Curepipe - The Old Post Office - 1950s

Curepipe – The Old Post Office – 1950s

Mauritius’ first post office was opened on December 21, 1772 when the island was under French rule. Mail was delivered internally and by ship to and from France and India. Great Britain took over the island on December 3, 1810, and continued the overseas mail service. The internal service apparently dwindled and terminated but was revived in 1834. A few pre-stamp markings, applied by rubber stamp, exist from the 1780s during the French administration, and more are known from the subsequent British period.

Post Offices at that time (1864 – 1964) were attached to the railway stations as transits between regions were done through trains, and even after the closure of the railway lines and system, the stations continued to operate as Post Offices in the main regions. The picture above shows the Curepipe Post Office attached to the Curepipe Train Station which was still operating till 1964. Today the whole related buildings of Curepipe with the rail networks in this region has been demolished and replaced by a new bus terminal for the southern regions. Image courtesy of: Curepipe De Toujours.

Whilst some other regions have still preserved their old Train Stations and now the Post Office, many others have been also demolished. Among the regions still using their ex-Railway Stations as Post Offices are: Rose Hill, Beau Bassin, Souillac, Riviere des Anguilles (part of it), Moka, Verdun, Quartier Militaire, Montagne Blanche, Terre Rouge, Mapou, Poudre D’Or, Riviere du Rempart and Poste de Flacq. There might have been some alterations to the main building structure in some of those places mentioned but the ex-Station is still present.

For those interested, you can check out this link to see a video documentary by Wassim Sookia about the railway network in Mauritius. A very interesting documentary indeed!

From this picture below, showing a high view of the Curepipe Town Hall and surroundings, we can see the old train station at the complete end, and of course, if we observe carefully, we see a train arriving to the station.