1897 for the trustees of the Mount Morgan Gold Mining Company. The rendered masonry building is an outstanding component of the 19th century character of Quay Street and was a direct manifestation of the wealth which Mount Morgan gold brought to Rockhampton. Quay Street was the centre of trade for Central Queensland and operated as a port city with its magnificent Customs House until the 1950s when the port was closed. By 1882 it was connected to Baracaldine and as a result the wealth from the central west grazing was funnelled through the port. Rockhampton was also a centre for brewery, meatworks and other industries. The gold boom of the Mount Morgan mine added additional wealth to the city and stimulated the building and rebuilding of the Quay Street architecture. The site for the company office was acquired by the Mount Morgan Gold Mining Company in August 1896, ten years after the floating of the company in 1886. The Mount Morgan Gold Mining Company building was constructed in 1897 as the headquarters of the company and was used for board meetings as well as for the storage of gold awaiting shipment from the river wharves across from Quay Street. The building was positioned near the other principal business premises of Rockhampton, which had developed along Quay Street to serve the passing trade at the wharves. Along with the Mining Company building, a range of buildings were constructed in Quay Street consisting of Mount Morgan Gold Mining company building, the Rockhampton Club, the Commercial and Criterion Hotel and the Rockhampton Harbour Board Building. In 1913, the Mining Company building was leased to the New Zealand Loan & Mercantile Company from who later purchased the building in 1920. In June 1963 the Australian Government purchased the building for use as television station for the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC). Tenders were called for the conversion of the building by the Commonwealth Department of Works in July 1963. The conversion plans included provisions for sound proofing and air-conditioning in some parts as well as a video-tape room, telecine room, control room, studio, news room, general offices, technician's room, a film dispatch room and a facilities room. The ABC occupied the former Mount Morgan Gold Mining Company offices as well as the building adjacent on the southern side and connected the two via a temporary garage structure. The establishment of the studio cost £500,000. Radio