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From issue: Winter 2003

All in the Family

by Katharine Mason

A tiny post office at Algies Bay, north of Auckland has been in the same family for 126 years.

The former Mullet Point Post Office. Photo: Katharine Mason

Rumour has it that a young Glaswegian named Alexander Algie bought a block of coastal land near Warkworth on the spur of the moment at an auction in Auckland's Queen St in 1866.

The story goes that the 27-year-old Algie, who arrived in Auckland in 1862, was simply sheltering from the rain. Either by mistake or perhaps for a bit of fun, Algie bid for the beautiful, 23-hectare property near Warkworth without even knowing where it was.

On May 1, 1877, Algie became the official postmaster of a tiny post office he built on his land at Algies Bay, in a district then known as Mullet Point.There followed a long history of the Algie family's farming in the district and running a guesthouse, built on the shore of the property.

Close-up of the enamelled posting plaque. Photo: Katharine Mason

The little post office that Alexander Algie built at one end of the guesthouse provided a mail service and later a telephone service for the main farming families of the district.When Algie retired as postmaster in 1923, his son John Deerness Algie took over the position. He remained until the Mullet Point Post Office was officially closed in 1949-72 years after his father first opened it.

Today, Evan Algie, Alexander's greatgrandson, is the keeper of the heart-kauri post office. He still lives on the property and runs a more modern version of the guesthouse accommodation.

Standing on the peaceful shore, Evan Algie talks of the visitors who arrived by boat to stay at the guesthouse for a few days. The old fashioned guesthouse was eventually pulled down in 1984 to make way for modern seaside cottages.

Rather than demolish the dilapidated old post office,Algie shifted it to a nearby field ("It fell off the trailer three times," he says) where it lay deteriorating for seven years. In the interests of his family's heritage, he eventually resited the post office about 100 metres upstream from its original site and set about restoring it.

A new roof, some replaced floorboards and a coat of paint made the old building look respectable. The original "Mullet Point Post Office" sign sits proudly above the door, and the official "VR" enameled posting plaque waits silently to receive the letters that now will never come.However, Algie occasionally finds a postcard that has been posted by unsuspecting guests who think it is still a working post office.

Inside is a treasure trove of cobweb-festooned old memories. There sits the desk that Alexander Algie and then son John sat at for all those years. The kauri mailboxes for each of the local families, such as the Scandretts, Martins, Snells and Goldworthys, still line the wall.

Evan Algie plans to build a glass case along one wall to display memorabilia including the original canvas mailbag that caught the letters being posted through the slot, and various letters, photographs and documents saved over the years.

Katharine Mason is the Assistant Editor of Heritage New Zealand.