In July 1990, the Red House was the site of the Jamaat al Muslimeen coup attempt, during which the Prime Minister and other members of the government were held hostage for six days and 24 people were killed.

On 15 February 1844, then Governor of Trinidad, Sir Henry McLeod, laid the foundation stone for a new government administration building on the western edge of the Woodford Square, then known as Brunswick Square.A few years later, switch to 1851 when Lord [Harris], the Governor, came back to power, he made what we know as the 'Red House' now, Trinidad's first public library.

Then Superintendent of Public Works, Richard Bridgens designed the building and it was constructed by contractors, Messrs G. de la Sauvagere and A.

[1]: 174–181 The building was to consist of a north and south blocks and connected by a double archway, much as the Red House of today.

The Council stipulated that Prince Street should never be closed to the public and, pedestrian and wheeled traffic should pass freely.

The only attempt to relieve the monotony of the whole is to be seen in the arching of the carriageway through the courtyard which is a perfect skeleton and, like the ruins of Pompeii, is more suggestive of what the buildings must have been than of what they were intended to be."

On the day of the fire, while a new ordinance regarding the distribution of and payment for water in the town was being debated in the Legislative Council, a protest meeting was held in Brunswick Square by the Ratepayer's Association, as there was much public dissatisfaction over certain clauses contained in the ordinance which increased the water rates.

This sum included the gesso work (a mixture of plaster of Paris and glue) in the Legislative Council Chamber and the Justice Hall, which was estimated at £7,200.

The fountain in the centre of the rotunda was designed by D. M. Hahn as a means of cooling and ventilation for the offices, in the days before air-conditioning.