[1] Gladstone was established by the New South Wales government in 1853–1854, possibly in an attempt to create a more centralised alternative to Brisbane as the capital of any future northern colony.

When Captain Maurice Charles O'Connell, first Government Resident and Police Magistrate of the Port Curtis District, arrived in March 1854, the township of Gladstone had been laid out near Auckland Inlet, and the first slab buildings had been erected.

[1] Prominently situated on Auckland Hill with the main entrance addressing Yarroon Street, the Gladstone Court House is a two-storeyed brick building with a hipped corrugated iron roof.

Designed in a stripped classical style, the red face brickwork contrasts with rendered string courses at floor and window levels.

A flight of stairs leads to a verandah and portico with two Doric columns supporting an entablature with "COURT HOUSE" in raised lettering.

The courtroom contains all the original court room furniture and has a suspended ceiling with modern light fittings, air conditioning and fans.

It retains most of its original fixtures and finishes including joinery, hardware, plaster ceilings, timber floors and concrete passageways and staircases.

As one of a group of employment-generating public buildings erected in Gladstone during the interwar period, [including the 1929 Commonwealth Bank Building, the 1932 Post Office and the 1934 Town Council Chambers], the court house is significant in illustrating a more positive impact of the interwar economic depression on regional Queensland.

The two-storeyed brick courthouse remains substantially intact, and is a good example of interwar Queensland public works design.

As a group, these buildings contributed significantly to the development of a 20th-century image for Gladstone, and remain important public landmarks.

[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 court house, and the reserve on which it is located, is significant for its strong association with the dispensing of justice in the Port Curtis District since at least the 1870s.