Alberton.

A Post Office was opened in Alberton in 1842.. That office change name to Port Albert and a new Alberton Post Office opened a few days later on 10 January 1856.

The twin towns of Alberton and Victoria (separated only by Victoria Street - renamed Brewery Road in 1847) developed slowly as settlers preferred to go to Port Albert and Tarraville.

A Telegraph Office was opened in conjunction with the Post Office in 1887 when the town started to grow significantly with the anticipation of the railway (which arrived in 1892).

In 1872, Alberton had the Number 1 school in the Colony - as all schools were then ordered alphabetically.

Foster (nee Stockyard Creek).

An article in the Gippsland Times of 30 March 1872, from a correspondent at Stockyard Creek, "We are in hopes that when the telegraph line to the Promontory in completed we shall have a station at Stockyard Creek and, considering the population and how remote the place is from everywhere, I think we are fairly entitled to it".

On 24 December 1872, The Herald reported that "The Post Office authorities stated that the Telegraph Office at Stockyard Creek will be opened immediately the line is finished which will be in about a month. The Government proposes to rent offices temporarily pending the building of permanent ones". 

The Foster Telegraph Office was opened - as Stockyard Creek - on 25 April 1873 - the same month as on the Promontory.

The Post Office was established when Stockyard Creek Post Office was renamed on 1 August 1879.

Foster is 29 km south-east of Leongatha.

A Telegraph Office was opened at the Railway station. It was reclassified as a Post Office in 1915, reclassified back to a Telegraph Office in 1940 and then closed in 1957.

Foster P&TO 1910.

A 1 hole Belt & Buckle date stamp was issued to Foster.

Used in black: 1 August 1890 to 1891.

Size: 29 × ? (not seen complete).

Rated: RRR.

Number in the Census: 1.

12 May (no year).

The settlement was originally known as Silkstone. The Post Office opened on 1 September 1884 near Arawata. In 1887, the office handled 1,337 posted letters. On 1 November 1889, the office was renamed Glentress and a new Korumburra Post Office was opened on the same day on the railway survey line. In 1890, Glentress handled 1,999 posted letters while Korumburra handled 8,772. The official Reports do not add theletters RS to indicate this Post Office was part of the railway station. Neither Office handled any telegrams. A new Post Office building was opened between 1890 and 1893 on the corner of Bridge Street and Mine Road, Korumburra.

The Railway line reached Korrumburra in 1891. Thr Railway station was designed by Charles Norman and built in 1907. It vis now (thankfully) heritage listed.

A Telegraph Office opened at the Railway Station in 1910, changed status to Post Office in 1915, reverted to a Telegraph Office in 1940 and closed in December 1964.

Korumburra Post & Telegraph Office. Designed by Neil Falconer and built in 1904.
It is now a private residence.

The Post Office opened as Koorooman on 1 October 1887 and was renamed Leongatha on 1 June 1891 when a township was established on the arrival of the railway on 14 December 1891.

In the mid-1880's, a survey of the area was made and the town of Koorooman was established - about 10 miles north of Leongatha. A Post Office was established there (in a tree hollow). Soon after, the railway was constructed through the difficult Koo Wee Rup swamps and it reached Loch and Korumburra in 1891. That began the development of Leongatha - and the demise of Koorooman.

The Warragul Guardian of 11 March 1890 reported that "A site for a post and telegraph office has been excepted from occupation at Leongatha". The Telegraph Office opened before 1893. The telegraph line probably followed the railway line from Dandenong to Leongatha (probably via Warragul and Mirboo) and then to Alberton (Railway Bill of 1884). Up to 1890, there were no telegraph facilities at Koorooman.

On 15 March 1899, the Mornington Journal published an important decision: "The Postal Department have decided to apply the contract principle to the Leongatha Post and Telegraph office and, to show how the privilege is sought after, the Postmaster General has received 29 tenders for the work. The system of placing Post and Telegraph offices under the management of persons outside the department, having given great satisfaction to the Postmaster-General, the system will be extended - hence the alteration in the postal arrangements at Leongatha". The beginnings of LPOs!!

