael Muller on the 3rd January 1815. This farm, covering an area just under 14 square miles, lay to the south-west of Port Elizabeth. The Muller homestead and farm buildings were sited on the area now bounded by Main and Church Roads and Eighth and Ninth Avenues. This was an obvious choice as there was an abundance of surface and underground water in this area.
The foundation stone of the Walmer Town Hall was unveiled on 3rd June 1908 by the mayor Mr F W Ramsay-Denny. The War Memorial reflects twelve names of those who fell in the Great War of 1914-1918 and 29 names of those who fell in the Second World War (1939-1945). It is interesting to note that the names of those who died in during WW1 are the same names cited in the Memorial Hall attached to St John’s. Many famous people spent their early days in this hamlet.
The original building dates from 1908 with extensions to the front of the building in 1930 by OWEN EATON & TAIT, both works dating from the time when Walmer had a separate municipality. The original foundation stones appears to have been moved at the time of the extension.