Early mail deliveries to Glen Innes were spasmodic. James Martin was appointed first Postmaster in 1854. At the time roads were primitive and delivery of mail depended on the vagaries of the weather. When the mail did get to Glen Innes and was sorted Martin blew a bugle to let people know to collect their letters.
Prior to this a post office had been established at Wellingrove in 1849 – mail was delivered by a man riding and leading a packhorse.
As tracks became better coaches commenced services and by 1873 Cobb and Co ran three coaches a week.
In 1861 the first Telegraph Office was opened in Glen Innes – separate from the Post office, but they amalgamated in 1870.
With the advent of the telegraph from Sydney a signal was sent to Glen Innes every day at 1pm. Local jeweller Constantine Braithwaite was on standby and on the receipt of the signal a gun was fired so that the local inhabitants could adjust their clocks and watches. This practice continued until the gun blew up.
The first telephone exchange was opened in Glen Innes in 1906 with a day service only. However, this became continuous months later and by 1909 there were 111 subscribers. Following this small exchanges were set up in outlying country areas.
For economy party lines were established in these areas with up to six people sharing the same telephone line.
To distinguish the various parties on the line they were each given a letter of the alphabet and the ring was the Morse code signal for that letter.
Early photographs show a brick PO on the site of the present one. The locals thought it was inadequate and petitioned the government for a new one.
They were successful and a new one was built, the original bricks sold, and they were used by FJ Thomas to build a house in Bourke Street next to Chaffey’s garage.
The present PO was built by Stanbrook Bros for £2,505 in 1895.
“A new telephone exchange was opened next to the post office in 1854 and in 1979 and 1980 the telephones were converted to automatic and this brought about the closure of the various country exchanges” wrote Bill Cameron, 1992
A new ‘Communications’ exhibition has opened at our Land of the Beardies Museum.
