Hay was gazetted in 1859, being named after the local member of parliament Sir John Hay. With Hay an official town, the first postal service could commence. A weekly delivery between Condobolin and Hay began from 1 April 1859, with the delivery place being Cadell's store. The first postmaster appointed to Hay was Robert Neilson who had taken over the duties of Alex Dunbar at Cadell's store after Dunbar returned to England. Neilson resigned his position as postmaster in 1861, as the workload of running a store and the post office was too much. In 1862 the then postmaster Alfred Prince, who was manager of Cadell's former store (now owned by Mr Bardwell), operated the Post Office out of a new purpose-built, brick extension adjacent to the store.
