Designed by John William Wilson, the single-storey building housed the Rockhampton office and store of Dalgety & Co. Ltd between 1891 and c.1940.

Cahill's Stores were constructed between the sites subsequently occupied by the Commercial Hotel and the Mount Morgan Gold Mining Company Building.

[1] Rockhampton was established on the Fitzroy River on land originally part of Gracemere station, a pastoral property operated by the Archer family.

Along with the discovery of gold at Mount Morgan in 1882, the key importance of Rockhampton was its ability to provide goods, services and produce for the population of both the town and its regional hinterland.

Early merchants who survived the economic downturn of the late 1860s included John Headrick, Walter Reid and Albrecht Feez.

The independence of these firms, supported strongly by local manufacture of ironmongery, timber joinery and items such as soap and cordial, was a reflection of the self-sufficiency that Rockhampton's community leaders expressed politically through a concurrent movement towards secession.

Although numbers decreased after the bank crash of 1893 and the drought that followed, established companies from other parts of Australia also were attracted to Rockhampton by the profitability of the region.

The limited liability company, Dalgety & Co. Ltd, was registered in London on 29 April 1884, after which operations extended into Western Australia (1889) and Queensland (1891).

From that time the company was well represented in regional Queensland and played a significant role in the development of the pastoral industry, particularly in the production of wool.

Their competition included GS Curtis, John M Headrick & Co., Goldsbrough Mort & Co and Walter Reid & Co, all of which constructed large stores or warehouses in Rockhampton between 1883 and 1902.

These included WG Murray Ltd, a warehouse and manufacturing company based there in the first decade of the 1900s and Inglis Ltd, tea merchants housed in the northern part of the store in the 1920s.

With side access opening directly into the hotel and its party wall removed, the former stores building was converted into a nightclub.

Quay Street overlooks the Fitzroy River and is recognised as a streetscape of historical significance in the Australian Heritage Commission's Register of the National Estate.

Running along the short, south-western edge of the allotment is Quay Lane, which forms part of a system of such laneways that inhabits the city centre's orthogonal grid and services its primary streets.

[1] The parapeted front facade to Quay Street is composed of classical motifs modelled with cement render in a free but also spare way.

There is a parapet wall to the side facade adjacent to the ABC studios, which can be viewed from a narrow corridor of space separating part of the two buildings.

On Quay Lane, the roof toward the front of the building appears to be hipped, with a broken segment extending to the rear facade.

[1] The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history.

The former Cahill's Stores are of heritage significance as for nearly fifty years the building was associated with Dalgety & Co. Ltd, one of the largest and most successful pastoral firms in Australia.