A Post Office opened in "Tauwhare" on the 1st February1884 with Mr R. Williamson as Postmaster. In 1885 Mr T. N. Diprose became Postmaster. Thereafter, the hotel keeper, his family or local women were in charge of the Office until 1921. We do not know the opening hours.
Mrs. Emily Tickelpenny (nee Pope) came to live in Tauwhare in 1909 and remembers the Post Office as a small room attached to the accommodation house on the south side, on Chitty Road. There was a door from the road for public access and another leading into the house. Pigeon holes for mail were provided on the wall inside.
The mail used to come from Tamahere (Matangi) Railway Station twice weekly by horse, the contractors being Mr R. Williamson 1886, Mr Devine 1887-88, Mr Russell 1889, Mr J. Shaw 1890-95. From 1896-1909 mail was brought three times weekly by horse from Eureka Railway Station, the contractor still being Mr J. Shaw. The mail first came by Model T Ford motor car in 1917.
In 1921 Mr Frank Windsor became Postmaster and he built a tiny room across the road near his Smithy to accommodate the Post Office. When this became too small he built a small store cum Post Office on the corner, where it stayed until 1960. Then the Post Office moved back to its original site until that Store closed in 1975. From 1975-81 the Post Office was at Tauwhare Motors. When the garage closed in 1981 counter callers joined rural delivery services- R.D.l., Morrinsville or R.D.4., Hamilton.
Postmasters and Postmistresses down the years have been as follows:
1.2.1884 Mr R. Williamson
1.7.1885 Mr T. N. Diprose
1.1.1887 Mr G. Walworth
12.3.1891 Mr B. Speake
1.12.1894 Mr J. C. Hobbs
1.10.1897 Mr A. Milne
1.1.1898 Mr A. Beange
15.11.1900 Miss Elizabeth Ramsay
1.9.1903 Miss Annie Ramsay
25.12.1904 Mrs Bertha McFadden
1.5.1905 Mrs Annie Searle
29.11.1905 Miss Louisa Best Snell
1.12.1912 Mrs Emma Brown
1.4.1913 Mr George Jupp
1.1.1915 Mrs Ada Hintz
1.5.1916 Mr James Cole
20.1.1921 Mr William Tidyman
1.3.1921 Mr James Cooper
13.6.1921 Mr Frank Windsor
1.6.1931 Miss Arnie Windsor
8.2.1943 Mrs Daisey Belle Pope
16.2.1953 Mr Neil Manning
1.5.1960 Mr Vernon Laurie
20.6.1966 Mr Keith Clough
22.6.1970 Mr Roger K. Giles
27.11.1971 Mr Bob Gunn
26.8.1974 Mr Terence Sharp
21.5.1975 Mr Robert Brockway
TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE
Communication with the outside world was of vital importance to isolated settlers a century ago. With the opening of the Post Office in Tauwhare on the 1st February 1884, the district was served by the telegraph. This was most useful for gathering news of district happenings and of course made possible the use of telegrams inward and outward.
Later, bureau circuits came into use in country districts. These were essentially private telephone lines erected and maintained by groups of settlers and connected to the telegraph office or bureau. Often, bottles were used as insulators on poles, and later when the telephone came into general use, the operator would connect the official line to the private one by a plug or switch. These private lines were later taken over by the Post Office and upgraded.
The telephone came to Tauwhare in 1907 after five and a half miles of poles and wires had been erected from Eureka. In 1964 the automatic telephone system came, and the local TWE Exchange was built.