Stratford Post Office and Clock Tower (1924-1968)

On the afternoon of 20 June 1924 the Hon. J.G. Coates, Postmaster-General, opened the new Post Office and clock tower on Broadway. While in the town Coates was also tasked with opening the Public Trust Office and the Victoria Bridge. 

The construction was supervised by the Public Works Department and carried out by Mr T.W. Alderton for the contact price of £20,835. 

A clock tower was added to the design with the clock and memorial bells contributed by the town as a memorial to remember those soldiers who lost their lives in the Boer War and World War One.  

Unfortunately, as can be seen in the photograph above (from Auckland Libraries) the clock and chimes were not yet ready to be installed. 

The clock and chimes were finally installed and unveiled on Armistice Day, 1924. The company Littlejohn & Son. was responsible for the making the clock, which the mayor explained were guaranteed to “last one hundred years…and therefore…they (the Stratford residents) should not grumble at the few months delay in getting it going”.  

Also delayed was the memorial tablet which did not arrive in Stratford until December 1924. The tablet (made by Messrs. Swan and Son of Dunedin) read, “Memorial clock installed by the citizens of Stratford in honour of all those from Stratford and surrounding districts who served in the Great War, 1914-1919 and in the South African War, 1900-02. Unveiled by Mrs J.W. McMillan, November 11,1924”. (Stratford Evening Post 12 December 1924 p.4)

In 1963 a new Post Office opened in Miranda Street and following this the RSA used the old post office as temporary premises. The building, which had been assessed as an earthquake risk, was demolished in 1968.