North Sydney Post Office And Courthouse - 92–94 Pacific Highway - North Sydney

That clock tower on the Pacific Highway at Mount Street is the civic punctuation mark of old St Leonards — the late-Victorian government precinct at 92–94 Pacific Highway. After a branch post and telegraph office opened in the district in the 1870s, the colonial government bought the triangular site in 1884 for a combined post office, courthouse and police station.

Colonial Architect James Barnet designed the group; James Reynolds was the principal builder. The courthouse portion was finished about 1886 and the post office was ready for occupation on 31 January 1889 (the office name shifting to “North Sydney” soon after). A clock tower went up over the entrance in 1895, in Walter Liberty Vernon’s time as Government Architect; the clock itself was installed in July 1900 after locals settled their share of the cost. Circular stairs and sandstone classical detail still give the corner its landmark weight.

The post office is on the NSW State Heritage Register. Postal counter functions have in recent years moved to other North Sydney premises, while heritage management of the vacant historic building and the separate state-owned courthouse/police components continues to evolve. Photographs here show the Pacific Highway frontage, the carved “COURT HOUSE” entrance, and the combined civic group.