Telegraph Offices were also opened at

• the Leongatha Railway Station about 1910 - closed about 1918;
• the Leongatha South Railway Station (8 km south) on 1 May 1944 - closed on 22 March 1949.

In the Mornington Journal of 15 March 1899, it was reported that

"The Postal department have decided to apply the contract principle to the Leongatha Post and Telegraph office and, to show how the privilege is sought after, the Postmaster-General has received 29 tenders for the work. The system of placing Post and Telegraph offices under the management of persons outside the department, having given great satisfaction to the Postmaster-General, the system will be extended - hence the alteration in the postal arrangements at Leongatha".

Nothing else is known of this initiative.

The Leongatha Post and Telegraph Office is one of a small group of post offices, along with those in Terang (1903), Sorrento (1904), Korumburra (1904) and Woodend (1905), to be constructed for the Commonwealth by the Victorian government in the early years after Federation. These buildings were all designed and constructed by the Victorian Public Works Department under the supervision of its chief architect, J. H. Marsden - this despite the postal and telegraphic services being transferred to the Commonwealth from the states in 1901. After the early months of 1907, no further post offices were built in Victoria until 1909, when a concerted building campaign was commenced by the Commonwealth. Postal buildings were erected at at Canterbury, Hawthorn, Brunswick, and Beulah. Others followed in 1910, at Casterton, Birchip, Box Hill, Clifton Hill, Port Melbourne, Sandringham, Rupanyup, Violet Town and Willaura. More than a dozen additional premises were completed prior to the outbreak of World War I.

Today the Leongatha Post and Telegraph Office is one of the oldest still functioning post offices built for the Commonwealth after Federation in 1901.

Port Albert.

The Telegraph Office was opened on 1 December 1864.

On 19 August 1864, the Gippsland Guardian had reported "At the request of the Government, Sir. Robert Turnbull, M.L.C., has consented to give a site for a powder magazine at the north-east corner of his land at Port Albert. Mr. H. B. Thomas, the surveyor, has been requested by Mr. Turnbull to place himself in communication with Mr. Belcher, so that the site and its dimensions may be at once agreed upon. It will be remembered that Mr. Turnbull has also presented the Government with the ground for telegraph and post office at this place".

On 25 January 1866, the Gippsland Times reported that " Mr. McGowan, the Superintendent of Telegraphs, is expected to arrive at the beginning of next month for the purpose of opening the new telegraph office and buildings which, when fully completed, will add greatly to the appearance of the seaport".

Port Albert derives its present name from the husband of Queen Victoria. It was originally known, from 1841, as Seabank or Old Port which was changed to Alberton in 1842 and then to Port Albert in 1856. It was one of the first ports in Victoria and became the administrative centre of Gippsland. It was also the transport focus for goods transport between Melbourne and Tasmania. As such, there was a priority for Port Albert to have telegraphic communications.

Tarraville.

The town was established in 1841 on the track north from Port Albert. It grew quickly especially after the discovery of gold in the Omeo and hundreds or prospectors used the track to make their way north. When the railway connected Melbourne to Sale in the late 1870s, Tarraville's population declined rapidly.

A Telegraph Office was opened in June 1877 on a special branch from the main line to Port Albert. In 1879, the Office transmitted 441 messages which was a decrease of about 300 from the number transmitted in 1878 (the first full year of operation).

A Post Office was opened on 10 May 1854.

Welshpool.

A Telegraph Office was opened at Welshpool in conjunction with the Post Office in 1890.

The Telegraph Station was opened on 3 April 1873. It was provisionally closed on 31 December 1951 and permanently closed on 30 April 1952.

Used: 10 December 1930 to 7 January 1948 (on plain cover).

Diameter: 29 mm.

Rated: RRR.

Number in the Census: 2.

The Telegraph Office was opened in July 1882.

1. Used in black: 18 February 1890 and 31 July 1891;

Size: 27 × 40 mm (e = 0.74).

Rated: RRR.

Number in the Census: 2.

2. Used in blue: 9 July 1890 to 28 April 1891.

Size: 27 × 40 mm (e = 0.74).

Rated: RRR.

Number in the Census: 4 (plus two part strikes with unclear dates).

Commonly used on telegrams.