[5] Beyond the station, the line continued to service the Walkers Limited (now Downer Rail) railway workshops and Mary River wharf.

[1] Settlement at Maryborough commenced in September 1847 when George Furber established a wool-store on the south bank of the Mary River at the head of navigation.

He was followed in June 1848 by Edgar Thomas Aldridge, and brothers Henry and Richard E. Palmer, who established their own wharves on the opposite riverbank, at a location now known as the original Maryborough town site at Baddow.

The long-term viability of the Gympie goldfield ensured the continued growth of Maryborough and the need for sawmills, foundries and construction firms.

However, the Urangan Jetty in Hervey Bay, which opened in 1917, replaced Maryborough as the port for the coal mining and sugar industries.

In August 1877 the Queensland Government approved three railways to connect mining towns to their principal ports: Townsville to Charters Towers; Bundaberg to Mount Perry; and Maryborough to Gympie.

The railway to Gympie opened in August 1881, and in 1883 a branch line north to the coalfields at Burrum was started at Croydon Junction (Baddow), several kilometres northwest of Maryborough.

A short branch line was built through the Queen's Park Botanic Gardens to the wharf area in 1880, and in 1883 this was extended eastwards alongside the river north of Kent Street to the Walkers Limited foundry and shipyards.

A branch line connecting to Maryborough was also opened from Theebine, south of Tiaro, to Kilkivan in 1886, and was later extended to Murgon, Proston, Windera, Kingaroy, Tarong and Nanango (the latter by 1911).

[1] After the line to Gympie was approved in 1877, drawings for buildings at the Maryborough station were prepared by the Engineering Branch of the Department of Railways.

In 1878 construction at the site included a station master's residence, engineer's office (non-extant), store and blacksmith's workshop.

The office was turned into the traffic manager's quarters with two extra rooms at the rear, a verandah around the whole building, and a covered way to new detached kitchen wing.

[1] In April 2010 the 1878 engineer's office was substantially damaged by fire and, after a no prudent and feasible argument was made, approval was given for its remains to be demolished.

[1] The Maryborough railway station complex of timber buildings runs for some distance along Lennox Street, contributing greatly to the streetscape.

The station buildings, working along Lennox Street from north-east to south-west, include:[1] This is a single-storeyed timber residence with verandahs to the southern, eastern and northern sides.

The house is clad in painted weatherboards and features French doors with fanlights, which provide access from the rooms in the main residence to the verandahs, and a mixture of 6:6, 4:4 and 1:1 vertical sliding sash windows to the kitchen and later rear extensions.

[1] The building is asymmetrically arranged with a number of corrugated zincalume-clad gables of varying heights and skillion-roofed verandah awnings.

The verandahs to the south and east are enclosed with lattice panels and the awnings are supported on chamfered timber posts with decorative capitals and brackets.

[1] The loco office is a low-set gabled timber building with a corrugated iron roof, set on concrete stumps and clad with chamferboards.

Pay windows and barriers remain on the western side verandahs, and a concrete strong room extends out from the northern wall.

The rear roof extends over the original station platform and is supported at its outer edge by unusual tapered stop-chamfered timber posts with octagonal capitals and strut brackets.

A separate timber-framed ladies waiting room and toilets with a gabled roof adjoins the north-east end of the station building.

A modern steel canopy has been added to the northwest end of the goods shed, but this is not historically significant and has not been included within the heritage boundary.

The first seven bays of the platform roof are three-bays wide, with exposed king-post trusses each with lower arched brackets, and side skillion extensions.

These are supported on tapering chamfered timber posts with octagonal capitals and decorative strut brackets of similar design to that of the station.

The roof to this section is of corrugated iron with curved ridge sheets and terminates at the north-west end with a weatherboard-sheeted gable, signage and surmounted clock housing.

Although the Port of Maryborough declined after 1917, the railway station is a reminder of the past importance of the city to Queensland's export trade.

Designed to afford protection for civilian and military travellers at Maryborough railway station in the event of a Japanese air raid, the shelter is important in demonstrating the impact of World War II on Queensland.

The Maryborough railway station is rare as a substantially intact coastal terminal and system headquarters complex of timber buildings, established in the 1870s and 1880s.

tree in front of the traffic manager and engineer's office, have considerable aesthetic value and contribute significantly to the streetscape along Lennox Street.