Croydon State Emergency Services Building

The Croydon Hospital was previously located on the corner of Brown and Sircom Streets. The first hospital built in 1886 was made of saplings with hessian walls. This highly inadequate structure was blamed for the deaths of townsfolk and they quickly lobbied for a better hospital. In November 1887 a tender of £1886 was accepted for a new building. The hospital board seemed to have had difficulties in keeping a surgeon in town and there was a high turnover of both doctors and nurses. As the population grew rapidly, there was a call for a new wing, late in 1888. This was finally built and opened during Easter 1892. A fundraising ball was held in the town to provide further funds for the hospital. However it was the bequest of around £7000 from miner John Angus McDonald, who died in August, that financed the ongoing management of the hospital. As the town population declined, so too did the need for a large hospital and the last resident doctor was at the hospital in 1934. From 1953, the Royal Flying Doctor serviced the town. The buildings were relocated to the corner of Sircom and Brown Streets in the early 1980s.