York Post Office

{{Short description|Building in York, Western Australia}}

{{Use Australian English|date=June 2018}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}}

{{Infobox building

| name = York Post Office

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| alternate_name = York Post & Telegraph Office

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| image = File:York Post Office.jpg

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| caption = York Post Office

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| address = 134 Avon Tce

| location_town = York, Western Australia

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| coordinates = {{coord|-31.8884|116.7686|display=inline,title}}

| groundbreaking_date =

| start_date = 1893

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| architect = George Temple-Poole

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{{Infobox designation list

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| designation1 = State Register of Heritage Places

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| designation1_type = State Registered Place

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| designation1_date = 9 February 1996

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| designation1_number = {{SRHP|2855}}

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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.Heritage Council of Western Australia Assessment Documentation para 11.2

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,Ray and John Oldham: George Temple-Poole - Architect of the Golden Years 1885-1897, drawings by Tish Phillips, UWA Press, 1980 and was constructed in 1893.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. The building is constructed of rough cut local stone and brick with a corrugated iron roof. The builders were Thorn, Bower, and Stewart.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. 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.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.

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.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).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.

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".Clack, A. M. and McColl, Jenni York Sketchbook, The York Society, 2003, p. 18.

The weather vane from Solomon Cook's 1852 mill,{{efn|probably made by Cook's tenant Henry Stevens the whitesmith.Inquirer and Commercial News 17 June 1857, p.2.}} 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). The addition of the exchange room, in 1922, is the only major change to the building.Conservation Management Plan

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

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).