Goulburn Post Office is a heritage-listed post office at 165 Auburn Street, Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Colonial Architect James Barnet and built from 1880 to 1881 by F. Horn. It is also known as Goulburn Post and Telegraph Office. The property is owned by Australia Post.
History
Background
The first official postal service in Australia was established in April 1809, when the Sydney merchant Isaac Nichols was appointed as the first Postmaster in the colony of New South Wales. Prior to this, mail had been distributed directly by the captain of the ship on which the mail arrived, however this system was neither reliable nor secure.
In 1825 the colonial administration was empowered to establish a Postmaster General's Department, which had previously been administered from Britain.
In 1828 the first post offices outside of Sydney were established, with offices in Bathurst, Campbelltown, Parramatta, Liverpool, Newcastle, Penrith and Windsor. By 1839 there were forty post offices in the colony, with more opened as settlement spread. During the 1860s, the advance of postal services was further increased as the railway network began to be established throughout NSW. In 1863, the Postmaster General WH Christie noted that accommodation facilities for postmasters in some post offices was quite limited, and stated that it was a matter of importance that "post masters should reside and sleep under the same roof as the office".
The first telegraph line was opened in Victoria in March 1854 and in NSW in 1858. The NSW colonial government constructed two lines from the General Post Office, Sydney, one to the South Head Signal Station, the other to Liverpool. Development was slow in NSW compared to the other states, with the Government concentrating on the development of country offices before suburban ones. As the line spread, however, telegraph offices were built to accommodate the operators. Unlike the Post Office, the telegraph office needed specialised equipment and could not be easily accommodated in a local store or private residence. Post and telegraph offices operated separately until 1870 when the departments were amalgamated, after which time new offices were built to include both postal and telegraph services. In 1881 the first telephone exchange was opened in Sydney, three years after the first tests in Adelaide. As with the telegraph, the telephone system soon began to extend into country areas, with telephone exchanges appearing in country NSW from the late 1880s onwards. Again the Post Office was responsible for the public telephone exchange, further emphasising its place in the community as a provider of communications services.
The appointment of James Barnet as Acting Colonial Architect in 1862 coincided with a considerable increase in funding to the public works program. Between 1865 and 1890 the Colonial Architects Office was responsible for the building and maintenance of 169 Post Offices and telegraph offices in NSW. The post offices constructed during this period featured in a variety of architectural styles, as Barnet argued that the local parliamentary representatives always preferred "different patterns".
The construction of new post offices continued throughout the 1890s depression years under the leadership of Walter Liberty Vernon, who held office from 1890 to 1911. While twenty-seven post offices were built between 1892 and 1895, funding to the Government Architect's Office was cut from 1893 to 1895, causing Vernon to postpone a number of projects.
Following Federation in 1901, the Commonwealth Government took over responsibility for post, telegraph and telephone offices, with the Department of Home Affairs Works Division being made responsible for post office construction. In 1916 construction was transferred to the Department of Works & Railways, with the Department of the Interior responsible during World War II.
On 22 December 1975, the Postmaster-General's Department was abolished and replaced by the Postal & Telecommunications Department. This was the creation of Telecom and Australia Post. In 1989, the Australian Postal Corporation Act established Australia Post as a self-funding entity, heralding a new direction in property management, including a move away from the larger more traditional buildings towards smaller shop front style post offices.
For much of its history, the post office has been responsible for a wide variety of community services including mail distribution, an agency for the Commonwealth Bank, electoral enrolments, and the provision of telegraph and telephone services. The town post office has served as a focal point for the community, most often built in a prominent position in the centre of town close to other public buildings, creating a nucleus of civic buildings and community pride.
Goulburn Post Office
The first post office in Goulburn was opened on 1 January 1832, just three years after the town was founded and only four years after the first country offices had been opened. The first postmaster was Robert Smith, Clerk to the Chamber of Magistrates, who received 20% of the postage collected as a salary. This meant a total of £2.12.9 in 1832 rising to £8.14.7 in 1833. At this time the mail was conveyed from Sydney to Goulburn via Liverpool, Campbelltown and Bong Bong, by mounted police once per week.
In 1848 the mail was being delivered to Goulburn three times a week by Andrew Badgery. Badgery was paid £400 per year to deliver mail to Goulburn, Braidwood and Queanbeyan via Bungendore using a two horse cart along his route. In July 1856, letter receivers, the forerunner of postboxes, were bought into operation by the Post Office in NSW with twelve iron receivers being placed in Sydney. In 1859 the first four receivers were erected in country towns, with two being placed in Goulburn; one in Auburn Street and the second in Grafton Street.
