[1] The first court proceedings in Gympie were held by the Gold Commissioner in a series of temporary structures shortly after the influx of miners to the area.

[1] In 1876 a substantial masonry court house building was erected in Channon Street on land reserved for police purposes.

This building served the town until the mid-1890s when there was pressure for a new court house, primarily from local Labour politician Andrew Fisher, later the first Queenslander to become Prime Minister of Australia.

The site was selected by Colonial Architect, Alfred Barton Brady, and the government purchased the land from the Queensland National Bank and a private owner.

[1] The new court house was designed by John Smith Murdoch who, at the time was an architect in the Department of Public Works.

[1] In 1901, he was appointed District Architect for the Central and Northern Division of Queensland, and in this capacity designed many government buildings north of Gympie.

However this was not the originally designed brick and iron fence, but a simpler timber version with steps and a path leading from the corner of King and Channon Street.

Later work included an access ramp for the disabled and replacement of the original cedar doors at the front of the building.

A face brick building, in the Federation Free Style, it comprises a single storey structure with a substantial clock tower, located on the southern side of the front entrance.

[1] On the Channon Street elevation a shallow set of stairs leads up to a centrally located portico comprising a substantial entablature supported by four columns and two square-planned piers, all with Doric order capitals and bases.

Various mouldings in cement render are located above and below the clock faces and a coat of arms addresses the intersection of King and Channon Streets.

The central bay projects forward and contains a two-storeyed arched opening, with steps leading to an entrance on the upper floor.

[1] The building is constructed of Campbell's double pressed Redbank face bricks, buff in colour and laid in Flemish bond.

[1] The court room is intact, apart from a new wall which creates a new entrance at the front of the building, and the addition of fluorescent lighting and new speakers.

All timberwork remains unpainted, apart from the fireplace in the front room on the northern side of the entrance, which has been painted white.

Various early objects remain in some rooms, including small shelves with mirrors above and large scale maps of the Gympie region.

It was the second substantial court house to be constructed in Gympie, and as such demonstrates the development of the town and consequently, the evolution of Queensland's history.

[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.