York Post Office

York Post Office, on Avon Terrace in York, Western Australia, is the oldest surviving two storey post and telegraph building in Western Australia, and forms part of the heritage-listed town centre complex with the Court House and Police Station (1895). The site has been continuously used as a post office since 1866. The York Post Office was built in response to the town's growing importance as a rural centre and as the town and railway centre closest to the goldfields in the Yilgarn during the initial period of the Western Australian gold rush.[1]

York Post Office
York Post Office
Alternative namesYork Post & Telegraph Office
General information
Address134 Avon Tce
Town or cityYork, Western Australia
Coordinates31.8884°S 116.7686°E / -31.8884; 116.7686
Construction started1893
Design and construction
Architect(s)George Temple-Poole
TypeState Registered Place
Designated9 February 1996
Reference no.2855

This Federation Arts and Crafts style (or Federation Free Style) building was designed by Government Architect George Temple-Poole as a post and telegraph office and residence for the post-master,[2] and was constructed in 1893.[3] The building is constructed of rough cut local stone and brick with a corrugated iron roof. The builders were Thorn, Bower, and Stewart.[4] Locally quarried stones were carefully selected for each stage of the work and a horse powered block and tackle was used to raise them in a strong box to the upper level.[5]

The building replaced the first post office on the same site, a single storey Victorian Georgian style building with a shingle roof, constructed in 1866.[6][7]

In the mid-1890s, the people of York successfully "petitioned the government to have a town clock placed prominently in the main street", and a dormer clock was installed at the York Post Office. It is a turret timepiece manufactured by J. W. Benson, of London, in 1895 (the firm founded by James William Benson), and so inscribed. The clock at the York Post Office failed to be reliable in the late 1890s, and "a public meeting was called to complain that the clock never worked".[8]

The weather vane from Solomon Cook's 1852 mill,[lower-alpha 1] which was situated on the corner of Avon Terrace and Macartney Street, where the (York Home) hardware store is now situated, was installed on the roof at the York Post Office in the early 1900s (without the cockerel).[8] The addition of the exchange room, in 1922, is the only major change to the building.[10]

The upstairs residence is now used as offices and also has an apartment for short term rental. Former office occupants include John Kinsella.[10]

The building is classified by the National Trust of Australia, is permanently on the Register of the National Estate (21 March 1978), on the Shire register (31 December 1995), and permanently on the State Register of Heritage Places (9 February 1996).

Notes
  1. probably made by Cook's tenant Henry Stevens the whitesmith.[9]

References
  1. Heritage Council of Western Australia Assessment Documentation para 11.2
  2. Ray and John Oldham: George Temple-Poole - Architect of the Golden Years 1885-1897, drawings by Tish Phillips, UWA Press, 1980
  3. Statement of Works carried out during year ended 30 June 1894, in Report of Public Works Department in Votes and Proceedings 1894, Vol. 2, p. 8.
  4. Government Gazette 9, 16, 23 & 30 March, & 4 April 1893; Statement of Contracts let during six months ended 30 June 1893, in Report of Public Works Department in Votes and Proceedings 1893, p. 22; Statement of Works carried out during year ended 30 June 1894, in Report of Works Department in Votes and Proceedings 1894, Vol. 2, p. 8; & West Australian 10 May 1893, p. 4.
  5. Davies, Laurie York – Its Horse and Hey Days Self-published, York, Western Australia, 1982, Second Ed. published by N. H. Gould, York, Western Australia, 1992, p. 9.
  6. Northam Advertiser 25 Nov. 1993, p. 23; & ‘York Post Office & Telephone Exchange’ notes for tourist bureau guide, in Buildings Sites Accommodation Heritage York Post Office, Australia Post File 049-A97 (1997-98).
  7. Photos of York Post Office, Residency Museum, York, n.d.; & Edwards Store, 1870s, reproduced courtesy of Mrs. N. H. Ley in York-Beverley Express 25 July 1980, p. 6, in York Post Office - correspondence, newspaper articles, photographs c. 1975, photo (1979) of Harry Pride & Stan Drury with Harry’s oil painting of York Post Office, photo (1959) of York line depot, copies of early postmarks and postal officials at Beverley & York, 1931 business statement, Weekend Magazine June 27, 1970, York Exchange equipment layout plan (1950) NAA Series K1209, Barcode 1660630, 1927 – 1984.
  8. Clack, A. M. and McColl, Jenni York Sketchbook, The York Society, 2003, p. 18.
  9. Inquirer and Commercial News 17 June 1857, p.2.
  10. Conservation Management Plan
  • "York Post Office". InHerit. Heritage Council of Western Australia. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
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