[1] The building was constructed for Edmund Harris Thornburgh Plant, mill owner, company director of a number of mines in the Charters Towers-Ravenswood area and a Member of the Queensland Legislative Council from 1905 to 1922.

The Rooney Building, constructed in 1883, has a plain symmetrical facade with some classical features such as arched windows and a decorative parapet which conceals the corrugated iron roof.

The ground floor facade of this cement-rendered brick building has been altered and the original awning replaced with one of a modern cantilever design.

While this building is representative of commercial structures of the period, it is also important as a unifying part of the Flinders Street East area.

While this building is representative of commercial structures of the period, it is also important as a unifying part of the Flinders Street East area.