[1] The town of Barcaldine developed almost "overnight" in 1886 with the extension of the Central Western Railway west from Rockhampton.

The railway was a vital factor in opening up the central western regions of Queensland to European settlement in the mid to late nineteenth century.

The original site of the terminus was to have been the pastoral station of Barcaldine Downs, established by pastoralist Donald Cameron in 1865.

[1] Barcaldine rapidly grew to prosperity, on a permanent scale, unlike most of the other railway townships on the central line.

The Kargoolnah Divisional Board was created in this year and centred on Blackall, an early pastoral township.

Completed in May 1898, the hall was located on the south-eastern corner of Ash and Beech Streets in the Divisional Board Reserve.

This building served the community more than adequately into the twentieth century, witnessing the administrative changeover from Divisional Board to Shire Council in 1903.

It was built of timber with a corrugated iron roof, with the official rooms of the council at the front section, and the hall behind.

Between these and the entrance, the verandah was divided into four bays with a lattice valance forming complimentary arches across the face of the building.

The floors of these rooms were generally covered in linoleum, with green or grey walls and white pressed metal ceilings.

A passageway provided access from this gallery, out to the clock tower and along a viewing deck which sat above the verandahs of the office section.

The hall was used by most citizens of the shire in some capacity, for fundraising activities, as a public venue, to attend meetings, for the associated operations in the efforts of two world wars, for the health and welfare of the people, and many other events.

It shares the town block with other government buildings, including the Court House; while the Post Office sits on the opposite (south-western) corner of Ash and Beech Streets.

The hall and offices structure is well set back from both streets, and is centrally located within the government reserve.

Memorial gates dedicated to those who enlisted and those who died are located in front of the main entrance to the building.

The Barcaldine Shire Hall and Offices is also important in demonstrating the modernising influence of the 1950s, with its extensive additions and alterations of that time.

The place has a strong association with the Barcaldine Community, being the centre for local government and the central social venue of the town, and having been used by most of the citizens of the shire in some capacity.