Post and Telegraph Office

This building was erected in August 1860 and rooms were added in 1861 for Telegraph Offices, when the telegraph line had been extended here from Ararat.

The contract for the extension was let to a Castlemaine firm at the rate of £47 per mile and the distance was given as 25 miles.

The roof was then shown as shingled. In the photograph, other matching rooms as shown on the right were demolished about 1938. The TELEGRAPH OFFICE sign is shown on the wall above the window on the left.

Some nine years after this Post Office was built, the Borough of Stawell was proclaimed. This united both this area and the Quartz Reefs around Big Hill. The Telegraph Line was immediately extended to a new Post and Telegraph Office in Main Street, which was built in 1875. After the Borough was proclaimed in 1869 - this building became a private residence and has been ever since.