The Customs House Museum site at Goondiwindi is bounded by Maclean Street to the east and MacIntyre Street to the south. It contains a single storeyed timber building, known as the Customs House, at the corner of Maclean Street and MacIntyre Streets; a single storeyed timber cottage facing Maclean Street, and several recently constructed sheds within the grounds. This complex of modest buildings with steeply pitched roofs contributes to the townscape of Maclean St.
The Customs House Museum is a simple rectangular building with verandahs to the north, west and east, and an annex attached to the west, linked by a covered verandah. The building appears to have been built in three stages, being progressively extended out to the north and northwest, with the annex included in the final stage. Both the main building and the annex have steeply pitched corrugated iron roofs; the main building has a substantial brick chimney rising above the ridgeline. The verandahs are covered with a gently curved corrugated iron awning, with a skillion linking the annex to the main building. Openings to the south are protected with modest corrugated iron awnings.
The external cladding reflects the different stages of construction: the southern end of the building is clad in single skin timber slab with cover strips, with the studs internally exposed; the north eastern corner is clad in chamferboard, with externally exposed stud and bracing, while the rest of the building, including the annex and gable ends is clad in weatherboard. The gable ends are decorated with scalloped bargeboards.
The verandahs have chamfered posts with simple rectangular capitals and carved scalloped bases. The balustrades are constructed of square section balusters and handrail. The building has timber sash windows, and French doors opening out to the east.
Internally, the building has a full-width room to the southern end and four rooms either side of a central corridor to the northern end. The annex adjoins to the south of the western verandah, and contains two rooms and a toilet. The internal walls vary, corresponding to the varieties of external cladding, with some exposed framework, some horizontal boarding and some vertical; all the ceilings are timber-boarded. The fireplace in the southern room has timber surrounds.
The Cottage is a modest timber building with a steeply pitched corrugated iron roof, a verandah to the front (east), an annex with a corrugated iron stove recess and timber porch to the rear (west). This building also appears to have been built in different stages, with the main part of the building being clad in weatherboard, while the annex is clad in chamferboard with externally exposed framing.
The complex also contains a range of more recently constructed sheds and display structures containing antique machinery.
","history":"The Goondiwindi Customs House Museum is located on the town side of the main bridge crossing the Macintyre River at Goondiwindi. The town developed on the site of a teamsters' camp established where the boundaries of 3 pastoral properties met.
Alan Cunningham explored the area around Goondiwindi in 1827. In the 1830s pastoral settlement in New South Wales pushed northwards as graziers looked for new land and in the early 1840s sheep runs were established on the Darling Downs. Early stations were supplied from the south, rather than from Brisbane. Teamsters bringing supplies to the Goondiwindi area came from Maitland and they camped on a rise where the boundaries of Umbercollie, Callandoon and Old Goondiwindi stations met. This hill became the basis for a small settlement, which gradually came to include some permanent residents.
The initial site for government services was at Callandoon where a Native Police camp was established in 1849 and from 1859 there was a police station and a post office in operation utilising station buildings.
In 1858 the government was petitioned to commission a township survey so that land for settlement could be purchased at the site of the teamsters camp. A survey of the area in 1859 shows no buildings on the town area at that time. The first sale of land at Goondiwindi was held in August 1860 at which 50 residential blocks were sold. By this time Queensland had become a separate colony to New South Wales and the Macintyre River formed part of the border. In 1861 the postal service shifted to Goondiwindi and a courthouse and police station were built. Matthew Maher, a mail contractor, who also purchased several other lots, first purchased the land on which the Customs House Museum stands, in 1863. By 1868, Samuel Droughton was also working as a mail contractor based on Goondiwindi. In March 1872 he purchased the property from Maher. It remained in the ownership of Droughton, who also acted as a dairyman, and then that of his widow, until 1901 when it was sold to the editor of the local newspaper, Edward Drake.
In December 1859, Queensland was formally proclaimed as a new colony. In 1862 the New South Wales Border Customs Act no 22 was introduced to allow arrangements to be made 'for establishing a mutual system of collecting and accounting for all Customs Duties payable upon goods crossing this boundary.' At first, the flow of goods into Queensland through the inland routes was not sufficient in either quantity or value to warrant the cost of collecting customs duty in remote areas. However, as settlement increased, the Queensland government began to feel concern at the amount of revenue that was being lost in this way. Not only did more goods travel north than went south into New South Wales, but duty on such everyday commodities as tea and tobacco was twice as high in Queensland and a considerable amount of smuggling across the border took place. Discussions between the colonies with a view to making adjustment payments were held but came to nothing.
