The Maryborough Central State School site initially was acquired by the colonial government as a reserve for immigration purposes, and the first building on the site (now Block C) was erected as an immigration depot.
In 1874 the Queensland Colonial Architect's office, headed by FDG Stanley, prepared plans for a new immigration building at Maryborough, in response to increased direct immigration to the Port of Maryborough.
The building was to accommodate on the ground floor, wards for single men, 2 storerooms, a visitors' room and warders' quarters, and on the first floor, wards for married couples and single women.
To each ward was attached a kitchen, lavatory, bath room and earth closets.
Tenders were called in December 1874, and the contract was let in early March 1875 to Maryborough builder John T Annear, who tendered with a price of £4,650, and a time of 10 months.


The immigration building had been completed by early April 1876, and the colonial architect recommended that a wardsman occupy the building at once.
This action was approved, but it is not clear whether immigrants were ever housed at the new barracks.
The principal obstacle to occupation was the lack of water storage.
The Maryborough Chronicle of 4 April 1876, in describing the new immigration building, commented:
Now that the buildings are completed they are perfectly useless until supplied with tanks for water.
For this purpose there is no money available, and the building must remain untenanted until the necessary money is granted by the Government.

Whilst funding was made available for fencing and gates in 1876, a contract for two large brick underground tanks, each 20 feet (6.1 m) deep by 16 feet (4.9 m) in diameter, was not let until March 1877.
In the meantime, the colonial secretary had been approached with an alternative proposal for the use of the site.

By December 1876, the Department of Public Instruction was investigating the possibility of exchanging the Maryborough primary school premises in Alice Street for the new immigration building, proposing to convert the immigration barracks into state schools (boys and combined girls and infants), and to convert the former school buildings, which comprised a two-storeyed brick building, a single-storeyed timber building and two playsheds, into an immigration depot.
Although a new school reserve had been gazetted in October 1876 - bounded by Kent, Sussex, Ferry and Fort Streets and adjacent to the new immigration reserve - acute overcrowding, particularly in the infant classes, at the Alice Street school prompted more direct action.
In February 1877, Executive Council passed the proposal to exchange the existing school buildings for the new immigration premises, with the cost of fitting up the school buildings as an immigration depot to be met by the Department of Public Instruction.

Whilst the majority of parents were in favour of the exchange, the wider Maryborough community was not.
At a well-attended meeting held at the Town Hall on 8 June 1876, residents protested at the conversion of the present immigration barracks to any other use than that for which it was originally built.
They sought instead to sponsor the construction of a new school building, and elected a committee, headed by Mayor JT Annear (contractor for the immigration depot), to pass on their resolutions to the Queensland Government and to institute a building fund.
The protest was too late; the exchange went ahead despite a recommendation from the assistant immigration agent in Maryborough, that the school buildings would be unsuitable as an immigration depot, being in a most wretched state of decay, and dirt having quite the appearance of being hurried to dilapidation.

Specifications for remodelling the interior of the immigration barracks for school purposes were prepared in March 1877, and the work was completed by mid-July, at a cost of £248.
On the ground floor, the partitions forming the sitting room and two bedrooms of the warder's quarters were removed, and the two kitchens (warder's and single men's) were converted to cl
The Maryborough Central State School site initially was acquired by the colonial government as a reserve for immigration purposes, and the first building on the site (now Block C) was erected as an immigration depot. In 1874 the Queensland Colonial Architect's office, headed by FDG Stanley, prepared plans for a new immigration building at Maryborough, in response to increased direct immigration to the Port of Maryborough. The building was to accommodate on the ground floor, wards for single men, 2 storerooms, a visitors' room and warders' quarters, and on the first floor, wards for married couples and single women. To each ward was attached a kitchen, lavatory, bath room and earth closets. Tenders were called in December 1874, and the contract was let in early March 1875 to Maryborough builder John T Annear, who tendered with a price of £4,650, and a time of 10 months.

The immigration building had been completed by early April 1876, and the colonial architect recommended that a wardsman occupy the building at once. This action was approved, but it is not clear whether immigrants were ever housed at the new barracks. The principal obstacle to occupation was the lack of water storage. The Maryborough Chronicle of 4 April 1876, in describing the new immigration building, commented:
Now that the buildings are completed they are perfectly useless until supplied with tanks for water. For this purpose there is no money available, and the building must remain untenanted until the necessary money is granted by the Government.
Whilst funding was made available for fencing and gates in 1876, a contract for two large brick underground tanks, each 20 feet (6.1 m) deep by 16 feet (4.9 m) in diameter, was not let until March 1877. In the meantime, the colonial secretary had been approached with an alternative proposal for the use of the site.
By December 1876, the Department of Public Instruction was investigating the possibility of exchanging the Maryborough primary school premises in Alice Street for the new immigration building, proposing to convert the immigration barracks into state schools (boys and combined girls and infants), and to convert the former school buildings, which comprised a two-storeyed brick building, a single-storeyed timber building and two playsheds, into an immigration depot. Although a new school reserve had been gazetted in October 1876 - bounded by Kent, Sussex, Ferry and Fort Streets and adjacent to the new immigration reserve - acute overcrowding, particularly in the infant classes, at the Alice Street school prompted more direct action. In February 1877, Executive Council passed the proposal to exchange the existing school buildings for the new immigration premises, with the cost of fitting up the school buildings as an immigration depot to be met by the Department of Public Instruction.
Whilst the majority of parents were in favour of the exchange, the wider Maryborough community was not. At a well-attended meeting held at the Town Hall on 8 June 1876, residents protested at the conversion of the present immigration barracks to any other use than that for which it was originally built. They sought instead to sponsor the construction of a new school building, and elected a committee, headed by Mayor JT Annear (contractor for the immigration depot), to pass on their resolutions to the Queensland Government and to institute a building fund. The protest was too late; the exchange went ahead despite a recommendation from the assistant immigration agent in Maryborough, that the school buildings would be unsuitable as an immigration depot, being in a most wretched state of decay, and dirt having quite the appearance of being hurried to dilapidation.
Specifications for remodelling the interior of the immigration barracks for school purposes were prepared in March 1877, and the work was completed by mid-July, at a cost of £248. On the ground floor, the partitions forming the sitting room and two bedrooms of the warder's quarters were removed, and the two kitchens (warder's and single men's) were converted to cl
Maryborough Central State School