Heath Town originated as the tiny settlement of "Wednesfield Heath" midway between Wednesfield and Wolverhampton. With the onset of industrialisation in the 18th century it steadily grew and changed. The canal arrived in 1797, the railway in 1837; in 1850 Heath Town became a parish, and in 1893 an Urban District. At the time of the First World War it was a small but compact settlement of terraced houses around the shops, public houses and new church clustered along the Wednesfield Road, slightly to the west of the 1852 parish church (Brew 1999, 7, 11).

Wolverhampton revived the idea in 1919, and its implementation was only halted by a sudden shift in central government policy. The Borough tried again in 1926, and, despite opposition from Heath Town, it was successful: the district became part of Wolverhampton from 1 April 1927 (Wolverhampton Borough Council 1926, 149ff, 1034ff).

The fulfillment of the promise was to be a long and somewhat tortuous process, reflecting the enlarged Council's native caution in spending ratepayers' money, and the national economic crisis which followed the Crash of October 1929. The details can be pursued in the records of the Council and its two relevant Committees. Decisive moments were 8 July 1929, when approval was given for branch Libraries at Bushbury (another recently absorbed district) and Heath Town (Wolverhampton Borough Council 1929, 626); 16 June 1930, when a combined baths and library building for Heath Town was agreed (Wolverhampton Borough Council 1930, 636, 659); and 25 October 1931, when the government finally approved loan arrangements to finance the project (CMB/WOL/C/PB/25, 72). Over the whole process, three points stand out. First, the notion of combining library and other services in one building was mooted as early as December 1926 (CMB/WOL/D/LIB/128.6), and kept cropping up thereafter in one or other Committee, or in Council; the motive throughout was economy. Secondly, despite the presence of this notion, the Library and Baths Committees mostly worked independently of one another; however at crucial moments, and particularly over the 5 months preceding the vital Council decision of June 1930, they collaborated (Wolverhampton Borough Council 1930, 632). Thirdly, the key to their co-operation was the Council Officer in charge of building design for both, the Borough Surveyor and Engineer, H B Robinson M. Inst. M. & C. Eng. His reward was the formal opening of the new baths on 16 December 1932 and the library on 23 May 1933: notable civic occasions, duly reported in the local press (Express and Star 17^th December 1932 and 24^th May 1933).