In late 1870, the Queensland government decided to establish a means of control so that an estimated revenue loss of £15,000 per year could be prevented. In December 1870 A Bill to Provide for the Collection of Customs Duties on Goods Imported Overland was passed. As a first step to implementing this, a Border Patrol consisting of a Police Inspector, Sub Inspector and 4 constables was appointed with powers to collect duties from 1 January 1871. They were to move along the border between Queensland and New South Wales, collecting duties and keeping careful records regarding the type and value of goods and the amount of monies collected. They were also to note the places were crossings existed and recommend places where Customs offices could be most usefully established.
The Inspector, William Parry-Okeden, made a report on their findings in April 1871. 11 places were recommended for setting up customs offices, including Goondiwindi. On 12 April 1871, Richard Marshall, already Police Magistrate, Clerk of Petty Sessions, Land Agent and Land Commissioner at Goondiwindi, was appointed to also act as Customs Officer. He died the following year and was replaced by John Murphy, a sub-inspector of the Customs Border Patrol. It was soon reported that the effect of increased vigilance on the border was to deflect the importation of goods to Brisbane, reducing the amount of such trade through inland centres.
Goondiwindi continued to develop however, and in 1880 a bridge, a joint project of the New South Wales and Queensland governments, replaced the ferry service across the Macintyre River. The bridge made it possible to cross the river at this point in all weathers and increased the importance of the town as a border crossing. In 1880 Charles F Cumming was appointed as Customs Officer for Goondiwindi. Cumming was also the Police Magistrate and had held this job and that of Land Agent in Goondiwindi the previous year. In 1881 a second Customs Officer was appointed and there were two officers at Goondiwindi until one was sent to Swan Creek following a reorganisation of staff in 1885. In 1887, Goondiwindi was listed by the Customs department as one of 8 Customs Stations along the New South Wales border and was an important public crossing place.
The position of Customs Officer seems to have been an extension of police duties for some time and the books concerning Customs business were kept at the Court House even in 1898. There is no formal record of this building being a Customs House and it remained in private hands throughout the period when duties were collected. However, local tradition that it was connected with the Customs service is strong and Customs Officers may have unofficially used it.
Around 1900, the shingled roof was replaced by corrugated iron, possibly after it changed hands in 1901. The building has undergone some alterations and extensions over the years of its use as a residence and, in its later years, as an antique shop. The Goondiwindi Town Council acquired it in 1975 and it was renovated by the Goondiwindi Historical Society and opened as a museum in October 1975.
","criteria":"The Customs House Museum illustrates the role of Goondiwindi as one of 14 border posts established before Federation to maintain tariff walls between the colonies. Customs duty was an important source of revenue and the need to establish such posts reflects the increase in the movement of goods along inland routes as pastoral development occurred in the west of Queensland. Goondiwindi was a major border crossing and the establishment of a customs service in this town reflects the way in which Customs were collected and the requirements of Government were carried out in remote areas.
|The Customs House Museum is important as an early building in Goondiwindi whose form, scale and materials make a substantial contribution to the built character of the town.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15306,"place_ref":600531,"name":"Goondiwindi Civic Centre","alternate_name":"Town Hall (Civic Theatre) and Shops | Council Chambers","street_address":"100 Marshall Street","suburb":"GOONDIWINDI","lga":"GOONDIWINDI REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1993-07-09","description":"The Goondiwindi Civic Centre is a complex of single storeyed rendered masonry buildings with corrugated iron roofs linked by an Art Deco parapeted street facade. The complex consists of the Council Chambers at the eastern end (which incorporates a 1987 blockwork extension to the rear), a row of four shops extending to the west, and an auditorium which is located behind the shops and is separated from the adjacent council chambers by a service courtyard. A kitchen wing extends from the south-eastern corner of the auditorium.
The facade which links the buildings is rendered in a combination of cream coloured stucco and smooth cement, with vertical elements picked out in rose. It is designed to carefully articulate the hierarchy of and entrances to the three components of the civic centre. The Council Chambers is the primary feature of the facade, with a generous entrance recess with stepped surrounds surmounted by an elegantly proportioned clock tower which can be seen from most locations on Marshall Street. This links to the simple parapet of the adjacent shops, from which a metal awning is suspended. The shopfronts are decorated with mosaic tiles. The entrance to the auditorium is similar to but more modest than that of the Council chambers, and is located between the two eastern most shops.
The entrance to the Council Chambers is framed by a panel in relief with a stepped parapet, and flanked by single rectangular windows. The entrance is shaded by a horizontal semi-circular projecting concrete awning which has a geometrical Art Deco stained glass window inset above. Decorative vertical banding rises above the entrance, continuing past a stepped parapet to form the corners of the clocktower, which has a square clockface, shingle tiled roof and weathervane. The Council Chambers is entered via four etched glass timber doors. The 1987 refurbishment included restoration of much of the original silky oak and walnut joinery.
The shopfronts are decorated with banded ceramic tiling below the display windows, with a fine continuous band decorating the door and window heads. The eastern-most display window retains its original timber backing shutters. The awning has a pressed metal soffit with geometric motifs.
