Local Government
Woodanilling
Region
Great Southern
Burt Rd Woodanilling
Woodanilling
Great Southern
| Type | Status | Date | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|
| (no listings) |
| Type | Status | Date | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|
| (no listings) |
| Type | Status | Date | Grading/Management | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | ||||
| Municipal Inventory | Adopted | 18 Mar 2003 | Category 5 | |
The site is significant due to its association with postal communications and also for its linkage with pioneering families.
The site is north of the railway station and on the east side of Burt Road. The house from which the 'post office' operated was clad with galvanised iron.
Woodanilling town's first permanent settler was railway ganger, Harry Stevens, who arrived in late 1892, to be joined by his wife Emily Jane and young daughter Lucy Jane on New Year's Day 1893. Their first house at Woodanilling was a humpy which had been occupied by the previous ganger named Nete. The 'house' had a tin roof with hessian wall and was situated on the west side of the railway just north of the goods shed and station. The humpy was alive with bugs, daughter Lucy recalled later. Stevens built a wattle and daub house and the family lived in this before shifting into the newly constructed station house. When a stationmaster was appointed, Stevens purchased Lot 124, over the railway and built a galvanised iron dwelling. This house was used as the first Post Office which was operated by Emily Stevens. Mrs Stevens began her role as postmistress almost by accident. Originally with no stationmaster, the Woodanilling mail was left at the siding on the edge of the railway tracks for anybody to puck and sort up. Then Mrs Stevens began picking it up for safety and to keep it out of the weather and would distribute it from their wattle and daub house. When they moved to the station house this carried on and when in their new home this service was officially recognised in September 1902 Mrs Stevens was paid 10/- a week for her effort. However, when her daughter Lucy married Richard Wilcox in 1905, Mrs Stevens was unable to carry on with the Post Office and relinquished it. The Stationmaster, Alfred Searle, took it over but the service was unsatisfactory as most business had to be done in Katanning as money orders and the like could not be procured at Woodanilling
| Ref ID No | Ref Name | Ref Source | Ref Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Photos 10/16, Col 1-17; "Round Pol to Woodanilling", pp 9, 12 | 1985 | ||
| John Bird; "Round Pool to Woodanilling", pp 151-152, 158, 162, 212 | 1985 |
Historic Site
| Epoch | General | Specific |
|---|---|---|
| Original Use | Transport\Communications | Comms: Post or Telegraph Office |
| General | Specific |
|---|---|
| TRANSPORT & COMMUNICATIONS | Mail services |
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