Geelong Post Office Building - History

History

The first post office in Geelong was a corner of a store in Barwon Terrace, South Geelong, which opened around June 1840.

From August 1842 the Geelong Advertiser office was used as a post office.

A permanent post office was completed in 1857 on the corner of Ryrie and Gheringhap Streets. It was demolished in 1889 to make way for the building that stands on the site today. The new building was opened in 1891, with one major omission - the clock tower did not have a clock in it.

Work on providing a clock and chimes did not start until July 1911, with a London firm contracted to supply the timepiece. Five bells were provided, the largest one weighing 15 hundredweight (approximately 765 kilograms). Each clock face was 2.5 metres in size, the hour hands are 1 metre long, and the minute hands 1.25 metres long.

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