postoffice

The Fortitude Valley Post Office, built in 1887, is important for its ability to demonstrate the evolution of post and telegraph services in Queensland and the development of Fortitude Valley, at a time of rapid trade, commerce, industry and residential expansion in the area. The grand style and scale of the building demonstrate the prosperity of Fortitude Valley at that time.[1] The siting of the building at the corner of Ann and Ballow Streets is of interest for the controversy it caused between the government and the local residents and businesses who were preferable of the building being located closer to the business centre of Fortitude Valley. The post office is also of interest for the ancillary role it played in the distribution of social security payments of various kinds during the early 1900s, at which time it was claimed to be among the heaviest pensions-paying center in the Commonwealth. The building is a rare example of a post office composed in the Victorian Italianate style, being one of only ten such buildings designed by the Colonial Architect's Office of the Department of Public Works in that architectural form. The Fortitude Valley Post Office is particularly unusual as the only post office in Queensland to be designed and constructed with mansard-style roofs. The building's ornately detailed facade, regarded amongst the most elaborate of all post offices in Queensland, is of considerable aesthetic significance. The variety of mouldings, motifs and cast masonry decorations demonstrate a fine quality of workmanship.[1] It is of interest as an example of a post office with a combined postmaster's residence. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortitude_Valley_Post_Office

Cobb & Co stagecoaches ran in Queensland for almost 60 years between 1865 and 1924. The Outback Pioneers Cobb & Co Stagecoach Experience lets you experience what it was like to travel by this pioneer transport on an old bush route, complete with a gallop to ‘outrun the storm’. Here are some fascinating facts on the stagecoach service that opened up the outback. 1. 1. Cobb & Co was founded by Freeman Cobb with partners John Peck, James Swanton and John Lamber. Cobb only stayed in Australia for three years before returning to his home in America but the stagecoach service continued to bear his name. 2. The first Cobb & Co route was from Melbourne to Port Melbourne in 1853. The first Queensland service, in 1865, was between Brisbane and Ipswich. 3. Stagecoach travel was very expensive – about $2 for a one-day journey in 1860. Today this would be about $400. 4. In the heyday of the business, Cobb & Co would harness up to 6,000 horses every day with 40,000 on call for work at any one time. 5. Feeding these horses required approximately 33 ton (30 tonne) of corn and oats each day. During the drought of 1902, Cobb & Co nearly went broke because of the cost of buying and transporting fodder. 6. Cobb & Co coaches travelled at an average speed of 7 miles (12 km) per hour and covered about 50 miles (80 km) in a day. 7. If a coach could not get up a steep hill, passengers were expected to get out and walk, or even push. If it got bogged, which it often did in the wet season, they had to help dig it out. 8. Passengers were allowed only 14 pounds (6 kilograms) of luggage – less than the cabin bag allowance on flights today. 9. Mail was the most important part of the coaches’ cargo. People in the bush relied on the mail not only for letters but for hundreds of items that could be bought from mail-order catalogues. Their parcels of pots and pans, tools, clothing, lamps and more were wrapped in brown paper and brought by the stagecoach. 10. The last Longreach-Jundah stagecoach ran in January 1922. By then, motor vehicles were starting to take over and the railway was already connecting Longreach to the wider world. Later that year, Qantas ran its first scheduled passenger flight, which was from Longreach to Cloncurry. Source: www.outbackpioneers.com.au/blog/10-fascinating-facts-of-c...

Adavale is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Quilpie, Queensland, Australia. The town is only accessible along a gravel road from Charleville in the east, Quilpie in the south and Blackall in the north. The town is named after Ada Constance Stevens (wife of Ernest James Stevens). The Stevens family had the Tintinchilla (later Milo) pastoral run in the area. There is a story that the origin of the name is that Ada lost her hat veil (Ada-veil) where the Milo road crosses Blackwater Creek. Town and suburban lots in the town of Adavale were sold on 9 February 1881 at Charleville. Adavale Post Office opened on 1 January 1881 and closed in 1991. Source: www.wikiwand.com/en/Adavale

This two-storey building has dominated the River Street location since its construction in 1883. The Mackay Post Office and Telegraph Office was designed in the 1870s, but the first stage was not constructed until 1883 with the adjoining Telegraph Office constructed in 1884. The construction is only two years after the city’s oldest building: The Australian Joint Stock Bank at 63 Victoria Street, constructed in 1881. Thus, the construction of such prominent buildings, both designed by the Colonial Architect, F.D.G. Stanley, demonstrate the growth and importance of the Mackay region in the late 19th century. The government architect, F.D.G. Stanley, was responsible for the design and construction of Queensland post offices from 1872 – 1881, and George Connolly between 1881-1883 and 1885-1891. The place has a strong association with past and present residents of the Mackay region as the primary center for communication, by mail, telegraph, or telephone since 1874 when the site was a postmaster's residence and office. The new buildings were constructed in stages: the left (east) side of the tower is the original post office opening in 1883. The tower and the telegraph office were constructed in 1884. Originally the lower level was post and telegraph services, kitchen and servants while the upper level was the post and telegraph masters residences. The building meets this criterion as a substantial masonry building with remnant classical detailing typical of Government designed buildings of the period. It is a strong feature in the River Street streetscape and is significant as a landmark building in Mackay. Source: www.mackay.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/211347/...