In 1877, well-known bushman Christy Palmerston discovered a new route which gave easier access from the goldfields to the coast.

The government expressed confidence in Port Douglas by allocating £2000 for a road to the Hodgkinson River and also by constructing many public buildings in the town in the early stages of its development.

[1] When Port Douglas was surveyed, land on the southern side of Wharf Street was reserved for Court House and Post Office purposes.

The owner of the building was offered the land and the Court House was subsequently constructed on the opposite side of Wharf Street.

Complaints had been made by Judge Hely in 1879 regarding the lack of a jury room and approval to incorporate one at a cost of £20 was given in September 1879.

Thomas Watson, who had stayed in Port Douglas to construct a number of other government buildings, completed the addition in May 1880.

Thomas was again employed when the new jury room was found to be too small and the central section of the verandah at the rear of the office was extended and enclosed to create a more suitable space.

[1] In the following years, much of the verandah flooring and almost all of the stumps were replaced due to deterioration inflicted by the weather and white ants.

[1][3] The cyclone occurred in March 1911 and left the building partially unroofed and blown off its stumps, some of which pierced the floor.

In fact, the alterations were so substantial that when tenders were called, they were titled New Court House, Port Douglas.

[1] After these major alterations were completed, no further work apart from general maintenance was undertaken until 1958 when an inspection identified that the weatherboards had shrunk to such an extent that light shone through the gaps in the unlined walls.

[1][2] The Port Douglas Court House is a simple timber clad structure, rectangular in plan and surrounded by verandahs on all four sides.

[1] It is now relocated in its original position fronting Wharf Street and sits in a park-like tropical setting adjacent to the water.

The entrance is via a centrally located set of stairs at the front of the building, leading to a pair of timber doors featuring panels of diagonally laid boards.

[1] Port Douglas Court House Museum was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria.

It was the first court house to be constructed in Port Douglas and demonstrates the rapid development of the town after the discovery of gold in 1876 at the nearby Hodgkinson River.