Telegraph and Post
Before the first dedicated post office was built, the post and telegraph master, J. Hyland, worked in Barcaldine from 1886 having moved from Jericho as soon as the railway line opened.
The old telegraph line from Blackall was activated and Hyland found himself transacting a great deal of business in a tiny office full of instruments and furniture, known disparagingly as ‘the sentry box’. It was situated dangerously across three lines of track in the deep sand of the railway station area, which at that time was north of the lines.
There was an urgent need to relocate the post office and during a visit by Post Master-General MacDonald-Patterson in May 1887, a permanent site near the State School was chosen.
First Post Office
The first dedicated post office building stood on the site of the current post office and telephone exchange. The business section faced Beech Street, and the residential quarters faced Ash Street. It came from Jericho in the first weeks of 1887.
Second Post Office
Barcaldine Post Office. The Minister for Works has accepted the tender of Meacham and Leyland, at £1761, for the erection of a new Post and Telegraph Office at Barcaldine. The new building will be of wood.
During the week Messrs. Meacham and Leyland, the contractors, have got quite a move on with the old Post Office, and the building is now more than half-way down Beech Street South towards its final resting place. Very little difficulty is apparently being experiences in rolling the premises along and very shorty Mr. Craig, the postmaster, should be located in his new residence, portion of which is already in position
In March 1913, Messrs Meacham and Leyland dismantled the outbuildings of the Post and Telegraph Office and shifted them to the rear of the present building to make way for a new post office. The old residence was situated to face Elm Street, and was still used by the Post Master as living quarters.
Notices for opening hours were regularly inserted in the newspapers, for example:
BARCALDINE POST OFFICE. The Barcaldine Post Office will be open from 9 to 11 a.m. on Saturday for all classes of Post and Telegraph business, excepting money order business. On Easter Monday the Post Office will be open for all classes of Post and Telegraph business, excepting money orders, from 9 to 10 a.m., but there will be no delivery by the postman
Sources include: Hoch, Isabel. 2008. Pages 31, 61
