 Blacks Point museum, showing the mural by Alun Bollinger | |
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Former name | Methodist Church, Reefton |
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| Established |
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| Location | Blacks Point, near Reefton, South Island, New Zealand |
| Coordinates | 42°7′53.7″S171°52′55.9″E / 42.131583°S 171.882194°E |
Blacks Point Museum is a museum in Blacks Point, near Reefton on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand.
The museum building is a former Methodist/Wesleyan church, which was built from pit-sawn timber in 1876 and led as a non-denominational church by a Methodist minister. [1] [2] The church formerly overlooked the town, but 1912 it was moved back and rotated 90° on its section. [1] As the population of Blacks Point declined, worship shifted to Reefton, and the church closed in 1960. [1]
The church building was sold to the community for the purposes of a museum, and Blacks Point Museum opened on 1 October 1966. The building was extended in 1976, and the working Golden Fleece stamper installed in the 1980s. [1] In 2008, a $135,000 purpose-built archive and research room was added. In 2009, a display building and lean-to was constructed, and in 2013 the museum building was re-roofed. [1]
The exterior of the museum hosts a mural by cinematographer and local resident Alun Bollinger. [3]
The museum contains a collection of memorabilia relating to life in a mining town in New Zealand, including records from the school, the cemetery, genealogical material, a historical photograph collection, town directories, and a range of mining paraphernalia. [4] [3]
Next to the museum the still-functional Golden Fleece Battery, which was used by prospectors to crush quartz to extract gold. The battery is a water-driven stamper battery built and used in the 1870s. [2]
The West Coast is a region of New Zealand on the west coast of the South Island. It is administered by the West Coast Regional Council, and is known co-officially as Te Tai Poutini. It comprises the territorial authorities of Buller District, Grey District and Westland District. The principal towns are Westport, Greymouth and Hokitika. The region, one of the more remote areas of the country, is also the most sparsely populated. With a population of just 32,900 people, the West Coast is the least populous region in New Zealand. The population in the region grew by 0.4% over the year to July 2023.
Greymouth is the largest town in the West Coast region in the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the Grey District Council. The population of the whole Grey District is 14,250, which accounts for 43% of the West Coast's inhabitants. The Greymouth urban area had an estimated population of 8,340. A large proportion of the District, 65%, is part of the Conservation Estate owned and managed by the Department of Conservation making Greymouth a natural centre for walkers and trampers.
Collingwood is a town in the north-west corner of the South Island of New Zealand along Golden Bay / Mohua. The town is an ecotourism destination due to its proximity to Kahurangi National Park and Farewell Spit Nature Reserve.
Wairoa is the largest town in the Wairoa District and the northernmost town in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located on the northern shore of Hawke Bay at the mouth of the Wairoa River and to the west of Māhia Peninsula. It is 118 kilometres (73 mi) northeast of Napier, and 92 kilometres (57 mi) southwest of Gisborne, on State Highway 2. It is the nearest town to the Te Urewera protected area and former national park, which is accessible from Wairoa via State Highway 38. It is one of three towns in New Zealand where Māori outnumber other ethnicities, with 62.29% of the population identifying as Māori.
Crushington is a town beside the Inangahua River in the West Coast region of New Zealand.
Hokitika is a town in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island, 40 kilometres (25 mi) south of Greymouth, and close to the mouth of the Hokitika River. It is the seat and largest town in the Westland District. The town's estimated population is 3,120 as of June 2023.
The Otago Gold Rush was a gold rush that occurred during the 1860s in Central Otago, New Zealand. This was the country's biggest gold strike, and led to a rapid influx of foreign miners to the area – many of them veterans of other hunts for the precious metal in California and Victoria, Australia. The number of miners reached its maximum of 18,000 in February 1864.
Reefton is a small town in the West Coast region of New Zealand, some 80 km northeast of Greymouth, in the Inangahua River valley. Ahaura is 44 km south-west of Reefton, Inangahua Junction is 34 km to the north, Maruia is 63 km to the east, and the Lewis Pass is 66 km to the south-east.
Tākaka is a small town situated at the southeastern end of Golden Bay, at the northern end of New Zealand's South Island, located on the lower reaches of the Tākaka River. State Highway 60 runs through Takaka and follows the river valley before climbing over Tākaka Hill, to Motueka linking Golden Bay with the more populated coast of Tasman Bay to the southeast. The town is served by Tākaka Aerodrome.
St Agnes is a civil parish and a large village on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is about five miles (8 km) north of Redruth and ten miles (16 km) southwest of Newquay. An electoral ward exists stretching as far south as Blackwater. The population at the 2011 census was 7,565.
Lyell is the site of a historic gold mining town in the Buller Gorge in the South Island of New Zealand. It lies on State Highway 6, 18 km (11 mi) northeast of Inangahua.
Waiuta is the location of a historic mining town on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is now abandoned and considered a ghost town. Located 58 km north of Greymouth and 21 km south of Reefton in Ikamatua, New Zealand, it was the site of a gold mine until 1951, when the collapse of the mine made it uneconomic. A number of buildings remain and there are still residents in what remains of the town. Nowadays Waiuta has become a tourist attraction, with few of the original buildings still intact that include the former police station, three cottages and the old barber shop.
The West Coast Gold Rush, on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island, lasted from 1864 to 1867.
The Thames School of Mines is a nationally significant former school of mining in Thames, New Zealand. It is listed as a Category 1 historic building by Heritage New Zealand.
Shantytown Heritage Park, usually known as Shantytown, is a tourist attraction in the West Coast Region of the South Island of New Zealand. Located 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) south of Greymouth, the Heritage Park opened in 1971 and consists of 30 re-created historic buildings making up a 19th-century gold-mining town. The town is surrounded by native forest, and is one of the region's most popular attractions.
John Lawn was a New Zealand goldminer and mine manager. He was born in Gwennap, Cornwall, England on 4 November 1840.
Blacks Point is a locality near Reefton on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand.
The School of Mines in Reefton, New Zealand (1887–1970) was one of a number of mining schools set up to teach the science of mining during the 19th century gold rush. Like the Thames School of Mines it is a Heritage New Zealand Category 1 listed historic building.
Reefton Hospital is a hospital in Reefton on the West Coast of New Zealand. It was founded in 1872 and its closure was announced in 2024.
