Busselton residents will continue to send their mail in style with the city’s decorative red pillar post box being added to the State Register of Heritage Places.
Two in Kalgoorlie and one in Bassendean have also been heritage listed.
The four cast iron post boxes are some of the last remaining of their kind in Western Australia that are still in use.
The Bassendean and Kalgoorlie post boxes are similar to the hexagonal ‘Penfold’ design found in Great Britain in the 1850s.
This design was standard issue in WA up until the Commonwealth took control of the postal system following Federation in 1901.
Each of these boxes displays the royal cipher VR for Victoria Regina (Latin for Queen Victoria) and the date of their manufacture.
Busselton’s iconic post box differs from the other heritage listed boxes.
It is a more ornate circular ‘Brussels-style’ design made in New South Wales in 1891 by W. Taylor, Paragon Foundry.
It is very rare as it is the only post box of this style remaining in the state.
Busselton’s heritage listed box, which is located on the corner of Queen Street and Adelaide Street, was constructed in 1842 on what was originally the city’s first campsite.
The old Post Office was one of only five operating in WA at the time.
Heritage minister David Templeman said the heritage listing recognised the rarity of WA’s red pillar post boxes.
“For more than 120 years these post boxes have served residents, businesses and visitors within their communities, connecting them to thousands of people throughout the state, and indeed, the world,” he said.
