Township Public Buildings
Leigh Creek Coalfield Post Office - 5731
In the 1940s the first Leigh Creek Post Office was a small tin shed located near the Telford workshop. Within a few years a larger, temporary Post Office was built in the centre of the growing town. In 1954 the Postmaster-General's Department spent £500,000 upgrading buildings - including South Australia’s first aluminium post office erected at Leigh Creek Coalfield. The building was bought from the Bristol Aircraft Corporation in England and incorporated a telephone exchange with public telephones in the front porch. Known as the “Leigh Creek Coalfield Post Office 5731” it remained in service until postal services transitioned to Leigh Creek South in the 1980s. (from Leigh Creek - A Town on the Move)
Jeanette Renshaw prepares for Postie duties in the late 1970s (ETSA)
Community Hall & Theatre
In 1946, a large building was relocated from Terowie and assembled by E&WS workers to become a temporary Community Hall. This hall was officially opened by Thomas Playford in 1947. During the 1950s, with the popularity of Cinema movies, a Milk Bar and Foyer were added and a new modern hall was constructed over the existing one. (from Leigh Creek - An Oasis in the Desert)
It may be no coincidence that when the community hall opened in 1947 the first movie it screened was called ‘Boom Town’. In the early days a night at the movies was the only regular means of entertainment in Leigh Creek and it remained a Saturday night institution for generations.
The Hospital
In 1945 an Australian Inland Mission (AIM) Hospital was opened in Leigh Creek as part of the Australian network which already included Beltana and Oodnadatta. It remained an AIM Hospital until 1952 when it was taken over by ETSA. Sir Thomas Playford officially opened a new ward in 1957 and part of the old mission building was converted to nurses quarters. During the 1960s the hospital continued to be upgraded with inclusion of a dental surgery, an optician consulting room, the purchase of anaesthetic and x-ray machines and the delivery of a new ambulance. By 1968 they had even installed oil heaters in the nursery and bedside earphones for patients. In 1969 the hospital records show 1250 outpatients were treated, 263 inpatients were admitted and 29 babies were delivered.
The Police Station
When mining first commenced at Telford a temporary police station was established nearby at Copley. Construction of a permanent Leigh Creek police station commenced in 1947 and was completed in March, 1948. It was built of cement blocks and consisted of a combined police station office and courtroom with an attached residence. A separate cell block was erected in the rear yard. The first officer in charge was Mounted Constable F.G. (Fred) McGrath, who on the 27th April, 1948 wrote, “I respectfully beg to report that the Police Station, Leigh Creek was opened on 10th April, 1948 for the purpose of servicing Leigh Creek Coalfield, and surrounding district”. At that time the district included the area south of the Strzelecki Track to Innamincka and the Queensland border and from Parachilna to Lake Frome and the New South Wales border. (Information from “More that just Bricks and Mortar”, a history and reference book of South Australian Police Stations by John White)
The Fire Station
ETSA - Coal Production Department, Administration Building
The Administration building was constructed in 1953 using bricks made in the newly commissioned Leigh Creek Brick Kiln.
It was the temporary home of the telephone switchboard before it was moved to the Post Office in 1954.
The Canteen & Single Men’s Mess
Building the Yulu Lounge - 1973 (Kevin Waters)
