History of the Gin Gin Courthouse

Built in 1935, the Gin Gin Courthouse is a rare example of the region’s history thanks to its intact timber frame and original features and furniture.

Both the prisoners’ dock and Magistrate’s desk were carried over from Gin Gin’s first courthouse which is located at the rear of the property and was constructed in 1882 as a small claims court before being elevated to a Magistrate’s Court in 1922.

The current building was used as a courthouse until 1990 and is now home to the Gin Gin Regional Courthouse Gallery.

Listed among Bundaberg Regional Council’s Local Heritage Places, it is still set in its original location at 80A Mulgrave Street.

The low-set L-shaped building illustrates a combination of exposed timber and weatherboard clad walls and rests on concrete stumps of varying heights to level out the slightly sloping terrain.

The corrugated iron clad roof has a Dutch gable configuration at the front and a hipped roof at the rear section.

A verandah with timber balustrade wraps around the north, east and west sides of the building and is covered under the main roof supported by timber posts.

The main entrance is on Mulgrave Street via a staircase onto the verandah with a gable feature.

Several French doors lead into the building which is divided into a number of rooms, with the former court room at the front still containing some of the original furniture.

The building features several windows of a variety of styles, some covered with hoods comprising of corrugated iron mounted on timber brackets and some boarded-up.

At the rear of the courthouse is the original police lock-up consisting of a small weatherboard clad timber structure on low concrete stumps covered by a corrugated iron clad gable roof.

Now the building, as the Gin Gin Regional Courthouse Gallery, is a space to showcase local and travelling exhibitions and features a gift shop, history room and two exhibition spaces.