Stewart's Creek Gaol is a heritage-listed prison at Centenary Drive, off Dwyer Street, Stuart, City of Townsville, Queensland, Australia.

[1] The original Stewart's Creek Gaol, of which the Gatehouse and Central Observation Tower are now the principal surviving elements, was constructed in 1890–1893, to plans prepared c. 1889 in the office of the Queensland Colonial Architect, George St Paul Connolly.

The town was founded in 1864 at the beginning of a period of rapid expansion in north Queensland, fuelled largely by pastoral activity, gold mining and sugar industry.

With the expansion of suburban Townsville, local residents began to complain that the prison was located too close to the centre of town.

[1] The site chosen for the construction of the new gaol was a former sheep quarantine ground, located approximately eight kilometres from town.

The new gaol buildings were sited conveniently near the Great Northern Railway, which made possible the rapid and easy transit of prisoners and supplies to and from Townsville.

This gave access to a central circulation space and muster ground bounded on the north and south sides by two administration buildings (no longer extant).

Earlier Queensland prison designs, such as Boggo Road (completed 1883), had utilized a more restrictive cruciform arrangement of cell blocks.

[1] The prominent Central Observation Tower was designed in 1897 by John Smith Murdoch, employed in the Queensland Colonial Architect's Office.

When works were completed in 1996 much of the original prison was demolished, including the cell blocks and the perimeter wall, the latter replaced by a state-of-the-art razor wire fence.

The exterior was reconstructed to its original design with open verandahs and latticework, and non-original fixtures and accretions were removed.

[1] The Townsville Correctional Centre is a walled facility situated on a much larger prison reserve of 677 hectares on Centenary Drive, off Dwyer Street, Stuart.

[1] The former Gatehouse is a two-storeyed, symmetrically designed, red brick structure in the classical tradition comprising a central gate with wings (now used for offices) on either side.

[1] The remnants of the Stewart's Creek Gaol were listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 31 July 2008 having satisfied the following criteria.

The early surviving structures associated with the former Stewart's Creek Gaol (including Gatehouse and Central Observation Tower), erected during the 1890s, are important in demonstrating the evolution of nineteenth century prison design and operation in Queensland.

They also demonstrate the pattern of settlement in Queensland, in particular, the important role Townsville played as a regional administration centre at the time.

They provide rare surviving physical evidence of late nineteenth century approaches to prison design and administration in Queensland.

The place remains important in illustrating some of the principal characteristics of late nineteenth century prison design, including construction of a forbidding entrance (gatehouse) and central observation tower.

[1] The Central Observation Tower is a fine example of the design skills of architect John Smith Murdoch, who later had a distinguished career in the Commonwealth Department of Works.