York Post Office

About

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.

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, and was constructed in 1893. The building is constructed of rough cut local stone and brick with a corrugated iron roof. The builders were Thorn, Bower, and Stewart.

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. The building replaced the first post office on the same site, a single storey Victorian Georgian style building with...