When the governors of the colony of Martinique left Saint-Pierre, they first settled at Fort Saint-Louis, where the Marquis de Baas had made his residence in 1672. Subsequently, they occupied a large wooden house that housed the old Government Palace separated from that of the Little Government (present location of the Schœlcher Library) by the Government Street, until the construction of the new Governor’s Hotel from 1923 to 1928, by the architect Germain Olivier (1869-1942) with Paul Fraisse as architect. It became prefecture at the time of the Department of March 1946 and is still occupied by the services of the Prefecture of Region.
The prefecture has been partially listed as a historic monument since 20 March 1990.