Kunopia - The Township

HISTORICAL INFORMATION

Alex Wightman must have been community-minded when he conducted the Kunopia Store on the Boomi River about 1860. It was a slab hut with holes in the walls for defence. The slab hut made way for a long shingle roof cottage, with wide awning verandahs which included the storeroom-mailroom, conducted by the Allison family towards the end of the 1860s. Later corrugated iron was put on the roof of the cottage over the top of the shingles. This building was destroyed by fire about 1892 and a modern (for those times) homestead was built in its place, still retaining the store within the building. The Post Office became a separate entity, with various other huts, stables and sheds offering food, shelter and friendship. The store continued to trade with members of the Allison family working as store keepers until it was taken over by Mr Garland in the late 1890s, and was then known as Garland's Store. After the turn of the century the store ceased to trade, as the village of Boomi grew and was able to offer more services.

The old Kunopia Homestead

In conjunction with the store there was a mail room. In 1862 Alex Wightman was appointed the first Postmaster for the Allowance Post Office, based on the volume of transactions. His salary of 12 pounds for the first year was paid on a scale rate of annual operations. James Fitz Doyle, Grazier of Merriwa and Sydney Burdekin, Grazier of Kunopia, were Alex Wightman's sureties against default.

On 22 August, 1892 a telegraph office was opened, morse connection was established and the first telephone was connected in the office on 9 December, 1896. Business declined and the office was closed on 6 March, 1905 but reopened in the following October and was designated as a telephone office. People wishing to make telephone calls would pay at the office and take the call in the booth adjacent, known in those times as a telephone bureau. A public telephone cabinet was installed in 1909 and on 15 February, 1911 a telephone exchange was installed in the office, until it closed on 27 August, 1912.

The April 1911 N.S.W. Country Telephone Exchange Directory gave the entry as: Kunopea [spelling as per original] 9a.m. to 6p.m. daily (Sundays and holidays excepted)

Subscribers: Fenwick P. B. - Trefusis Station. Glennie F. & A. - Bonanga Station.

KUNOPIA POSTMASTERS and POSTMISTRESSES:

Alex Wightman           1. 9.1862    Alfred South           8. 8.1892 
Mrs A. Wightman         16.12.1868   George Daly            1. 7.1893 
Hugh Allison            15.1.1872    William Jakins         9.12.1896 
Alice A. Allison        1. 1.1878    Agnes Allison          20. 8.1900 
Alice A. Skinner        1. 7.1880    Agnes Law              1. 7.1908 
Frederick Thiesson      1.10.1881    E. Smith                    1912. 
Anna Bruen              1. 7.1882
The town centre was the Wine Shanty started by Hugh Allison about 1863. The timber was from the area and with the corner posts standing and tree branches over the top, this is what was known as the Kunopia Wine Shanty. The first licence was held by Hugh Allison in 1870, and the building became the Kunopia Hotel. After his death the licence was taken over by Miss Frisby who later became Mrs Jakins. Hugh's son James bought back the licence in the early 1880s and the Kunopia Hotel was run by the Allison family until the licence was transferred to the Royal Hotel in Boomi.

When the Wine Shanty was built, timber was cleared nearby for the bush races and this venue became a popular meeting place for races and sports, a focal point of the district. The blade shearing shed was built beside the hotel which added protection and shelter; the posts of the hotel were also partly closed in. Refrigeration was unheard of and the main drink was rum, sold from vats or kegs.

All historical information and B & W Pictures contained in this site are from the book UP ON THE BORDER BOOMI by Ellen Allen, published in 1988, and used with permission.

Kunopia - The Township Village of Boomi The Artesian Bore Boomi Post Office
Royal Hotel Pioneer Hotel Police Station Boomi Public School