Charters Towers gold was in deep reefs and the equipment needed to extract and process it was financed by substantial southern and overseas investment.

Charters Towers was amongst a number of regional centres where substantial new courthouses were erected, probably in response to the increase in its importance and population and in keeping with the handsome new buildings then rapidly replacing the modest structures of the early township.

Clark designed some major public buildings in Melbourne, including the Treasury, then moved to Sydney in 1881 and in 1883 became Queensland Colonial Architect.

The local newspaper, The Northern Miner, indulged in some critical remarks about the appearance of the building, describing it as "unpretentious", but admitted that it was commodious and well ventilated.

Apart from the court, rooms were provided for the judge, police magistrate, Clerk of Petty Sessions, jury, witnesses and gold warden, plus a number of other offices.

Local building contractor, Benjamin Toll, was employed to construct a large brick extension with verandahs on three sides alongside the court and connected to it.

They are situated on a large government reserve at the corner of Hodgkinson and Church Streets, Charters Towers, along with the former School of Mines.

[1] The original courthouse is a classical revival building of rendered brick with a corrugated iron roof and is set well back facing Hodgkinson Street.

The building is symmetrical and has its own central entrance consisting of double doors flanked by windows and approached from across the verandah by low steps.

Charters Towers, as an extraordinarily rich goldfield, made a major contribution to the economy of Queensland and to the development of the North.

It is a fine example of a public building of its era and demonstrates the high quality work produced by the Colonial Architect's office in the late nineteenth century.

As a substantial and prominently sited public building, of architectural merit, it makes an important visual contribution to the character of Charters Towers.

The courthouse has had a long connection with the people of Charters Towers and the surrounding district as the focus for the administration of justice in the area.