Uki Post Office: Connecting Uki to the World

Connecting Uki to the World

Postal services began modestly at Rowlands Creek as a Receiving Office in 1901, with mail delivered twice weekly by horseback for an annual fee of £22/15/-. The Uki Post Office officially opened on April 1st, 1910, in leased premises near the old Uki bank. The Postmistress also ran a fruit and confectionery store in the building.

In 1911, the first telephone service to Uki P.O. was connected, making way for an exciting new tradition—election night dances! These would be held in the Hall, with each election update phoned in. The music would stop, and the postmaster would announce the bulletins from the hall stage. In 1945, the postmaster even announced the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck from the stage!

The original post office building burnt down in 1914, after which the service operated briefly from the Hall before moving in with W.O. Irvine in his auctioneer building.

The Milsom Dynasty

Mr. C.V. Milsom took over as postmaster on November 1st, 1919, beginning three generations of the Milsom family as postmasters at Uki. In 1922, the post office boasted a telephone switchboard with ten subscribers connected.

An automatic telephone service was introduced at 3:30 pm on April 3rd, 1941. A new automatic exchange was relocated from the main road to Rowlands Creek Road in 1967, necessitating a change from the old three-digit code to a six-digit code for subscriber numbers.

Today, Uki Post offers postal services, coffee, and exhibits works by local artists. Why not stop for a cup?