Goodna Police Complex

Then and Now - Woogaroo / Goodna Police Station, Queensland Police Museum
There has been a police presence in the Goodna area since 1865 when the Woogaroo (Goodna) lockup was completed for a sum of £163 on the western bank of Woogaroo Creek, not too far from current Goodna Railway Station.

By 1872 the Woogaroo police complex, grew to include a Court House, stable and two dwellings (one of which included an office) for the use of the first Constables, Patrick Kennedy and Michael Sheridan. All of the police buildings presented a primitive appearance, and were later described as “an eyesore to the rising township of Goodna”. They were low set wooden structures with shingle roofs and were not sealed or lined, each with a detached kitchen.

By 1888 the roofs of the buildings leaked and white ants had severely weakened their framework. In December 1889 tenders were called for the construction of a new Police Station and Court House complex. The new Goodna Police Station, Court House and cells were built in Church Street between Mill and Alice Streets, and were completed in 1890. The station was a wooden building consisting of five rooms (living accommodation for the Officer in Charge), a kitchen, an office and a room for a single Constable. In 1893 the original, 1870s police station was pulled down and rebuilt near the new complex as the stables.

By 1917, the police at Goodna paid daily visits to the fast growing town of Redbank. In about 1920 a bicycle was sent to Goodna and this mode of transport was replaced by a B.S.A. motorcycle in 1951 and then by a Ford Falcon Sedan in 1961. Electric light was first connected to the Goodna Police Station in November 1927. The staff level received its first increase in 100 years when a third officer was added in 1970. In 1985 the third Goodna Police Station was officially opened and this building still stands today at 12 Church Street.
This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available at the time of writing.

Goodna Police Barracks and Cells, Ipswich Heritage Study
Due to problems of flooding, it was decided to relocate the Goodna police from a site at Woogaroo Creek, and the present site was converted from a water reserve for that purpose. A contract was signed in December 1889 by William Gowlett Edwards and Edward Young of Coorparoo, Brisbane, for the erection of new Goodna police barracks at a cost of £51. The original plan shows two cells as being part of the rear left wing which is longer than the other. The plan also shows that the office was to be an enclosed corner of a single, front verandah, indicating that the side verandahs may be later. The Goodna court-house was also rebuilt on site, and eventually was used as the station until is was sold for relocation to make way for the new brick police station opened 1985.
Source: Ipswich Heritage Study, 1992 Volume 3

The barracks is a 'U' shaped plan hip-roofed building with a continuous roofline over front and side verandahs. It rests on mainly timber stumps, and horizontal chamferboards with close set studs characterise the exposed frame verandah walls. French doors lead to the verandahs, which are enclosed below the handrail by horizontal weatherboard. Metal window hoods and sash windows can be found at the rear sections which are lined with weatherboard. Source: Ipswich Heritage Study, 1992 Volume 3