Ohinemuri Regional History Journal 33, September 1989
On Friday 5 February 1988 a number of local Post Offices were closed. Brief details of some are recorded below.
Turua
The first Post Office was closely associated with Bagnall Bros, sawmill as it was Mr R W Bagnall who was appointed the first Postmaster on Wednesday 1 Way 1878, and the first Post Office was in the corner of the mill office.
The Turua Sawmills commenced in 1868 and mail to and from the settlement was handled through the Shortland/Thames Post Office. The Turua kahikatea forest was the largest stand of such trees in New Zealand and the Turua mills soon developed into a sizeable settlement. When the Bagnall Brothers acquired the mill lease in 1877, the young Mr Bagnall was keen to establish a Post Office. A corner of Bagnall's mill office served as the Post Office until approximately 1902 when a new store was built and a separate room was used for the Office. Mails were received and dispatched by river boat and by 1884 a regular mail service operated between Auckland, Thames and Paeroa. Mr Bagnall remained Postmaster for 40 years and when he retired in 1917 his salary was one hundred pounds ($200) per year.
A new Post Office building and residence was opened on 4 December 1917 by the then Postmaster General, Sir Joseph Ward. Included in the office foyer was a plaque with the names of local men who had servedin the 1914-18 war but some years later this was moved to a public hall. The Post Office continued to operate from this building, until its closure.
Hikutaia
The first Post Office was opened on 1 October 1874 and it was operated by Mrs C McCaskill in an office behind her husband's trading depot. Mail was carried by boat to and from both Paeroa and Thames three times a week.
In 1922 the former Karangahake Post Office building was moved to a site on the main road to serve the settlement. This was demolished in 1963 and replaced by a new building erected on the same site. It was officially opened on March 13, 1963, by the Hon Arthur Kinsella.
Kerepehi
The first Kerepehi Post Office was opened on October 3, 1908.
Historical details are unavailable but it is understood that postal services were established at Kerepehi as part of a hardware shop.
The Post Office was later operated in the Keretown Store, a building which was destroyed by fire in the 1970s.
A brand new Post Office was opened on August 18, 1958.