JANUARY 18-24, 2023
Once I was a post office ◆ STILL STANDING: This is the only photo of the building when it was the Chiltern Valley Post Office. Unfortunately, the names of the people in the photo are unknown (as is the name of the dog). PHOTO: Supplied by Lorraine Boyle
By BELINDA HARRISON
IN the shallow valley enclosing Black Dog Creek, south of an impressive box-ironbark forest, lay the sleepy township of Chiltern Valley. Chiltern Valley itself is no longer a town, but is still a locality in the area. During those heady gold rush days at the site of the Doma Mungi gold mine, a post office was established on August 1, 1894 under the charge of a Mr Nicholas Chenhall. The post office was part of a private house and in the early days, mail was delivered from nearby Chiltern (approximately seven kilome-
tres to the east) by a mailman on horseback who often had only one or two letters in his pocket. According to the Chiltern Leader newspaper edition of September 15 1896, the Chiltern Valley Hotel had undergone renovation and proprietor Michel Ghiggioli was excited to announce that he had ‘liquors of first-class quality always on hand’. He also offered good accommodation for man and beast, with stabling free and horse feed available for 1s. The nearby hall was also noted of fast becoming the favourite dance place for people
of the district and a grand ball was to be held on October 6 in aid of the Ovens Benevolent Asylum. With such establishments in existence, the town appeared to prosper. The post office is believed to have continued to exist at the Doma Mungi mine until 1900 when the Cooper family opened a post office at their property near the Chiltern Valley No 2 gold mine. Mrs Isabella (known as Bella) Cooper became the Chiltern Valley post mistress and she and her husband also had a honey house a little further down the road.
By 1911, Chiltern Valley also had a school to go with their post office, hotel and hall and by 1921, the population stood at 240. Bella ran the post office until 1922 and following her retirement, her son Henry took over the day to day operations. The post office continued to be run by Henry until 1953 when he retired and the post office closed. The Federal Standard newspaper ran this article in their October 2, 1953 edition announcing the end of the post office and the Cooper family’s involvement in it:
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