York Post Office placed on heritage register

5/6/95

One of the earliest civic buildings in York has been placed on the State Register of Heritage Places.

Heritage Minister Richard Lewis said today the York Post Office was a local landmark which had played an important role in the development of the town.

"York Post Office was built in 1893 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 start of the gold boom," Mr Lewis said.

"The building is an important part of the streetscape of York as it forms a civic precinct with the adjacent court house and police station."

The interim listing follows a recommendation from the Heritage Council of Western Australia and gives the building the full protection of the Heritage of Western Australia Act.

The Minister said the prominent site in Avon Terrace had been continuously used as a post office since 1866.

"No site in WA has had a longer association with WA postal services," Mr Lewis said.

York was one of the earliest rural settlements and the first inland town of the Swan River Colony but had no formal post office for the first 35 years.

Before the original post office was completed in 1866 mail was carried between Perth and York twice weekly and Aboriginal carriers were used to transport mail between Toodyay and York.

By the 1880s York was the fourth largest town in the State with a developing community and a population of 820.

Mr Lewis said the arrival in Perth in 1886 of Architect George Temple-Poole, who was appointed Superintendent of Works, coincided with the Government's plan to provide gazetted towns with post office buildings.

"Gold was discovered in the Yilgarn in 1887 and, as the most easterly town to the Goldfields, York grew as a commercial centre and also as the terminus for the mail services to and from the region,"he said.

"However, progress on York's new post office and court house was slow and in March 1893 the Eastern Districts Chronicle reported claims that the Government was neglecting the town's needs."

In May 1893 the contract for the construction of the new post office was let.

The Minister said the new post office was opened in 1895 and continued to function as a post office and residence.

"The York Post Office is a variation on Temple-Poole's design for the Geraldton Post Office built in 1892," Mr Lewis said.

"The two storey building is a fine example of Federation Arts and Crafts Style which became a feature of Temple-Poole's designs for post offices built prior to the turn of the century.

"The building contributes to the community's sense of history and place as one of the earliest civic buildings in York which is still used for its original purpose."

Media contact:  Bronwyn Hillman 222 9595 or 221 1377