The auditorium is entered via a passage between two shops; the entrance is marked with stepped surrounds surmounted by vertical banding in relief, which bear the words "Town Hall". The auditorium has a simple rectangular plan running north-south, with the stage and proscenium at the southern end, and is richly decorated in a blue and rose Art Deco scheme. The walls are rendered masonry with plaster decoration, and the floor is hardwood. The structural bays of the walls are enriched with stepped pilasters and plaster relief panels with geometrical patterns incorporating the letter G. The bays alternately contain timber double doors with decorated steel grilles above, and windows with steel grilles decorated with fountain motifs; these grilles have been partially closed in with rollershutters and timber sheeting, but still provide cross ventilation. Large crystalline stained glass light fittings are located between the openings, and either side of the stage, and a single larger crystalline fitting is centrally placed on the ceiling. The ceiling is sheeted with a gridded pattern in relief and has arrow-head shaped vents. The sheeting at the edge slopes at forty-five degrees, and is finished with a cornice with diamond motifs. The proscenium frames the stage with a gently stepped recess decorated with plaster reliefs moulded into stripes and scrolls. The stage area is flanked by small storage and dressing areas, and the timber roof structure above is exposed. The Art Deco scheme of this interior is both impressive and intact.
The Goondiwindi Civic Centre is a mixed-use Art Deco public building. The intact Art Deco facade is an accomplished design in its skilful expression of the building's mix of uses, makes an important picturesque contribution to the streetscape, and has a landmark element.
","history":"The Goondiwindi Civic Centre comprises the Town Council Chambers, Town Hall and a set of shops linked by a common facade, in the main street of Goondiwindi. The Centre was designed by architects GF Addison and HS MacDonald and built by TC Clarke in 1937, and opened by the then Minister for Health and Home Affairs, Mr M E Hanlon, in 1938.
The Centre was built with the assistance of the Queensland Government, with a loan of £10 333 and a subsidy of £5 167. The rents received by the Council from the building covered the repayments due by the Council, and the loan was repaid by c1953.
The Centre replaced the existing Council buildings which were considered unsafe for public use and the School of Arts building which was also in a poor state of repair. The Centre was considered an outstanding structure in Goondiwindi, and demonstrated the interest in the steady improvement of the town displayed by previous Councils.
The Council Chambers were substantially altered internally and extended in 1987.
The Town Hall was used as a commercial cinema for a number of years from around 1950 until 1978 and has received intermittent use since then. A new community centre was constructed in Goondiwindi in 1990, which has substantially taken over the function of the Town Hall.
The facade linking the Council Chambers and Town Hall, including the shops, has not been substantially altered since its construction.
","criteria":"Goondiwindi Civic Centre is important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history, in particular the construction of civic buildings for local government purposes during the 1930s.
|It is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of the Art Deco style, and exhibits particular aesthetic characteristics valued by the community: the Art Deco facade is an accomplished design in its skilful articulation of the different functions of and entrances to the building, and makes an important picturesque contribution to the streetscape; the clocktower is a local landmark; and the Art Deco auditorium interior is impressive, containing fine decorative detailing.
|It is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of the Art Deco style, and exhibits particular aesthetic characteristics valued by the community: the Art Deco facade is an accomplished design in its skilful articulation of the different functions of and entrances to the building, and makes an important picturesque contribution to the streetscape; the clocktower is a local landmark; and the Art Deco auditorium interior is impressive, containing fine decorative detailing.
|The place has a strong association with the civic work of Brisbane architects GF Addison and HS MacDonald.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15307,"place_ref":600532,"name":"Goondiwindi War Memorial","alternate_name":"The Soldiers' Memorial (Digger Statue) | Memorial Gates","street_address":"Marshall Street","suburb":"GOONDIWINDI","lga":"GOONDIWINDI REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Goondiwindi War Memorial is located at the western end of Goondiwindi's main street, in the south-eastern corner of the Goondiwindi Memorial Park. The memorial consists of a Digger monument (WWI) and memorial gates (WWII). The monument rises to approximately six metres and is centrally placed within a generous square enclosure whose boundaries are defined by poplar trees, hedges, silky oaks and figs. The monument is axially aligned with the memorial gates, which truncate the street corner. The monument framed by the gates with a backdrop of poplar trees creates an impressive formal tableau.
The monument is comprised of a life-sized grey sandstone Digger on a red and grey polished granite column, which sits on a polished blocked trachyte pedestal and a stepped concrete base. The pedestal has gilt incriptions, and the column has a grey granite base and capital with a red granite shaft. The Digger stands with his left foot forward, holding the top of the rifle barrel in his right hand.
