Maryborough State High School

A gracious pair of entry gates on the northern side of Kent Street leads to the 1881 former Boys Grammar School. Directly opposite, through a similar set of gates, is the 1883 Girls Grammar School. Both are symbolic of the prosperity of Maryborough in the 1870s and early 1880s. Maryborough citizens were so successful in raising money for the boys’ school, they were also able to build a girls’ school. The boys’ school was designed by Brisbane architect John Hall and the elaborate Gothic revival two storey brick building built by Henry Taylor for 5,500 pounds. The girls’ school was designed by FGD Stanley and built by Karl ‘Fritz’ Kinne for 3,396 pounds. Again, it was built in brick, but the design was in the style of a Victorian house, considered appropriate for the accommodation and education of girls. Both schools had classrooms on the ground floor and boarding accommodation and teachers’ rooms on the first floor. The decorative gates were funded by local businessman Robert Travis in 1909. Both schools were forced to close during the Depression, and were transferred to state Department of Education in 1936. They were later renamed Maryborough State High School, and remain operational.