After the discovery of gold in 1890s Western Australia, many towns grew rapidly. Often, some of the first buildings were hotels. Only in Niagara, however, was there one pub at each corner of the crossroads in the centre of town.
One of these hotels was also the town's post office.
Miss Wilkins, would-be postmistress
In January 1896, less than a year after gold was discovered at Niagara, Miss Louisa Wilkins was appointed as Niagara's 'Receiver of the Mailbag'. The Postmaster-General's Department had decided not to establish a permanent post office in the young settlement. Wilkins had formerly been in charge of temporary mail arrangements in the town, and, had previous post office experience.
Only 2 months later, in March 1896 the Postmaster-General in Perth was surprised to discover that a publican license had been granted to the occupants of the building where the temporary post office was located. As a result, shockingly, 'at the present, the bar, dining room, and Post Office are one and the same'.
In April, the secretary of the Niagara Progress Committee wrote to the Postmaster-General's Department with complaints about the town's postal arrangements:
The mail is at present delivered over the Bar of an Hotel, and People object to going into such premises to obtain their mail, and are therefore put to a lot of inconvenience.
Complaints about the Niagara mail even made it into the local press. An April 1896 telegram from the Menzies postmaster noted the Menzies Miner newspaper had 'several items on the subject'. One was an account from a Niagara resident reporting that the floor of the 'post office' had been strewn with letters and papers.
The telegram also mentioned there was too much work for one postal officer. On one day alone, 672 letters, along with 600 newspapers, had arrived for sorting.
Fired
On 25 April 1896, just 4 months after she got the job, the Postmaster-General sent a telegram to Miss Wilkins with unfortunate tidings:
Owing to repeated reports from the public of Niagara as to the very unsatisfactory manner in which you are performing the duties of Receiver of the Mailbag I am forced to take the matter out of your hands…
John Gerrans, a recent transfer from the Victorian Post and Telegram Department, took charge of the Niagara mail on Saturday 9 May. The Progress Committee had constructed a temporary post office of hessian, which Gerrans reported was hot during the day and cold at night. Boxes were used as the table and chairs. There was also no floor. Perhaps the pub had been a more hospitable option.
Niagara did get a more permanent post office building in 1897, but the town did not last long after this momentous event. In 1899, the Niagara population was diverted to Kookynie as most mining activities ceased. By 1919, there were only 2 prospectors reported in the town.
Niagara is one of the towns featured in the exhibition Ghost town: stories from the ruins, on show at the Western Australia Office from November 2022 until July 2023.
