The first Post Office in Preston
- jeskarees
- May 1, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 11, 2024
In 2008 archaeologists and historians from Dr Vincent Clarke and Associates were commissioned to investigate what is now 530 High Street, Preston. A new medical and dental clinic was to be built there and there was some speculation that under the site’s north-west corner the remains of the first Post Office in Preston may have survived.
Historians from Dr Vincent Clarke and Associates were able to find information on the Post Office from two key texts, Brian Rule and Ian Carroll’s Preston: an illustrated history (1985) and H. Forster’s Preston: lands and people 1838-1967 (1968). There they found that the Post Office had been owned and run by the Wood family over several generations. I have used the archaeologists’ report as a starting point for this post and added more information from my own research, especially the oral history collections at the Preston Library.
Who were the Wood family?
The Wood family were part of a group of nonconformist Baptist Church followers who came to Preston from Sussex to establish a community of their own. They sailed aboard the Harpley and packed all the things they might need, even the bell for the chapel that was to hold the community together. Arriving in 1850, they bought twelve acres of land with the Tyler family and started trading in a wooden General Store on the area's only street, then known as Epping Road (later High Street).
After a brief foray to the goldfields, the Wood family built a two-storey building in 1854 out of bluestone quarried from the Darebin Creek. It was one of the first permanent structures built in Preston, and when the Wood family assumed postal duties for the area, the name of 'Preston' was adopted at a meeting held within the building.
Over the next several decades the Wood family played a significant role in the Preston community. They helped build one of the earliest church buildings in 1856 and served on committees to raise funds for Preston's first school (1868) and first library (1876).Throughout that time the family lived and worked in the General Store building, adding a second single-storey building on the south side.
A dedicated post office was opened further up in High Street in 1908 and the Wood Store reverted to being a General Store only. Local resident Norma Witt recalled in 1985 that the Store 'sold anything and everything from tacks to saddles plus all the usual produce that didn’t come in packages, but in bulk, in huge bags'.
Until 1918 Preston was noted to have two major areas of settlement: one around the Wood Store and another at the junction of High Street and Plenty Road at what is now the Preston-Thornbury border. The store continued trading under successive generations of the Wood family until being closed in 1950.
After the Wood family
The site changed hands several times before being occupied by Jack Campbell Motors, which used the building as a shop and later a spare parts storage area. By then the building was in an area of High Street known as Auto Alley, the home of many car yards.
The building fell into disrepair and local community members documented its importance through a plaque commissioned in 1985, which today remains embedded in the pavement outside the current building's front door.
In 1993 the site owners unsuccessfully applied to the City of Preston for a permit to demolish the building. They appealed and the Victorian Administrative Appeals Tribunal ruled in their favour.
The Council reluctantly issued a permit for demolition in March 1994 and a car yard was built on the site. Much of the site was completely covered by a showroom, but the north-west corner was simply concreted over and used to display cars in the open.
The site in 2023
The High Street Medical and Dental Centre has stood on the site since 2009, with the Wood Street store plaque installed on the High Street pavement.
Architects retained the cellar feature by adding some protecting concrete above ground level and planting a tree within the centre, which you can see in the picture on the right. The original bluestone cellar can still be seen from up close.
The archaeology
Stay tuned for my next post, on the fascinating finds made by Dr Vince Clarke and Associates that vividly bring to life the history of the building at 530 High Street between 1854 and 1994.
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