Forbes Post Office

About

Forbes Post Office is a heritage-listed post office at 118 Lachlan Street, Forbes, in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by the New South Wales Colonial Architect's Office under James Barnet and built from 1879 to 1881 by P. M. Vaughan. The property is owned by Australia Post. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 22 December 2000. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004.

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 NSW. 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 W. H. 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 January 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 and 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 Post and 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 Savings 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.

Forbes was founded in 1861 as a result of gold discoveries in the nearby Black Ridge Diggings. With 1500 miners on the diggings, a mail service was established at Black Ridge in 1861 with the office operating out of a rented premise belonging to a J. H. Burchart. As word of the discoveries began to spread, the population began to rapidly swell with upwards of 28000 miners in the new township by 1862. With the dramatic increase in the population it became evident that an official postmaster was required for the town. On 17 April 1862, Hayward Atkyns was appointed in the position on a salary of £200 per annum, with an Assistant Postmaster and two Stamp Sellers also employed by October. During the same month the telegraph was connected to Forbes, and moves were underway for the erection of an official Post and Telegraph Office. The new office was opened in October 1863 with a residence for the Telegraph Master upstairs, while the post masters residence was located off site. In 1867, the Post Master General took over the telegraph service, while in 1871 a branch of the Government Savings Bank was opened in the Post Office.

In 1877 the needs of the town necessitated a new post office. The office was to be built on the same site as the original building, facing Lachlan Street. £1200 was placed before the Parliamentary Estimates Committee at the instigation of Mr Lord MP for the construction of the new post office, however the Department of Works estimated that the final cost would be closer to £3000. During the construction period a temporary building was to be erected, with £200 approved for the construction. In the end, however, to save cost and time a building was rented for use as the office during the building works.

In 1879, after a number of reviews, the tender for the new building was accepted from P. M. Vaughan and the plans from the Colonial Architect were approved. Part of the delay was due to the ongoing debate over the installation of a clock tower. The addition of a tower would increase the building cost to £4500, which the Department thought to be too much. The PMG also informed the town that if a clock tower was to be added afterwards the cost would need to be borne by the municipality. In the end, the tower was erected as part of the main building. Further delays were also caused by the inclusion of an underground tank, fencing and iron rails.

The current Post Office building was completed in 1881, presumably comprising the two storey colonnaded section of the building and the corresponding areas of the ground floor. There are, perhaps, some small single-storey additions to the rear. It is possible that the western corner single-storey extension fronting Lachlan Street was constructed shortly after the original building was completed.

The Post Office was occupied on 8 September 1881. In 1900 the telephone exchange was opened with twenty-nine lines connected by the end of the year. A public phone was also added in 1905.

It appears that between 1900 and 1913, single storey face brick additions, including a telephone exchange were added to the southern corner and eastern side.

After 1928, it appears that the ground floor retail area underwent reconfiguration, including the closure of the western corner entry doors fronting Lachlan Street, and the removal of the doors beneath the tower into what is now the post boxes area in the Court Street facade. Dates are unknown, however these changes probably occurred during the 1980s renovation, which also included the infilling of the fireplaces. A window to the ground floor Court Street facade has also been infilled.

Other changes occurring since 1928 plans include the removal of the bathroom from the first floor eastern end of the colonnade and the conversion of the eastern bedroom into a bathroom and hot water service room.

A new telephone exchange was opened in 1962 with an automatic system replacing the manual exchange.

In 1982 Forbes Post Office was featured on a stamp series depicting one post office from each Australian State.