The history of the Court of Petty sessions at Traralgon goes back to 1876 when Charles Ignatz Du Ve, Clerk of Petty sessions at Rosedale, opened a Court here on 22nd September of that year. The Court sat in Shield's Rooms, a wooden building on the Kay Street frontage of the Traralgon hotel. That building, which was the only public hall in the township, served for that purpose until the imposing brick structure, which was to house the Post Office, Courthouse, and the Receipt and Pay office of the State Treasury, was built in 1986. When Mr. Du Ve retired in 1908, Traralgon became the headquarters of the group of Courts.   
(Photo, left, from the Society's archives, of the Court House and Post Office, circa 1900, showing the picket fence in front.)

The building served Traralgon well for the next 100 years until the Law Department created regional courts using multi-court room Courts, and was the best of the available buildings between Warragul and Traralgon. The practice of creating a Court of Petty Sessions in every town 10 miles apart may have served the purpose in the days of little or no public or private transport, but the advent of the motor car and of forms of public transport made this quite costly and unnecessary. The Regional Court was established at Moe, and the magistrates Court at Traralgon sat for the last time in mid December 1989. Since that date, all summary court proceedings arising here in Traralgon have been heard at Moe where several magistrates sit to deal with the business and thereby avoid visiting small towns just  to hear one that could have been heard much more expeditiously at Moe where the maximum use of resources and facilities was concentrated in one Court instead of four Courts.

The Government appointed the City of Traralgon as a Committee of Management and steps were taken to paint the premises both inside and out.

When the building was erected in 1886, the painting was done by Richard Canfield who, at that time, was in business as a painter and decorator. It was repainted only three times in 100 years. In the 1930s the whole color scheme of the interior was changed. The original color of the walls was sky blue but they were repainted beige. Repaintings, in the mid-'70s and in the mid-'80s, were predominantly white, with no regard to history or the adjoining Post Office.

The Committee of Management decided to return, as near as possible, to the original decoration and, fortunately, there was enough of the original sky blue visible under the peeling paint work on the walls to allow a good match to be made. In 1886, all of the doors and their surrounds were hand-grained but were painted over in the 1930s. Part of the floor of the Courtroom had collapsed due to damp and that had to be reconstructed. Most of the Courtroom furniture and fittings had been preserved and they were recovered from a place of storage. However the Bar Table table had been appropriated by some other Government facility and has now been lost forever.

In the 1930s, additional rooms were added on the south, to house the offices of the Department of Crown Lands and Survey, and these  have now been taken over in the renovation. Access to these rooms is provided by the creation of a new entrance through the original Dock and Cell, and they are intended for use by legal practitioners and their clients and witnesses.

(Photo, right, from the Society's archives, of the Court House and Post Office, taken in 1980).

The Committee of Management was able to negotiate with the Federal Government for the lease of the now restored Courthouse for permanent use by the Family Court and, on February 24, 1993, a ceremonial sitting of that Court was held. The Chief Justice of that Court, Mr. Justice Alistair Nicholson A.O., R.F.D., presided on the Bench with Mr. Justice Hubert Frederico and other Court dignitaries. The Bar was also represented by quite a number of its members, all in their wigs and gowns.