Ballarat’s former post office on the corner of Sturt and Lydiard Street North, looks the same today as it did when it first opened in 1897. Designed by the Public Works Office, this building was the third post office to be built on or near the present site. Its Sturt Street facing section opened to the public in 1864, which was followed by the construction of its Lydiard Street section in 1885 (Victorian Heritage Council 2004, para. 1). The building is an important part of Ballarat’s cultural heritage, representing the prosperity of Ballarat’s post-gold rush economy and population growth. It is aesthetically significant for its design and prominent location amongst two of Ballarat’s most well-known heritage streets.
The Lydiard Street/Sturt Street intersection streetscape looks much the same today as it did in the 1913 photograph. Of particular note is Ballarat’s Town Hall on Sturt Street, which was built in 1870. With its grand design and central clock tower, its aesthetic value and historical importance render it one of Ballarat’s most iconic buildings. Craig’s Royal Hotel with its distinctive octagonal corner tower can be seen further down Lydiard Street. The building was constructed in stages between 1862 and 1890. The hotel’s history reveals high profile guests including Dame Nella Melba and Mark Twain (Dennis 2015, p. 36) and a connection to the Australian poet, Adam Gordon Lindsay, who kept livery stables there in 1867 (Federation University 2017, para. 3). The original National Mutual Building of 1905 remains today on the corner of Lydiard and Sturt Streets, but on the opposite corner you’ll notice the modern Commonwealth Bank building. This stands in the place of the original Commonwealth Bank Building, shown in the 1961 photograph, slightly obscured behind a tram. This building was demolished in 1962.
Ballarat’s lost heritage of the 1960s and 70s, mirrored that of Melbourne’s. Before the introduction of heritage protection laws in Victoria, building owners virtually had free reign to demolish buildings that were considered old and outdated, to make way for more modern, fit for purpose structures. Community outrage at the rate of Victoria’s diminishing heritage led to the establishment of Victoria’s National Trust in 1956, whose campaigning eventually led the State Government to introduce Victoria’s first heritage protection laws in 1972 (Annear 2005, p. 276).