page_title: Rockhampton Post Office
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Rockhampton Post Office / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Rockhampton Post Office, ca. 1895. Rockhampton Post Office was designed by the architect G Connolly and constructed by Collins and McLean in 1895. It was built from Stanwell sandstone. The most striking features of the building are the superb colonnades and the imposing clock tower. The Post Office is situated on the northwest corner of East Street and Denham Street.
context_page_description: Rockhampton Post Office is a heritage-listed former post office at 80 East Street, Rockhampton, Rockhampton Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by George St Paul Connolly and built from 1892 to 1896 by Dennis Kelleher. It is also known as Rockhampton Post and Telegraph Offices. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 24 January 2003.
context_section_description: This grand two-storeyed brick post office with sandstone facing was erected in 1892 for the Queensland Post and Telegraph Department. It was designed in the office of Queensland Colonial Architect George Connolly, and was built by Dennis Kellaher for £14 368. Situated at the corner of Denham and East Streets, it was the sixth post office to be established in Rockhampton after a succession of temporary and superseded post offices.
  An unofficial post office was established at Rockhampton in 1858 at a store in Little Quay Street and in 1861 was relocated to a chemist shop. In December 1862, Postmaster General Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior recommended the establishment of an official post office in Rockhampton. By 1863 the first official Postmaster had been appointed and a temporary wooden post office building was constructed on the present post office site between 1863 and 1865.
  During this period Rockhampton's postal services had expanded greatly. In 1865 Rockhampton was linked with Brisbane, via the inland route, through Taroom, Hawkwood, Dalby, Toowoomba and Ipswich and by the mid-1860s most outposts in Central Queensland were in touch with Rockhampton through fortnightly or weekly mail services. On 20 November 1864 a telegraph line was opened between Rockhampton and Gladstone and the first telegraph office was opened in a chemist shop.
  The makeshift wooden post office was replaced in 1866 by an ornate two-storeyed brick building with decorative wooden verandahs. This building was designed by Colonial Architect Charles Tiffin but was originally planned for the Maryborough Post Office. Due to the cost of materials exceeding the budget for the post office originally planned for Rockhampton, the plans for the post offices were swapped. The two buildings were designed concurrently by Tiffin.
  In 1876, the Rockhampton Post Office had processed more than a quarter of a million ordinary letters and fifteen thousand registered letters as well as providing money order and savings bank services.
  From 1879, postal and telegraph services were amalgamated under the Queensland Post and Telegraph Department, but the two services continued to operate separately in Rockhampton, with both a Post and Telegraph Master. In 1883 a new telegraph office was erected next to the old post office. At this time Rockhampton was the main telegraph traffic centre for central and north Queensland and was the largest telegraph office outside Brisbane.
  In 1881 telephones were introduced to Rockhampton with the first telephone exchange opening in April 1884 in a low, wooden building behind the telegraph office and next to the old post office facing East Street. By 1886 the old post office of twenty years and the 1883 telegraph office were too small and the Colonial Architect was requested to plan a new building. With the construction of the 1892 Post and Telegraph Office the three buildings which housed Rockhampton's communication network were demolished and a temporary post office was established in the old Court House while construction was taking place.
  The present post office was constructed of brick with a facade of sandstone from the nearby Stanwell Quarries. It was constructed by Dennis Kellaher when his tender for £14,368 was accepted as the lowest. Kellaher was also contracted to install the first floor accommodation for the Post and Telegraph Masters for £3579.
  The original design of the Post and Telegraph Office was reflective of the separate services of the two departments. The Postal section was located on the corner of Denham and East streets and the Telegraph section was located at the northern end of the building facing East Street. The two were separated by a carriage-way and a clock tower which was installed in September 1894 by the Government Clockmaker. (The clock was made by Gillet and Johnston of Croydon, England, and cost £325.) The first floor was dedicated entirely to accommodation for the Post and Telegraph Masters, each of their apartments situated above their respective sections on the ground floor.
  The front wing of the Post Office 
caption: Rockhampton Post Office, circa 1895
exif: {}