Albany Post Office
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Albany Post Office is a
heritage site A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been re ...
of the former
post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...
in
Albany, Western Australia Albany ( ; nys, Kinjarling) is a port city in the Great Southern region in the Australian state of Western Australia, southeast of Perth, the state capital. The city centre is at the northern edge of Princess Royal Harbour, which is a ...
. The site was also a Customs office, a base station of the
overland telegraph The Australian Overland Telegraph Line was a telegraphy system to send messages over long distances using cables and electric signals. It spanned between Darwin, in what is now the Northern Territory of Australia, and Adelaide, the capital o ...
, and is noted for its architectural and historical significance. It was listed by the
Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heritag ...
in 1992. The building is situated on Stirling Terrace, opposite Spencer Street, on a multilevel site that overlooks
Princess Royal Harbour Princess Royal Harbour is a part of King George Sound on the South coast of Western Australia, and harbour to Albany. On its northern shore is the Port of Albany. The name ''Princess Royal'' also appears in Albany in Princess Royal Fortress an ...
. The main building was constructed in two stages, the first in local materials such as brick, granite and
sheoak The Casuarinaceae are a family of dicotyledonous flowering plants placed in the order Fagales, consisting of four genera and 91 species of trees and shrubs native to eastern Africa, Australia, Southeast Asia, Malesia, Papuasia, and the Pacific ...
shingles, the second also included materials imported from New South Wales. The original building was completed in 1869, after requests from the Government Resident to the administration in
Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
. Large scale site works included excavations, by convict labour, and a large granite retaining wall up to 5 feet thick. The design by James Manning, the Clerk of Works, now forms the eastern section of the building. The functions of the region's first government building included postal, judicial, customs, and a meeting place for the Road Board and local government. The second phase of construction, completed in 1895, was to a design of the Government architect George Temple-Poole. It was an extension that was sympathetic to the earlier building, incorporating the same local materials, and successfully accommodating its multileveled situation. The granite, brick, and sheoak shingles, were used again, freestone, bluestone, and cedar was imported. A clock tower was included in the western extension, four clockfaces 4 feet across, with a spiral staircase. The steps of this staircase are supported by the outer wall, each atop the previous, in the flying style of
Palladio Andrea Palladio ( ; ; 30 November 1508 – 19 August 1580) was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be one of th ...
. The tower was extended 20 feet in 1901 to increase the drop required by the weight-driven clocks, this increased its height to 84 feet. Wooden shingles were retained on the tower when the roof was later replaced by terracotta tiles. The court house occupying the top floor was moved to a new building, also by Poole, in 1898. A telegraph to Perth was established in 1871 and in 1875 the office provided the link to the worldwide network. The first telegraph pole was ceremoniously placed by Governor Weld, where it remains on a monument commemorating the engineering milestone. A telephone exchange was housed in the building in 1895. The function as a post office continued until 1964, when it was moved to York Street, and the property was taken over by local government. The building had various functions in the period following this, as public hall, museum, and as a restaurant. The listing by the
National Trust of Australia The National Trust of Australia, officially the Australian Council of National Trusts (ACNT), is the Australian national peak body for community-based, non-government non-profit organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's Ind ...
in 1977 inspired restorations to the heritage site. It was placed on the Register of Heritage Places in Australia in 1993. The City of Albany and the
University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...
raised funds from state and federal sources to renovate the site, adapting it to become the Albany campus for UWA and Curtin University. This was officially opened in 2002.


See also

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List of places on the State Register of Heritage Places in the City of Albany The State Register of Heritage Places The State Register of Heritage Places is the heritage register of historic sites in Western Australia deemed significant at the state level by the Heritage Council of Western Australia. History In the ...


References

* * * {{Australian Post Offices, state=collapsed Heritage places in Albany, Western Australia Former post office buildings Post office buildings in Western Australia George Temple-Poole buildings Government buildings completed in 1869 Government buildings completed in 1895 1869 establishments in Australia Stirling Terrace, Albany State Register of Heritage Places in the City of Albany