Still standing 120 years after being renamed South Freo PO!

One could write a book about the former South Fremantle Post Office, and in researching its suitability for entry on our State’s Heritage Register the Heritage Council of Western Australia have more or less done that. As recorded by the Heritage Council: ‘To meet the needs of the increasing population of the South Fremantle area, a post and telegraph office was opened on the corner of Hampton Road and South Street, Beaconsfield, on 1 August 1894, with William John Urquhart as the Postmaster. From 1 February 1896, the new Postmaster was John Hartley Kibble… In 1896, the Government Gazette reported that a contract for the construction of a new post office on the corner of Hampton Road and Martha Street in Beaconsfield had been let to C. Coghill on 24 April 1896, for the sum of £1,388.13. Tenders for construction had been called in September 1895. The building was described as being of two storeys, built in stone and wood, and containing a public office, a mail room and operator’s room etc., and five roomed quarters for the postmaster. The Post Office was completed on 24 August 1896. It was standard practice in this period for Post Offices to provide on-site accommodation for the postmistress or postmaster and family, either within the Post Office building itself, or in an attached residence. The new Beaconsfield Post and Telegraph Office was constructed during a time of great activity in the Public Works Department, when the Architectural Section was under the direction of George Temple Poole. During Poole’s time as Principal Architect (1891- 1897), post offices were also constructed in Albany, Capel, Claremont, Dandaragan, Gingin, Leonora, Moora, Narrogin, Norseman, North Fremantle, Brisbane and Aberdeen Streets in Perth, Pingelly, Pinjarra, Roebourne, Southern Cross, Toodyay, Wagin and York. With the federation of the Australian Colonies from 1 January 1901, postal services were taken over by a new Postmaster-General’s Department within the Commonwealth Government from 1 March 1901. The Western Australian Postmaster-General, as the permanent head in the State, then became one of the State-based Deputy-Postmaster-Generals. On 1 April 1904, the Beaconsfield Post Office was renamed South Fremantle Post Office.” Many internal changes were made to the post office over the years until it closed in June 1984, and the original sheoak shingle roof was also replaced along the way. In 1985, the building was sold to a private owner. Today it is residential building. And still a landmark on Hampton Street just 120 years after being renamed the South Freo PO! Nice snap by Deanna Shanahan.