In the 1830s pastoral settlement in New South Wales pushed northwards as graziers looked for new land and in the early 1840s sheep runs were established on the Darling Downs.

[1] In 1858 the government was petitioned to commission a township survey so that land for settlement could be purchased at the site of the teamsters camp.

By this time Queensland had become a separate colony to New South Wales and the Macintyre River formed part of the border.

It remained in the ownership of Droughton, who also acted as a dairyman, and then that of his widow, until 1901 when it was sold to the editor of the local newspaper, Edward Drake.

At first, the flow of goods into Queensland through the inland routes was not sufficient in either quantity or value to warrant the cost of collecting customs duty in remote areas.

[1] In late 1870, the Queensland Government decided to establish a means of control so that an estimated revenue loss of £15,000 per year could be prevented.

As a first step to implementing this, a border patrol consisting of a police inspector, sub-inspector and 4 constables was appointed with powers to collect duties from 1 January 1871.

It was soon reported that the effect of increased vigilance on the border was to deflect the importation of goods to Brisbane, reducing the amount of such trade through inland centres.

[1] Goondiwindi continued to develop however, and in 1880 a bridge, a joint project of the New South Wales and Queensland governments, replaced the ferry service across the Macintyre River.

There is no formal record of this building being a Customs House and it remained in private hands throughout the period when duties were collected.

This complex of modest buildings with steeply pitched roofs contributes to the townscape of Maclean St.[1] The Customs House Museum is a simple rectangular building with verandahs to the north, west and east, and an annex attached to the west, linked by a covered verandah.

The verandahs are covered with a gently curved corrugated iron awning, with a skillion linking the annex to the main building.

The Customs House Museum illustrates the role of Goondiwindi as one of 14 border posts established before Federation to maintain tariff walls between the colonies.

Customs duty was an important source of revenue and the need to establish such posts reflects the increase in the movement of goods along inland routes as pastoral development occurred in the west of Queensland.

The Customs House Museum is important as an early building in Goondiwindi whose form, scale and materials make a substantial contribution to the built character of the town.