Erected in 1883, the former Courthouse at Waiuku is a relatively early surviving purpose-built court building designed by the Public Works Department (PWD). Originally located in nearby Court Street, the single-storey timber structure reflects the growth of Waiuku as a colonial township and local administrative centre in the decades after the third New Zealand - or Waikato - War (1863-4). Adapted for different usage in the 1960s, the building has formed a notable part of community life for more than 130 years. Since relocation to former railway land in 1974, it has served continuously as headquarters of the Waiuku Search and Rescue Organisation.

Waiuku lay on an important portage route for Maori, connecting the Manukau Harbour and the Waikato River. After the government sold land for a township in the early 1850s the settlement became a place of considerable mercantile and other exchange between Maori and Pakeha. Early attempts by the colonial authorities to enforce a European legal framework included creating a Resident Magistrate’s Station by early 1859, upgraded to a Resident Magistrate’s Office by 1861. After European expansion in the wake of the Waikato War, the office was frequently referred to as a ‘courthouse’. In the early 1880s, it was housed in a multi-purpose cottage on Queen Street (Allotment 18).

In 1883, the government erected a new, purpose-built courthouse on elevated land overlooking the settlement, in Court Street. The land incorporated the site of an earlier pa and a stockade constructed by settlers during the Waikato War - the latter demolished to make way for the new structure. Created under the supervision of the PWD architect, P.F.M. Burrows (1842-1920), the courthouse was built at the same time as an identical structure at nearby Pukekohe. The PWD had been founded in the early 1870s to assist with the creation of the colony’s infrastructure, but was operating under straightened circumstances due to the Long Depression. The contractor for the Waiuku courthouse was a Mr Scott, although Samuel Thomas Rossiter (1860-1936), who later became a notable local builder, also stated that he was engaged to undertake its construction, perhaps as an employee or sub-contractor.

The new courthouse had an L-shaped plan with a projecting front bay. It combined restrained Gothic and Elizabethan Revival influences. Internally, it incorporated a main courtroom and two smaller rooms, possibly offices.

The courthouse was used to hear cases relating to minor offences, as well as matters such as the decisions of local Licensing Committees and Assessment Courts. During the 1880s and 1890s, the building was used as a polling station. In 1894, a number of local Maori were summonsed to appear at the court for their refusal to pay a dog tax, a cause that for many Maori communities symbolised resistance to European rule. In 1914, the courthouse also housed a commission enquiring into the creation of Waiuku Town District. Subsequent alterations to the structure included repairs in 1935 and other modifications in 1940. As preparation for its conversion to other use after the erection of a new courthouse, the main courtroom was partitioned and Gibraltar lining installed in 1963.

The courthouse was moved to its current position in Massey Park in 1974. The new site had previously formed part of land reserved for the Waiuku Branch Railway - the early twentieth-century Waiuku railway station building lies immediately to the west. After relocation, the courthouse building served as headquarters of the Waiuku Search and Rescue Organisation, which had been founded in 1973 in response to loss of life in the Waikato River. In 2015, the building was still utilised by Waiuku Search and Rescue, representing 40 years use for this purpose and more than 130 years of broader service to the community.