Junee. The Presbyterian Church built in 1905. Architect was W J Monks who also designed the nearby School of Arts building. It has an iron belfry.
Image by denisbin
Junee.
Leopold De Salis was one of the first pioneer squatters in the Junee region in 1845. He named his run Junee but he did not live there. His homestead was Cuppacumbalong near Queanbeyan. He sold his Junee run three years later. It is believed that choo-nee was an Aboriginal word for frog. After the Robertson Land Act was passed in 1861 selectors came and gradually selected parts of the Junee run as small farms and the Junee property was greatly reduced in size. An unofficial post office opened in 1862 and the village of Junee on the Sydney to Melbourne road was gazetted in 1863. The village had a dozen or so residents until 1868 when gold was found at Junee Reefs 19 kms to the north. By 1869 there were 100 residents a hotel, a post office and a butcher shop in Junee. Junee’s heyday was in 1870 but miners soon left for other gold mines. But the Junee mines continued quite strongly in the 1880s and 1890s and only closed after World War One. But when the main south railway line to the Riverina (Wagga Wagga) came through here in 1878 it by passed Junee by 5 miles and a new settlement grew up around the railway station. The original Junee was then renamed Old Junee. The new town by the railway station was named Junee but not immediately. The Post Office tells the tale of this change. In 1878 it was Junee Railway Station Post Office. In 1885 it became Junee Junction Post Office and finally Junee Post Office in 1893. So modern day Junee officially was laid out in 1878. By the 1880s Old Junee still had a population of 100 but Junee had 1,200 residents. Junee was made up of Crawley’s Town (1878), Dobbyn’s Town (1881) and Loftus (1878 the government town). The government architect designed a Post Office for Junee by the railway station in 1886 and it opened in 1888. A single storey addition was added in 1909 and further additions in 1927. Junee’s Post Office is now heritage listed. With three town subdivisions, a railway station, a Post Office and gold mines 19 kms away, the town grew rapidly in the 1880s.
Historic buildings in Junee:
•Railway Station and Station Square. The original 1878 timber station was replaced in 1883-1885 with a grand French Renaissance style station and refreshment rooms. At each end of the building there is a pavilion with French mansard rooves and bay windows. The central part has a parapet and the platform has a veranda. Water was provided from a brick domed tank in the middle of the square outside the station. It was forgotten about and rediscovered in 2002.A travellers hotel was later added to the station and is now the cafe. A branch line to Narrandera opened 1881. Just out of the town is the Junee Roundhouse. It now operates as museum. The Roundhouse is built in brick and glass and was only constructed during World War Two and opened in 1947. It is a large roundhouse with 42 engine bays where repairs and reconstruction could be performed. When built the 100 foot turntable was the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. In its last years diesel engines and even the XPT trains were maintained and serviced here. Sadly the Roundhouse closed in 1993. A public meeting was held and it reopened as a museum in 1994.
•Outside the square and its shops is the Loftus Hotel the original name for the government town. The first Loftus Hotel was built quickly in 1878. The present grand building was architect designed and built in 1896. The ground floor windows are very classical but the upper windows are simpler. Turn right here.
•The Railway station transported travellers so on the next corner is the Commercial Hotel. The original 1882 single storey hotel was timber. It was replaced with this solid two storey hotel in 1896. It was partially rebuilt and remodelled in 1915 after a fire, hence the almost Art Deco features.
•Next door is the former Bank of NSW built in 1894 with rounded windows and a corner entrance. It was partially destroyed by the 1915 fire and the entire upper floor was rebuilt and designed thence the different window styles. Continue along Main Street to see the Post Office on the right.
•Next to the Post Office (1888) is the station master’s residence. Built in timber in 1898 it has fine cast iron lace work like the Loftus Hotel from the Pioneer Foundry of Junee. Turn left here.
•On the right hand corner is the former Savings Bank of NSW. It was built in neo classical style in 1914. The upper floor was added in 1938 as the bank manager’s residence. It is now a private residence.
•On the left are some Art Deco shops now a garage and on the right is the Junee Courthouse complex. It was designed by the government architect James Barnet and completed in 1890. It was built in English bond red brick. The bank next door blocked the street façade in 1914. What you see is now the side of the Courthouse. There is a VR inscription on the facade above the circular air vent.
•The Police Station next to the Courthouse dates from around 1896 when half rounded windows were popular. It would also have been designed by the government architect. On the opposite side of the side street is the Junee Civic Centre. The original 1889 Council Chamber is in the centre of this much larger 1950 building.
•On the left as you turn right is the Salvation Army Citadel. Built in 1892 it is more church like than a citadel. It is still in use by the Salvation Army. Next to it the Illabo Shure Offices 1921.
•If you turn right here you will see the St Paul’s Uniting Church formerly a Methodist Church 1904 and the Junee School. The oldest part of the school was built in 1880. If you turn left her and next left again you will see the Junee Anglican Church in Denison Street. Continue ahead till you meet Belmore St again.
•On the next corner Denison St is the Masonic Lodge building. It is temple like with small windows to the street to maintain secrecy. It was built in 1920. To the east of it is a smaller Masonic Temple built in 1892. Both are now a private residence.
•On the left is the 1903 built School of Arts and Library. Architect designed and built by public subscription. It has great charm and symmetry.
•Turn left at the next corner and here is the Junee Presbyterian Church 1905. Built in red brick like the Methodist and Anglican churches. Architect was W Monks of Wagga. Note the iron and wood belfry.
•Next on the left in a very shabby condition is the Maud Terrace. It was built in 1886 as a residence for George Dobbyn one of the original town subdividers. The other terrace flats were a rental opportunity for him. It was derelict in 2010 and facing demolition.
•On the right is the Fire Station built in 1914 and next to it is an old industrial building probably a blacksmiths with the rounded vent along the centre of the roof.
• On the left is Spring Hill House. Built as a grand house in 1885 for a town doctor. It was occupied by a town doctor until 2005. Note the original cast iron fence. Return to the railway square/Main Street area.
•On the western side of the railway line is Crawley’s original subdivision with some fine buildings near the roundabout. They include the two storey Georgian style solicitors’ offices (1885), the old general store established in 1876 and built in 1885 and next to it the grand Junee Hotel. Crawley opened this as a business in 1878. Crawley sold the hotel in 1884 to build Monte Cristo. A later owner had the Art Deco style two storey hotel built (as the Railway Hotel) in 1912. The cast iron lace work was a typical addition for an Australian hotel. It was made in the Junee Pioneer Foundry. Now the Railway Hotel is the Junee Hotel. North of the roundabout is the War Memorial clock tower built with gables on each facade. In was built in the 1920s.
•Opposite the War Memorial is the Arts and Crafts style ANZ Bank. It was built in 1905 when terracotta tiles were very new. Almost next door to the ANZ Bank is the former Athenium Theatre. It was built in 1929 and closed in 1972.
