The Lightning Ridge Post Office

The postal service at Lightning Ridge began in 1906, when Robert Lindores delivered mail from Cumborah to Donald McKechnie’s store at Wallangulla, later known as Old Town. That August, McKechnie became the first Postmaster. By 1907, Frank Martin had taken over the post and was later instrumental in establishing New Town’s postal services. He applied for a timber licence in 1910, likely to build Martin’s Hall and possibly the first post office in New Town, which opened in November that year. Located on Morilla Street, the building later became the home of George and Joycie Boules and stood until its demolition around 1981.

John Johnson served as the first New Town Postmaster in 1910, overseeing a facility that also handled telegraph services and operated a branch of the Savings Bank. Frank Martin, meanwhile, continued to service the field, delivering mail to Norris and Vause at Three Mile Flat, where a postal agency was proposed in 1910 and formally opened in January 1912. Around the same time, businesses at Nettleton were issued notices to relocate into New Town. A brass stamp from the Nettleton agency was recovered in the 1980s.

New Town’s second post office was constructed by Tom Urwin in 1914 was and located beside the present-day St. Vincent de Paul premises. Bill Kirkland served as Postmaster until 1918, followed by Allen Kay, Albert Dominick, and Ray Hinds. After a dispute between Dominick and Hinds in 1931, a new post office was constructed by Alderslade in 1932, becoming the town’s third post office, remembered as Dawson’s Store and later Maude’s Café. This building operated as a combined general store and post office for more than four decades.

The post office changed hands several times between 1937 and the early 1960s. Jack and Mary Francis ran it from 1937 to 1948, followed by Les and Nell Wharton until 1961. During this period, the Whartons commissioned an extension in 1955 that housed the post office until 1975. Other staff during this era included Dot Melvan, Patricia Flint (nee Boules), and Kevin Flint. In 1961, Artie Dawson purchased the store and operated it until its closure in 1980.

Article: Research by Leisa Carney, edited by Russell Gawthorpe. LRHS research compiled by Len Cram and Barbara Moritz. Sources: Lightning Ridge - The Home of the Black Opal: Unique to the World, Gan Bruce, 1983, pp. 51-52, 54; The Lightning Ridge Book, Stuart Lloyd, 1967, pp. 107, 109; Walgett Spectator, 13 November 1910, 16 December 1910, 21 July 1911, 11 January 1912, 18 January 1912, 25 January 1912, 4 September 1913.