09 Dec The Post Office
When Ophir’s current Postal Manager, Val Butcher, was appointed in 2002, she continued an unbroken tradition that goes back to 1 October 1863 and Ophir’s first Postmaster, James Swanson, who also operated a general store where the Post Office was located.
Ophir Post Office is now the oldest continuously operated Post Office in New Zealand.
Post Offices were opened soon after each gold rush started; mail was as critical in those days as Internet and cell phone services are today. Ophir was part of the mail service that ran from Dunedin to Alexandra, via Palmerston and the Pigroot. At first hardy riders on horseback brought the mail in saddlebags, then specialised mail coaches were used, replaced by trains in the 1900s and finally motor vehicles.
above: the Mail coach outside Pitches store in 1867.
That initial mail service managed by James Swanson was established under the name of Blacks Diggings. The name was changed to Blacks in November 1864, and on 7 May 1875 the township was officially named Ophir.
The first specialised Post Office building, opened in 1876, was a wooden building constructed at the back of the current Post Office section where the Lockup is currently located. It was replaced by the current stone building in 1886.
above: Postmaster James Alexander outside the original wooden Post Office in 1875, a snowball fight in the village, some time after 1926.
Leslie Arthur and Company of Cromwell built the current Post Office, at a cost of 323 pounds, six shillings and nine pence. The Victorian design with its five arches creates a commanding presence for such a small building.
In 1975 the New Zealand Historic Places Trust purchased the building, which is now registered as a Category 1 Historic Place. Today it operates as a Postal Agency, and its interior has largely remained unchanged since its construction. Locals collect their mail here, and postcards can be bought and postmarked onsite.
above left: Souvenir envelope celebrating the Historic Places purchase in 1976.
Ophir postmarks from the 1860s were known as ‘the Obliterator’ because they obliterated the stamp! (top left). Today’s postmark acknowledges the early gold days with its image of a shovel and pan (bottom right).
Letters posted from the Ophir Post Office are prized by collectors because they carry an originating rubber stamp postmark. (A postmark, or frank, unique to the originating office, is used to confirm mail has been accepted and to prevent the stamp from being re-used).
Above: Val (post mistress) gets the bug (ex bob turnbull’s bugatti type 37).
Acknowledgements: Historic Buildings of Otago and Southland, Historic Places Trust register.
Ophir’s Postal History, Alan Jolliffe.
Post Office Managers
1863 James Swanson
1864 Gustavicus Carlsbasch
1868 Samuel North
1869 Samuel Leask
1875 James Alexander
1889 J.C. Williamson
1890 Tim Buckley
1893 Joseph Hay
1898 Arthur G. Williams
1898 Miss E. Blackmore
1901 J.A. Holt, A. Eagle (cadet)
1906 Mrs A. Murphy, W.J. Stafford (messenger)
1913 T.E. Connelly
1914 J.M. McKay
1915 Mrs M. Grahame
1922 M. Carry
1923 Miss M.E. McRae
1924 Miss R.M. McKnight
1942 Mrs M.E. Drake
1969 Mrs M. Nelson
1974 Mrs L. MacDonald
2002 Mrs V. Butcher
Opening Hours
Monday – Friday
9.00am – 12.00pm
Closed Public Holidays (except Waitangi Day)
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