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South Perth Post Office
South Perth Post Office is a heritage-listed post office at 103 Mill Point Road, South Perth, Western Australia, Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 8 November 2011. The post office is located on the Mill Point peninsula.
Prior to the turn of the century, following the gold rush, there was a need for recreational facilities in the environs of Perth.[according to whom?] One such facility eventuating was the precinct comprising the Zoological Gardens and the Mineral Baths[further explanation needed] in South Perth, commenced in 1898. Up until September 1901, it is recorded that 176,800 people had visited the Zoological Gardens within three years of its opening. South Perth is relatively close to Perth by ferry; by horse and cart, at that time, it was quite a long journey. Part of the enjoyment of a trip to the Zoo was the ferry crossing to Mends Street Jetty. An interchange at the jetty end of the street connected with the tram route which passed the gates of the Zoo on its return to Perth. Many people chose to walk the short distance along Mends Street. Businesses housed in buildings, some of which survive, flourished until the gold boom subsided. The post office is one of these buildings in Mends Street. The terminus of the ferry service continued to provide the impetus to development of this section of South Perth even after the bridging of the Swan River at the Narrows in the 1950s.[citation needed] Thriving commercial buildings have been added to the residential nature of the district.[citation needed] The environs of the Mends Street precinct provided fertile ground for testing changes to the residential planning codes, with resulting substantial increases in residential density evident today.
Prior to Federation, the State Government was responsible for the operation of the postal service in Western Australia. By 1898, the district became eligible for a post and telegraph office. This was operated by Theresa O'Dea, the first post mistress, from a room located at the foot of the stairs in the Windsor Hotel, then operated by the Strickland family. At that time about fifty letters a day were delivered and three letter boxes had to be cleared. The building from which this service was conducted still exists, diagonally opposite the current building.
In 1900, a site on the western corner of Mill Point Road, then known as Suburban Road, was set aside. In June, a contract was awarded to F. S. Warner for £939. The total cost of the facility was £1,764 when completed in 1901, equivalent to A$303,881 in 2022, and included quarters for the post mistress, by then, Miss J. Benson. Responsibility for providing the post office buildings until 1901 also rested with the Government of Western Australia. Accordingly, the design and construction was undertaken by the Public Works Department (PWD). A common practice, following re-organisation of the Department in 1897, was to facilitate the works by adapting a standard design as necessary, with a site plan specifically addressing the site conditions. There is evidence that this practice was adopted in the case of the South Perth Post Office and Quarters. The standard design apparently adopted for this purpose was PWD Standard Plan Class D. Modifications probably included the substitution of the operating room for a bedroom, with the internal kitchen, pantry and laundry added at the rear. Warwick Broomfield, a reviewer of post office plans in Western Australia suggests: "a sheet showing a standard design which is similar to South Perth is ascribed to Hardwick in 1897."[quote needs citation] The design style is best categorised as a very simple form of federation bungalow as described in, but with no outstanding design elements evident. At present, the location of other buildings to the same or similar plan is not known. In 1900, J. H. Grainger was the Principal Architect, with Hillson Beasley his Chief Draughtsman. Beasley signed the site plan on 11 April 1900.
On 1 May 1905, the status of the Post and Telegraph Office was amended to an Allowance Office and, in 1911, to Official. In 1937, the building had a low open picket fence and an enclosed verandah on the Quarters side. The Post Office was renamed Mends Street in 1939 with reversion of its status to an Allowance Office in 1941 and back to Official in 1948. The name was again changed to South Perth in 1982. To some extent, these changes reflect the perception and actuality of the focus of the district resulting from the major changes inflicted on the character of this section of South Perth by the bridging of the Swan River at the Narrows in the 1950s.
The rear southeast section was rebuilt and further additions on the northwest side added at an unknown date. The additions comprise face red brickwork with rendered cement sills to match the original details although a change in the coursework mortar is evident.
Outbuildings in the rear yard were removed or replaced in 1981, and the area asphalted and planted for public and staff carparking. In 1995–1996, general external and internal works associated with the building's refurbishment were undertaken. It is likely that the original (east) side vestibule entry to the former residence was removed at this time although the arched opening and door and toplight joinery remain. All telephone and telegraph functions have been removed.
Externally, perimeter garden areas and a picket fence were re-instated around 2005 and the roof sheeting and rainwater goods replaced resulting in the building's "over-restored appearance". The northwest verandah was enclosure removed and restored, and a new verandah, matching the original in detail, extended around the three sides of the southeast wing. Various windows and door openings have been reinstated; two openings centred in the rear (south) wall have been bricked-in. An automatic sliding entry door has been installed in the northeast corner of the building and the original (east) side entry to the postal hall replaced by a window. Post office boxes have been installed in two original extant openings along the east verandah (one opening has been widened) as well as to the three walls of the southeast rear wing.
