Government Printing Office

The striking gothic arched William St section of the Government Printing Office was designed by colonial architect FDG Stanley and built in 1874 after an earlier wooden printing office had been demolished.

As the first purpose built government printery in Queensland it went on to function as the state printery for 120 years. And with the ongoing expansion a second building - complete with printer’s devil face on the keystone over the doorway – was built in 1910 on George St. There are also two printer’s devil gargoyles crouched on the parapet, one holding a G and the other a P.

The printer’s devil has its origins in the days when newspapers were seen as heresy for printing stuff that was not related to God. This particular building is rumoured to be haunted with the ghost of a young man who was caught up in and killed by the printing presses when he climbed in to see why one had stopped working.

In 1984 the government printing offices moved on and the 1874 building housed the Sciencentre for a brief period and in 1991 the Public Service Club moved in and remains today.