Purpose of the Book

The purpose of this book is to allow interested community members to gain an understanding of the historically important role postal services made to contemporary Australia. Specific attention is given to the appreciation of the beautiful architectural styles of the historically significant postal buildings and red pillar post boxes that are still available to be viewed.

Historical Overview

In a similar format to our first book ‘Discovering Australia’s historical milemarkers and boundary stones’, this book begins with a brief history of Australia’s postal services dating from the establishment of the first post office in 1809 up to the present day. Information on significant communication strategies such as the Cobb & Co. mail service and the Overland Telegraph Line (OTL) are included.

Contributors and Chapters

Information is provided on the biographies of some important contributors to the Australian postal services. The following chapters, organised state by state from Queensland to the Northern Territory, describe a sample of post offices and red pillar post boxes.

Additional Content

Finally, some interesting postal items are described with references providing links for further reading.