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DUNKELD POST OFFICE

Location 85-87 Wills Street, DUNKELD VIC 3294 - Property No 0060 File Number 371 Level Stage 2 study complete

[1/1] 23537 Dunkeld Post Office 0147

Statement of Significance

What is significant?
The Dunkeld Post Office is a single storey asymmetrical timber building with a verandah, subsequently enclosed at dado level, which includes a projecting corner pavilion. The post office is located on the south east corner of Sterling and Wills Street in the township of Dunkeld. The first post offices were located in insubstantial huts, valued at less than half the rated amount for a simple house in the township. The present post office was not built until the 1890s when it also provided telegraph services. The telegraph had reached Hamilton from Portland as early as 1861 and came through Dunkeld in association with the construction of the railway line late in 1877. The post office is in good condition and retains a high degree of external integrity, although the interiors have been much altered and modernised.

How is it significant?
The Dunkeld Post Office is of historical and architectural significance to the township of Dunkeld and the Southern Grampians Shire.

Why is it significant?
The Dunkeld Post Office is of historical significance as the focus for communication services to the community for over 120 years. It is of historical significance because of its earliest associations with the important local identifies, including the first Postmistress, Miss Sophia Fisher, who was followed by a number of "strong characters" including Miss Olive Trompf, Miss Olive Stimson and Mr. Reuben Schache . The Post Office is of architectural significance as the free style of the building is typical of the late nineteenth century. It is of further architectural and historical significance as it reflects the attitude of the Public Works, in moving away from the very sober designs of public buildings upto the 1880s.