Leederville Post Office

Statement of Significance

Leederville Post Office (former) is important as one of four remaining (5 originally) post offices of similar design, from this period. Its corner location makes it a significant element in the streetscape of the town centre. It was significant for its post office activity which generated considerable activity and was the hub of written communications for much of its time of operation.

Physical Description

The one storey building has a tiled hipped roof and a symmetrical front with central entry brick arched verandah - three facing the main street and one at each end. The severity of the external facades is a measure of the change of design direction between Temple Poole and Grainger. The two central pillars of the three front arches feature low simplified ionic capitals. It originally included a residence for the post master as well as the post office, however renovation during the 1990's has removed most of the original internal partitioning. Nil setbacks Internal considerable

History

The suburb of Leederville was named after William Leeder who arrived in Western Australia aboard the Rockingham in 1830. He took up Swan Locations Ac and Ad on the eastern side of Lake Monger. Between these and further allocations, he ended up having all the land in what is now known as the suburb of Leederville (the family home was erected on the hill where St Mary's Church now is.) The area was declared a Roads Board district in 1895, a municipality in 1896 and later under the control of the City of Perth. When the Town of Vincent was formed in 1995, Leederville came under its jurisdiction. The Leederville Post Office is one of only four remaining examples of a suburban post office which incorporated a post master's residence and one of a series built to serve the rapidly expanding suburban areas during the gold rush period. Others built in the same period included the Aberdeen Street, Brisbane Street, Victoria Park and (now demolished) Hay Street post offices. All exhibited a similar style, adapted for their sites. Although Leederville Post Office was built under the direction of PWD Chief Architect J. H. Grainger, the design continued the pattern established by his predecessor, George Temple Poole, but with some small variations. The foundation stone made from Meckering granite, was laid by E.H. Wittenoom, Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, on 3 May 1897. During the ceremony he spoke about the development of the area and added: ' I am very pleased to know that so close to Perth there was so much land available for cutting up for small allotments, where people could live more comfortably than in the more crowded city. If it was one thing they desired more than another it was that people should acquire land and settle down and erect homes from themselves. A leaden box containing, among other things, current newspapers, a Government Gazette, Year Book, postage stamps and working drawings of the building, was placed behind the stone. The contract for its construction was let to A. Davenport in February 1897 and the building was completed in September at a cost of £1,168. It was one of five public buildings erected on the Fitzroy Park Estate. The others were the Leederville Primary School (1896), headmaster's house (No. 164 Oxford Street 1897 - 1985), Municipal Chambers (1897 - 1940_ and the Police Station (1897 - 1964). It was first listed in the 1898 edition of Wise's Post Office Directories, but the postmaster's name was not included. In 1899 the postmistress was Miss Matilda Pollard and she remained there until 1910 when John. G Cornish took over. Early resident Gordon Hughes said that in the early years the Post Office used to look lilke a house with chimnyes and open fireplaces. These were later taken off and the bricks were used to build at the rear. The building was extended and altered further over the years, with some former windows being replaced with private letter boxes. The post office function was extended into the residential section of the building was adpated as the district developed. The postmen and telegram boys all used push bieks to deliver the mail and telegrams and there were two deliveries of mail each day. In the 1940's the area they covered was very large from 'North Perth, part of West Perth, Leederville, Mount Hawthorn, Joondanna and Glendalough and part of Osborne Park' (Les Beckham OH). At that time there was a Morse Room at the rear where all the telegrams were deciphered. When Les Beckham worked there some of the other staff were Jack Branch, Mr Rinaldi and Brian Simpson. Unfortunately, in 1949 the last year of the Directories no mention was made of the postmaster but it indicated that a public telephone box had been erected outside sometime previously. Peter Ryan was one of the longer serving postmasters having been appointed in the 1970's and he was still there in the early 1990's. It was around that time that Leederville's postal requirements eventually outgrew the building and a new postal facility was provided in a new building adjacent at No. 288 Vincent Street. In the late 1990s, the Post Office was purchased by a private individual and sympathetically converted to an eating house, the Post Cafe in 1997. In 1999 a two storey building was constructed at the rear with a frontage onto Vincent Street for shop/offices and a car park. In 2008 these shops were tenanted by Hair Candy and the Leederville Post Office. Other restaurants followed Post Cafe including the franchise 'Nandos' followed by the coffee shop franchise 'Dome', with alterations being made to cater for this in 2007.

Integrity/Authenticity

Moderate to High

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.