The History

This story begins in 1864, when Maori found gold near the Taramakau River while looking for pounamu (greenstone).  News soon spread, and the area’s population exploded. By the end of the year more than 1800 prospectors had arrived in the West Coast – previously home to only 100 Maori.

Within another year, tens of thousands of diggers had gathered along the 180 mile stretch of gold-bearing country that has Hokitika at its centre.  Initially the township was a sea of canvas tents housing thousands of people with no roads or streets, but by September 1865 Revell Street boasted 246 buildings, 67 of which were hotels.  The threat of fire in the closely-built streets, led to the formation of the Hokitika Volunteer Fire Brigade in December 1865.

Hokitika had become one of New Zealand’s most populous centres with 25,000 people by 1866. It was widely seen as a hotbed of sin and iniquity with few women and almost 200 pubs.  Hokitika earnt its reputation as the capital of the lawless ‘wild West’.  This new population was an eclectic mix of Australian, Irish, Scottish, Chinese and a myriad of other nationalities.  At the peak of the rush it’s estimated that there were around 29,000 people on the West Coast.  By 1867, Hokitika was New Zealand’s sixth largest town with the port ranking as the country’s busiest harbour.