During the early 1860s Towns formed a business partnership with John Melton Black in his North Queensland properties and investment speculations, including the establishment of a port on Cleveland Bay.

[1] The second bank building and a manager's residence were constructed in 1869 on the corner of Wickham Street and The Strand on the present Townsville Customs House site.

While these premises were well placed for the sea breezes, the building was again deemed unsuitable because of the distance from the centre of town and the difficulty of access via Wickham Street.

[1] By August 1875 the Bank of New South Wales had purchased a new site closer to the centre of town while still taking advantage of the sea breezes.

Three months later on 24 December 1887, the same newspaper congratulated the architect Mr Smedley of Sydney for his design of the newly completed Bank of New South Wales building.

[1] The new premises included the banking chamber, manager and accountant's offices, strong rooms and ablution facilities.

[1] In 1925 Townsville architect Walter Hunt supervised alterations to the building including the installation of the pressed metal ceiling in the banking chamber.

[1] With the threat of invasion of Australia by Japan during the early years of WWII, Townsville was selected as the supply base for the allied forces in the south west Pacific.

[1] A detachment of Area Signals personnel established a telegraph, switchboard and dispatch rider service in the building prior to February 1942.

[1] During this period, a concrete bunker was constructed at the rear of the property to house a cypher group who worked to decode Japanese messages.

[1] Towards the end of 1942 or early 1943, the switch installation became a security monitor of all telephone calls, both civil and military, emanating from North Queensland.

About twenty AWAs manned the switch which was connected to the Security Monitoring Centre at Stuart, south of Townsville.

This conflict was to raise questions of fundamental importance to a democratic society, such as the extent of civil liberties, the use of violence, and the distortion of truth.

A small ceremony was held in the building and a plaque presented recognising the service of the men and women of the Royal Australian Corps of Signals here during WWII.

[1] The remainder of the ground floor includes several former offices between the chamber and the stair, and a series of small service rooms to the rear.

Projecting from the north-western corner of the building is a single-storey wing, with three small former services rooms opening onto a common verandah.

The first floor interior features moulded timber skirtings and architraves, some panelled doors with toplights, some double hung windows, and decorative metal ceilings and cornices.

[1] At the top of the main stair is a hall, divided by a square arch with panelled architraves, and by a fibro partition with a small hatch.

To the north-eastern end of this level is a verandah enclosed with louvres and fibro sheet, but with the cast iron balustrade still visible from the exterior.

[1] To the western end of the site is the garage, reputedly the former stables, which is constructed of brick with a corrugated iron skillion roof, double-hung windows and boarded doors.

[1] The former Bank of New South Wales building was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria.

The upper level retains its layout as a manager's residence, and includes a white marble fireplace and timber joinery.

The facade of the building along Wickham Street also contributes to the linking of this area with the historical government precinct of lower Melton Hill.

Whilst in this building, these organisations were involved in several industrial disputes, including the Mount Isa Mines Strike of 1964-5, in which the Trades and Labour Council played a key role.