Now home to the Kojonup Historical Society, the Old Post Office was built in 1897.
Prior to this time, postal/telegraph services were conducted firstly in a small house opposite the police station (1864 -1884), and then within a local store.
The 1897 Post Office, which served as a post and telegraph office, had attached living accommodation for the postmaster/mistress.
By 1913, public pressure resulted in a new Post Office being built on Albany Highway.
The Old Post Office became the headmaster's accommodation, being next door to the primary school of the time.
The Old Post Office forms a part of the Historical Town Walk.
The Historical Society hold their monthly meetings at the Old Post Office, and all photographs and archival materials have been catalogued and stored in the building.
General enquires about Kojonup history can be made to the Historical Society through:
The Secretary
Kojonup Historical Society
PO Box 244
KOJONUP WA 6395
(
visit link)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kojonup is a town located 256 km south-east of Perth, Western Australia along Albany Highway.
The name Kojonup is believed to refer to the "Kodja" or stone axe made by Indigenous Australians from the local stone.
The first European in the area was surveyor Alfred Hillman who arrived in 1837 and had been guided to "Kojonup Spring" by the local Aboriginals. The site was an important staging place on the road to Albany, and in 1837 a military post was established there for the protection of travellers and the mail.
By 1845 this outpost had grown to support a military barracks, built on the site of the freshwater spring. Today, the barracks still stands on its original site and houses the Kojonup Pioneer Museum. The barracks is in near perfect condition and is one of the oldest buildings in Western Australia. The first farms in Kojonup were set up by soldiers with settlement grants.
The appointment in 1865 of a mounted Police Constable marked the phasing out of the military presence at Kojonup. By the late 1860s the military had left and the Barracks became a focus for community gatherings, much as it is today.
The town's first Police Station was built in 1869 and the first hotel licence was granted in 1868
The early economy of the town was initially dependent on cutting and transporting sandalwood and kangaroo hunting[4] but by the mid-19th century the wool industry began to boom and by 1906 the shire had 10,500 sheep. By 1989 the shire had seen over 1 million sheep being shorn. To celebrate the importance of the wool industry the town built a one and a half scale model of a wool wagon; the project was officially opened on Australia Day in 2001