Clock Tower, GPO - KnowWhere

April 23, 2020

Look out! It's interesting what we don’t know about landmarks we might see every day. Sometimes you just have to KNOW WHERE to look....

The image is that of a small viewing platform, which in 1870 was popular with Sydneysiders who chose to climb the spiral stairs to view the city. It remained the high point of the Sydney CBD for 69 years. This is part of the clocktower of the General Post Office (GPO) at 1 Martin Place which was from 1870 to 1939, the highest point of the tallest building in Sydney at 83 metres. It was eclipsed by the AWA Tower in 1939 at 111 metres.

The GPO building was functional as a postal exchange and the location from which everything in Sydney is measured. In addition, it became an important part of the evolution of Sydney architecture, the beginning of art in Australia and the clocktower with its five bells was the “voice” of the community.

Whilst you might recognise it easily, you probably don’t know that the tower was opened daily from 2pm - 4pm by the Postmaster General’s Department, so that the public could view the city from the small platform which was accessed via a spiral staircase. It was so high in those days and with so little neighbouring development that in May 1942 during WW2, it was feared that it would be targeted by Japanese bombers. It was dismantled piece by piece and stored in the Maroubra Telephone Exchange. There was a vote in 1963 which saw the tower reconstructed the following year and the bells chimed again on ANZAC Day in 1964.

 It's interesting what we don’t know about landmarks we might see every day. Sometimes you just have to know where to look....

 Sources – www.Paulineconolly.com, wikipedia & Fullarton Hotel