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Freotopia > East Fremantle > Plympton Post Office
Plympton Post Office
101 Canning Highway
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East Fremantle Town Hall and Plympton Post Office (right)
Library:
A four horse dray stands in Canning Highway in front of the Plympton Post Office (name changed to East Fremantle in 1899); which opened on 14.03.1898 [but see below]. The first Post Master, J. Adams, was appointed in March 1898.
Next to the left is the Police Station, Quarters and Lock up. Then the Fire Station: a shed next to the Police Station. In the centre is the East Fremantle Town Hall. The architect for this building was Joseph F. Allen and the foundation stone was laid by Sir John Forrest in 1899.
Photograph #707 c. 1906, from the Fremantle Library Local History Collection. Text from the Library entry. Signage in 2019 on the former post office indicates that it was an antique shop, Manera Antiques, but it is long closed. The corner with Stirling Highway is now immediately after that building to the west.
Plympton Post Office with the Police Station on the left
Heritage Council:
The former East Fremantle Post Office is located at 101 Canning Highway in a prominent position at the corner of Canning Highway and Stirling Highway (formerly King Street). The former Post Office is a finely designed two storey Federation Classical style building. Most of its exterior and interior detailing are still intact. It is constructed in brick and rendered brick with a corrugated iron roof. There is a brick construction former mail room to the rear, which also accommodated amenities and cycle storage. The floor is replacement granolithic. The rear elevation features a two storey verandah that has been mostly enclosed. The roofscape features a stout rendered chimney. A large face brick house with upper surfaces of pebble and dash stucco, symmetrical street elevation with projecting central gabled bay. Arts and Craft influence in the mitred hipped slate roof, elevations and chimney design.
Rear, showing partly enclosed back verandah.
The building was most recently used as Manera Antiques. During 2020 it was restored and renovated by Yard Property for their use as their offices.
PO c. 1920. Possibly the Easton family, who lived there 1917-1920. FreoLib #E000046-03.
The East Fremantle Post Office was first opened in what I believe was also known (according to Jack Lee) as Pearse's Hall - in 1898 - two years before the existing PO building was built. There is still a stone building next to what is now the Tradewinds Hotel (formerly the Plympton). It is now a Cellarbrations bottle shop and two other shopw.
This report in the Daily News for Thursday 22 February 1900 records that the new building would be going to tender in 1900.
This report in the West Australian indicates that the building was almost complete in May 1901.
Residents
1909: Post & Telegraph Office (J. Twine, Postmaster)
1910: Post & Telegraph Office (Albert C. Twine, Postmaster)
1911 - 1912: Post & Telegraph Office
1913 - 1918: Post & Telegraph Office with Sav Bk (John J. J. Thomas, Postmaster)
1919 - 1920: Post & Telegraph Office with Sav Bk (Charles A. Easton)
1921: Post & Telegraph Office with Sav Bk (Eugene Egan, Postmaster)
1922 - 1930: Post & Telegraph Office with Sav Bk (H. G. Stedman, Postmaster)
1931 - 1943: Post & Telegraph Office with Sav Bank
1944 - 1949: East Fremantle Post Office
Snap from my passing car, July 2020, showing the building with scaffolding removed, but the estate agents not having yet moved in.
One year later, another snap from my passing car, July 2021: yard proclaim ownership.
References and Links
Charlesworth, Helene 1997, Small but Strong: a Pictorial History of the Town of East Fremantle 1897-1997, Town of East Fremantle.
Ewers, John K. 1971, The Western Gateway: A History of Fremantle, Fremantle City Council, with UWAP, rev. ed. [1st ed. 1948].
Hitchcock, JK 1929, The History of Fremantle, The Front Gate of Australia 1829-1929, Fremantle City Council.
Lee, Jack 1979, This is East Fremantle (The story of a town and its people), East Fremantle Town Council.
Fremantle Society newsletter 8 May 2020: 'Yard Property – the yardstick for heritage'.
Links
East Fremantle Heritage pages.
Heritage Trail.
Museum of Perth's Streets of East Freo website.
This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 30 April, 2020 and hosted at freotopia.org/eastfremantle/eastpo.html (it was last updated on 21 April, 2024), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.