Window Detail of the Former Colac Post Office - Murray Street, Colac

            Located at number 4. Murray Street, Colac's former post office is in a prime location at the gateway into the historical  centre of the town.  

Built in 1876 by the Public Works Department, it was extended in 1888 to reflect the Victorian Free Classical building that is seen today.  It features a classical colonnade entrance, windows with attenuated vertical proportions, aedicules using prominent pillar detailing and a classically inspired clock over the entranceway.  

The building has seen many changes over the years, as has its usage.  The Colac telephone exchange commenced on the premises in 1904 with twenty-five subscribers.

Times have changed in Twentieth Century Colac, and the post office with a capacious dwelling for the postmaster became too large for the practicalities of the modern day business that Australia Post is, and they relocated to smaller, more modern and more central promises.  Now the former Colac post office has found new life as a Chinese restaurant.  However, because it is protected by the National Heritage Committee, no exterior advertising is permitted to be attached to the classical facade, which is why there are discreet signs in the upper floor windows and dainty Chinese lanterns hanging from the colonnade's arches.  At night the clock, which still keeps good time, is illuminated by a violet coloured neon light that encircles the face.

Located approximately 150 kilometres to the south-west of Melbourne, past Geelong is the small Western District city of Colac.  The area was originally settled by Europeans in 1837 by pastoralist Hugh Murray.  A small community sprung up on the southern shore of a large lake amid the volcanic plains.  The community was proclaimed a town, Lake Colac, in 1848, named after the lake upon which it perches.  The post office opened in 1848 as Lake Colac and was renamed Colac in 1854 when the city changed its name.  The township grew over the years, its wealth generated by the booming grazing industries of the large estates of the Western District and the dairy industry that accompanied it.  Colac has a long high street shopping precinct, several churches, botanic gardens, a Masonic hall and a smattering of large properties within its boundaries, showing the conspicuous wealth of the city.  Today Colac is still a commercial centre for the agricultural district that surrounds it with a population of around 10,000 people.  Although not strictly a tourist town, Colac has many beautiful surviving historical buildings or interest, tree lined streets.  Colac is known as “the Gateway to the Otways” (a reference to the Otway Ranges and surrounding forest area that is located just to the south of the town).

Taken in: Australia / Victoria / Colac (show map)

Taken on: April 22, 2014

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Camera: Canon DIGITAL IXUS 80 IS, f/4.5, 1/320 sec, 14.3mm, ISO 80 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon DIGITAL IXUS 80 IS
Aperture:	f/4.5
Exposure Time:	0.003 sec (1/320)
Focal Length:	14.3mm
ISO:	80
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Auto, Did not fire
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
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