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South Perth Post Office
South Perth Post Office is a heritage-listed post office at 103 Mill Point Road, South Perth, Western Australia, Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 8 November 2011. The post office is located on the Mill Point peninsula.
Prior to the turn of the century, following the gold rush, there was a need for recreational facilities in the environs of Perth.[according to whom?] One such facility eventuating was the precinct comprising the Zoological Gardens and the Mineral Baths[further explanation needed] in South Perth, commenced in 1898. Up until September 1901, it is recorded that 176,800 people had visited the Zoological Gardens within three years of its opening. South Perth is relatively close to Perth by ferry; by horse and cart, at that time, it was quite a long journey. Part of the enjoyment of a trip to the Zoo was the ferry crossing to Mends Street Jetty. An interchange at the jetty end of the street connected with the tram route which passed the gates of the Zoo on its return to Perth. Many people chose to walk the short distance along Mends Street. Businesses housed in buildings, some of which survive, flourished until the gold boom subsided. The post office is one of these buildings in Mends Street. The terminus of the ferry service continued to provide the impetus to development of this section of South Perth even after the bridging of the Swan River at the Narrows in the 1950s.[citation needed] Thriving commercial buildings have been added to the residential nature of the district.[citation needed] The environs of the Mends Street precinct provided fertile ground for testing changes to the residential planning codes, with resulting substantial increases in residential density evident today.
Prior to Federation, the State Government was responsible for the operation of the postal service in Western Australia. By 1898, the district became eligible for a post and telegraph office. This was operated by Theresa O'Dea, the first post mistress, from a room located at the foot of the stairs in the Windsor Hotel, then operated by the Strickland family. At that time about fifty letters a day were delivered and three letter boxes had to be cleared. The building from which this service was conducted still exists, diagonally opposite the current building.
In 1900, a site on the western corner of Mill Point Road, then known as Suburban Road, was set aside. In June, a contract was awarded to F. S. Warner for £939. The total cost of the facility was £1,764 when completed in 1901, equivalent to A$303,881 in 2022, and included quarters for the post mistress, by then, Miss J. Benson. Responsibility for providing the post office buildings until 1901 also rested with the Government of Western Australia. Accordingly, the design and construction was undertaken by the Public Works Department (PWD). A common practice, following re-organisation of the Department in 1897, was to facilitate the works by adapting a standard design as necessary, with a site plan specifically addressing the site conditions. There is evidence that this practice was adopted in the case of the South Perth Post Office and Quarters. The standard design apparently adopted for this purpose was PWD Standard Plan Class D. Modifications probably included the substitution of the operating room for a bedroom, with the internal kitchen, pantry and laundry added at the rear. Warwick Broomfield, a reviewer of post office plans in Western Australia suggests: "a sheet showing a standard design which is similar to South Perth is ascribed to Hardwick in 1897."[quote needs citation] The design style is best categorised as a very simple form of federation bungalow as described in, but with no outstanding design elements evident. At present, the location of other buildings to the same or similar plan is not known. In 1900, J. H. Grainger was the Principal Architect, with Hillson Beasley his Chief Draughtsman. Beasley signed the site plan on 11 April 1900.
On 1 May 1905, the status of the Post and Telegraph Office was amended to an Allowance Office and, in 1911, to Official. In 1937, the building had a low open picket fence and an enclosed verandah on the Quarters side. The Post Office was renamed Mends Street in 1939 with reversion of its status to an Allowance Office in 1941 and back to Official in 1948. The name was again changed to South Perth in 1982. To some extent, these changes reflect the perception and actuality of the focus of the district resulting from the major changes inflicted on the character of this section of South Perth by the bridging of the Swan River at the Narrows in the 1950s.
The rear southeast section was rebuilt and further additions on the northwest side added at an unknown date. The additions comprise face red brickwork with rendered cement sills to match the original details although a change in the coursework mortar is evident.
Outbuildings in the rear yard were removed or replaced in 1981, and the area asphalted and planted for public and staff carparking. In 1995–1996, general external and internal works associated with the building's refurbishment were undertaken. It is likely that the original (east) side vestibule entry to the former residence was removed at this time although the arched opening and door and toplight joinery remain. All telephone and telegraph functions have been removed.
Externally, perimeter garden areas and a picket fence were re-instated around 2005 and the roof sheeting and rainwater goods replaced resulting in the building's "over-restored appearance". The northwest verandah was enclosure removed and restored, and a new verandah, matching the original in detail, extended around the three sides of the southeast wing. Various windows and door openings have been reinstated; two openings centred in the rear (south) wall have been bricked-in. An automatic sliding entry door has been installed in the northeast corner of the building and the original (east) side entry to the postal hall replaced by a window. Post office boxes have been installed in two original extant openings along the east verandah (one opening has been widened) as well as to the three walls of the southeast rear wing.
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