This diminutive building was built for Oamaru baker Andrew Meldrum in 1879. Probably designed by Oamaru architectural partnership Forrester and Lemon, this distinctive building has historical and architectural significance as a nineteenth century bakehouse.

Meldrum was born in 1842, at New Deer, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and served his apprenticeship in Fraserborough. He arrived in Port Chalmers in 1874, aboard the Invercargill, and came direct to Oamaru, where he worked at his trade before establishing his own business. Andrew Meldrum went into business as a baker in 1879.

Architectural historian Conal McCarthy attributes the design of the bakehouse to Forrester and Lemon on stylistic grounds. John Lemon does advertise for tenders for the ‘Erection of a Baker’s Oven and Bakehouse’ in July 1880, so a Forrester and Lemon design is entirely possible.

Meldrum lived and worked on Usk Street, with his premises consisting of a shop and bakehouse, and residence and out buildings, all built of Oamaru stone. He conducted ‘a considerable local trade in bread and biscuits.’ He was involved in public affairs, and was for thirteen years a member of the North school committee, and was one of the managers of St. Paul's Presbyterian Church. Mr. Meldrum was married in 1865 to Helen Davidson of Aden, Old Deer, Aberdeenshire. The couple had six sons and four daughters.

Helen Meldrum died in 1918, and Andrew Meldrum died in August 1919. The couple’s son Norman took over the bakery. It is not clear for how long the bakery operated, but the property remained in the Meldrum family until 1979. The bakery was subdivided from the house in 1942. The subdivision plan shows what is presumably the stone house set back from the street and the long narrow stone structure to the street front. Photographs indicate that the ovens were at the rear of the bakehouse.

McDonalds Restaurant bought the section in 1995, demolishing the rear half of the bakery, including the ovens. Only the front part of this building, facing Usk Street, now remains of Andrew Meldrum's premises. The name of the business "A Meldrum Baker" appears in relief on the structure. Historian Gavin McLean describes the building as "the spruce but sad stump of Meldrum's Bakery . . . butchered to provide access to a fast-food carpark".

In 2015, the former Meldrum Bakehouse continues to catch the eye of passers-by, a small and unoccupied building.