Goulburn became a full-time official Post Office on 1 September 1862 and Postmaster James Scrowcroft's salary was increased from £200 to £300. During the same year, money orders were introduced into the NSW postal system and it was thought preferable by the Colonial Government to have official Postmasters in larger offices not connected with any other businesses in town. Scrowcroft then became the first official full-time Postmaster in Goulburn, which in turn was the second busiest country post office in NSW, after Bathurst, issuing money orders.
By the 1870s Goulburn had taken on the mantle of a prominent regional centre. Declared a municipality in 1859, it had grown through the 1860s to become a new Anglican bishopric in 1863 and the seat of a Roman Catholic diocese in 1867. In May 1869 the Main Southern railway line reached Goulburn, allowing the mail to be in Sydney within seven hours. By 1870 the town boasted four newspapers, and in 1871 an agency for the New South Wales Government Savings Bank opened in Goulburn Post Office. In 1875 the post office was operating out of a rented premise in Market Street, but calls for a new official post office building were beginning to grow as postal business increased.
In 1878 the Colonial Architect, James Barnet, began on the plans for the new office at Goulburn. Unlike some of the other country offices in NSW, the planning and building of the Goulburn office went smoothly. Built by local builder F. Horn, the post office was officially opened in 1881 by the Postmaster-General Francis Bathurst Suttor and was attended by the Postmaster William Johnson, John Robertson, Colonel Hollowbrow, the mayor and other dignitaries. Parades of mounted police, local bands and schoolchildren added to the spectacle, with a public holiday proclaimed in Goulburn to celebrate. The finished building won immediate approbation, with Barnet being praised for designing such a noble structure.
In 1891 the Goulburn Telephone Exchange opened as one of only four country exchanges. By 1892, however, there were only 18 subscribers.
In 1981, Goulburn Post Office celebrated its centenary year being then closed for renovations during 1985–86. A total refurbishment of the office included repainting of the exterior in the paint scheme, a rearrangement of the counter area inside, new office accommodation for the postmaster and staff and recarpeting of the office. Lighting was provided along the colonnade to highlight the architectural features, a new loading bay and conveyor were also constructed adjacent to the mailroom to allow easier access to mail trucks. The first floor of the building was completely refurbished and fitted out to house Australia Post's Divisional Manager, Southern Tablelands Division and staff. The work was completed by Hexen Constructions of the Australian Capital Territory at a total cost of $870,000, of which $75,000 was used on structural repairs and stabilisation and $26,000 on the provision of a disabled access ramp.
Description Goulburn Post Office was built in 1880–81, and is located on Auburn Street, the main street of Goulburn's central business district facing west. It is an imposing, three-storey, symmetrical, rendered Victorian Italianate building featuring a dominant four and a half-storey clock tower at the centre of the front facade. The building has a predominantly hipped roof, with rolled zinc sheet pyramidal roofs at the north and south turrets and some rolled zinc clad, flat roof sections towards the rear. The majority of the roof is clad in fibrous cement tiles (possibly asbestos), with concrete on the rear first floor deck. Eleven rendered chimneys with moulded tops and painted with light green detailing punctuate the roof.
Additions to the Post Office do not appear to have been extensive, and include relatively minor changes with the infill of the original central driveway through the centre of the building, the addition of a conveyor and rear dock area and rear boiler room and fire escape.
There are two ground-floor colonnades as part of the front facade, symmetrical about the arched front entry porch. They each have red and brown tiled floors. There is a shallow-vaulted ashlar rendered soffit at the southern colonnade with a moulded cornice, flat plasterboard soffit at the northern colonnade with a coved cornice and board and batten soffit at the centre entry porch with a moulded cornice. There are pendant lights in each colonnade and the steps are slate at the centre porch and concrete at the colonnades. While the original first-floor front verandahs have been infilled, there is a concrete rear deck at the centre of the first floor with parapet balustrade and access to the steel fire escape.
The building is constructed of predominantly cream painted ashlar rendered brickwork, with painted English Bond brick rear sections and a high, continuous, ashlar rendered base course painted an apricot colour. Detailing of the building is in light green and apricot, with dark green window frames. It is classically inspired, incorporating arched openings, small pediments, pilasters on the sides of the upper-floor openings, a balustraded parapet on the roof of the colonnade sections, and balustrade at the first floor level. Fenestration and detailing of the building is symmetrical about the centre tower.
The ground-floor interior comprises four main functional areas, dispersed across this level. These include the carpeted and sheet vinyl office areas towards the centre and southern end, staff facilities with modern tiling and sheet vinyl flooring at either end, carpeted retail area at the centre and sheet vinyl mail room, delivery and storage areas, also located at each end of the building.