Post and Telegraph
<p>To an isolated community such as Mackay, the development of postal and telegraphic communication was very important, and was among the first public utilities established.
</p><p>An early report describes business at Mackay being "conducted in a hovel in Wood Street, called, by courtesy, the Post Office." When the mail arrived, it was thrown in a heap in the middle of the room and addressees selected their own mail from the pile. The Postmaster General paid a visit in 1863 and reported the Mackay office as 'very unsatisfactory'. The first postmaster was probably J.T. Baker who was also clerk of petty sessions.
</p><p>Pack horse mail services to Nebo and Avon Downs in the hinterland were established in 1865. In 1867 the electric telegraph line from Brisbane was extended from Broadsound to Mackay.
</p><p>The telephone, invented by A.G. Bell in 1876 came to Brisbane in 1880 and Mackay was connected in 1899, the 7th exchange in Queensland.
</p><p>An imposing Post Office was built at a site in River Street in 1883. It has undergone many changes, notably to the clock tower and verandah, as well as internal changes, but much of the original building is still retained.
</p><p>In 1975 ownership passed from the Post Master General's Department to Telecom when the two government departments separated. As Mackay grew, several suburban post offices and agencies were established, and a new mail exchange opened in West Mackay in 1984. A new post office was opened in Sydney Street in 1994.
</p><p>From the Mackay Historical Society and Museum Incorporated.
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Queensland State Archives Image ID 2590
Queensland State Archives
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