Library opened Nov. 25th 1905

Rushden Centre - 30 Nov 1995

Rushden achieved Urban staus in 1881, and built a fine new office block in 1906. Town governance with a committee of councillors led by a chairman remained for many years.
In 1905 with a grant from Andrew Carnegie, a library was built.

In 1930 after the last of the Sartoris Family left, the council bought Rushden Hall and made the grounds into a Park for residents to enjoy. The park has been well used for large events including a Pageant in 1951, the annual town parades, and with a fine bandstand erected in 1936, many music concerts were given by local bands.

From 1973-2000 the town only had a sub-committeee of a committee of the district of East Northants. Rushden Councillor, Clive Wood was chairman in 1985, in 1985 when The Queen came to visit her Duchy property at Higham Ferrers.

The Scouts put on a fireworks display close to November the 5th. More recently for Party in the Park events and music concerts. In 2018 a stage of the Women's OVO Cycle tour began in the Park.

In 1995 some sections of the council worked at Thrapston, the headquarters for East Northants District Council, but some returned to Rushden and the Town Hall and the Library were interconnected by a new atrium. Part of the upstairs became a Heritage Centre where displays, created by "the Friends of the Heritage Centre" were accessible to the public.

In 2000 the government allowed certain towns to become Town Councils and these new town councils were allowed to decide whether they wanted to headed by a chairman or a town mayor, so in 2000 Rushden achieved Town status with a Mayor.

The first Mayor was Clive Wood, a well known signwriter and a local historian. Clive had been one of the founders of Rushden Amenities Society, which fought hard in the 1960s to save Rushden Hall. His collection of photographs and history of the building were finally recorded in book, published in 2016.