Community
12 June, 2025
Celebrating 125 years
KNOWING how to deliver a letter addressed only to “Nanny and Pop” is all part of a day’s work at the Noorat Post Office – which later this month celebrates a 125-year milestone.
On June 28 the post office will celebrate 125 years operating out of the same historic building on Mackinnons Bridge Road.
Today, the current manager Kerry Murphy will see around 30 packages coming and going on any given day.
Carole Uebergang helms the counter on a Friday, and Bobbie Murphy, Mrs Murphy’s dog, is a popular mainstay behind the counter.
Mrs Murphy took over operations just a few years ago following a lengthy teaching career.
She runs the same 9am-1pm open hours as the previous owners because it’s a routine the Noorat community has grown comfortable with.
“All of our mail and parcels go through Jodie and Scott in Terang, who are just fabulous and so supportive in keeping a symbiotic relationship with us – they do stuff on a daily basis we might only do twice a year, so they always help out,” Mrs Murphy said.
“We’ve got our regulars and we know what time they’re coming in – they’ve got a routine.
“If someone can’t get in they just call me and I leave their parcel at my front door for them – and nothing ever gets stolen in our little village.
“We don’t have the space for retail, don’t do passports and we’ve only got one terminal – having two people come in to the post office at once feels like a frantic rush.”
The post office remains busy despite its small size.
All the mail for local schools runs through on a weekly basis.
Nationwide Artificial Breeders bring in two or three 14-kilogram sperm tanks each week, cooled with liquid nitrogen and express posted all over Australia.
The post office also functions as a bank, but perhaps most importantly it provides services which aren’t exactly listed on the Australia Post website.
“I had someone this morning who comes in every morning, dressed in a suit, ask for help tying up his tie and cuffs for a funeral,” Mrs Murphy said.
“He said he was in a bit of a pickle, so I said I’d go and get a really big jar.
“People feel comfortable coming to us – and in a small village, it might be the only time of the week they see someone.
“You’ve got people who come to pick up their mail on a lawnmower, another in a tractor, one person picks up their mail in a golf cart and, once a fortnight, you’ll see a horse tied up to the post out the front.”
Knowing everyone is just part of the business, maintaining a community-based approach which, at times, can make the job a little complicated.
“We’ve had to learn people’s surnames, partner’s names and, in particular, nicknames – someone’s name might be Jack, but people only know them as Ned,” Mrs Murphy said.
“It’s not uncommon to get a letter addressed only to nanny and pop, care of Noorat Post Office, and someone local can tell you who’s handwriting it is.
“Last year I had a letter addressed only to ‘Dusty’ and it turned out it was addressed to a woman’s dog.
“You have to be a detective in some cases – forget the corporate stuff.”
Mrs Uebergang said she had quickly learned just how many people relied on the post office in her 18-months on the job.
“It’s dynamic in the sense you see the same people, you get to have a chat, and there’s a lot of socialising,” she said.
“This is my 10th year living in Noorat, before that I lived in Terang, and there’s a lot of people I’ve met who I didn’t know lived here.
“The post office is like a gathering area – you see people all the time pull up out the front and stay talking to one another.
“The post office, the pub and The Shed still keep Noorat on the map.”
Postal services began operating in Noorat in 1874, soon finding a home running from the teacher’s residence at the-then Mount Noorat School under head teacher, Margaret Evans.
Services operated from the school until June 28, 1990, when Hannah Dwyer was appointed postal officer and began operating from her family home on the main street.
That home, to this day, remains the site of the Noorat Post Office.
Postal services thrived under Mrs Dwyer thanks to her husband, James, being granted a stage coach license to collect mail from Terang in 1916 and electricity coming to Noorat in 1924.
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