The memorial gates are formed with sandstone pillars and decorative steel gates, and comprise a central gateway flanked by two smaller gateways. The pillars have sandstone nibs, and are topped with rectilinear octagonal light fittings. The gates have circular motifs and crests.
The monument is well-crafted in fine materials, and the formal tableau of the monument and poplars framed by the gates makes a stong aesthetic contribution to the Goondiwindi townscape.
","history":"The Goondiwindi War Memorial includes a 'Digger' statue erected in 1922 and a set of gates erected in 1949, as memorials to the First and Second World Wars respectively.
The Soldiers' Monument was originally erected in Herbert Street, with an iron fence surrounding the monument. The monument cost £1 800 and was unveiled in September 1922, by Sir Matthew Nathan, Governor of Queensland, who was in Goondiwindi to observe an eclipse of the sun. It is likely that the monument was erected by a public committee. Although the designer of the monument is unknown, it is possible that it was manufactured in New South Wales.
In 1949 the monument was re-sited, presumably at the time the World War 2 Memorial Gates were constructed. More than £2 844 was spent on transferring the monument to the park site and erecting the gates. The gates were erected by the Goondiwindi War Memorial Committee, and were unveiled in April 1949 by Sir Thomas William Glasgow. At the completion of the ceremony the keys of the gates were handed to Alderman F Vetter, symbolic of the town accepting responsibility and custody of the memorial. The designer of the gates is also unknown.
","criteria":"The Goondiwindi War Memorial is important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history, as evidence of an era of widespread expression of Australian patriotism and nationalism, during and following the First World War.
|It exhibits aesthetic characteristics valued by the community: the monument is well-crafted in unusual and fine materials; and the formal tableau of the monument and poplars framed by the gates makes an aesthetic contribution to the Goondiwindi townscape.
|It has a strong association with the community as evidence of the impact of a major historical event.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15715,"place_ref":600940,"name":"Wyaga Homestead","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Millmerran Road","suburb":"GOONDIWINDI","lga":"GOONDIWINDI REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1995-05-05","description":"The core of the c1862 homestead consists of a simple north-south running rectangular plan with a verandah along the western frontage, and remains of a verandah along the eastern frontage. The end rooms have been altered and extended, however the central living and dining rooms remain mostly intact. These rooms have double leaf french doors, with louvres to the outer leaf and glazed timber doors to the inner leaf; the doors have casement fanlights above. The interiors are lined with wide horizontal painted timbers, and boarded ceilings.
The western wall has deep chamferboards which may be pit-sawn. The verandah has been closed in with flyscreen, but retains its splayed, chamfered verandah posts. The eastern verandah has been extended out to the east to form part of a large living room; the verandah posts, also splayed and chamfered, are now in the centre of this room, which links the original homestead remains to the rest of the later additions.
An appreciation of the overall form of the house, including the now corrugated iron-clad gambrel roof, can be gleaned from the west, and a substantial brick chimney rises above the ridge of the roof.
","history":"Wyaga is situated north-east of Goondiwindi and is thought to be one of the oldest cattle runs in the original Darling Downs district, when the Wyaga run of approximately 60 000 acres was leased by David Perrier in 1849.
By the late 1850s Wyaga had been acquired by Thomas de Lacy Moffatt, and W M Turner. Moffatt was the MLA for Western Downs from 1860-1864 and Colonial Treasurer from 1862-1864. In 1860 it was acquired by Donald Gunn senior. The improvements on the property included a woolshed and several huts. A homestead was built for Gunn c1862 from timber hand sawn on the property, with a shingle roof and using square, hand made nails.
Gunn sold Wyaga to the Holmes family c1863, and the property passed through a number of hands before being acquired in the 1890s by Thomas Cook and Hugh Munro as part of their grazing empire. The property had been progressively reduced in area.
After Thomas Cook's death in 1912, the property was bought by Munro. In 1913 a new partnership was created between Munro and FC Turner. The Wyaga merino stud was founded in 1938. A number of outbuildings, including a new woolshed are believed to have been constructed in the 1930s. The partnership between Munro and Turner was dissolved in 1944, and the Wyaga Partnership created. By the 1950s Wyaga was running both cattle and sheep.
The homestead was substantially altered and extended, possibly during the 1950s. Wyaga remained in the Munro family until 1975. It was acquired by the present owners in 1982.
","criteria":"The surviving sections of the c1862 Wyaga Homestead demonstrate a now rare aspect of Queensland's cultural heritage, in particular, 19th century building practices which are no longer in common use. The surviving sections of the c1862 homestead have the potential to contribute to an understanding of the development of building technology in Queensland.
|The surviving sections of the c1862 Wyaga Homestead demonstrate a now rare aspect of Queensland's cultural heritage, in particular, 19th century building practices which are no longer in common use.
|The surviving sections of the c1862 homestead have the potential to contribute to an understanding of the development of building technology in Queensland.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history"} ]}