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Gold rush


Right smack bang in the middle of town is this small monument dedicated to Greymouth's gold rush history. 

In 1854 gold was discovered here in the Grey district which bought 29,000 diggers by ship and across mountain passes to Te Wai Pounamu (the place of Greenstone). Many never made it as floods and shipwrecks were frequent. Bodies washed up on the beach and in most cases many were recorded as unidentifiable. At that time the area was known as Mawhera Pa which was accepted by Maori who arrived here 1000 approx years ago. Storekeeper Reuben Waite sailed up the Grey River in 1864 with 70 gold prospectors and a contract to precure 40 tons of coal from further upstream. 3 million ounces of gold was extracted during the gold rush. Greymouth was one of the busiest ports in the country with the gold financing alot of the growth. Westland's coal fire the furnaces that industrialized New Zealand.

Linking up with Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

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Comments

roentare said…
It is sad that shipwrecks happened all around the world.
31 October 2023 at 09:17
s.c said…
What not to discover.
31 October 2023 at 10:55
Fun60 said…
I enjoyed reading about your gold rush. I didn't realise that gold had been discovered in NZ.
31 October 2023 at 11:20
local alien said…
My grandmother was born on the goldfields around there. I love reading the history
31 October 2023 at 19:15
Tom said…
...it is easy to get gold fever!
1 November 2023 at 01:23
Tigger's Mum said…
Aparrently New Zealand never made money from its gold. The real money was made in Melbourne where it was minted before being sold again as coins.
1 November 2023 at 02:06
Bill said…
A town with an interesting history. Gold always attract people searching to hit the jackpot.
1 November 2023 at 08:42
Veronica Lee said…

Interesting info about the gold rush.
I didn't realise that gold was discovered in New Zealand.

Hugs and blessings, Amy
1 November 2023 at 19:36
Sallie (FullTime-Life) said…
Gold has killed a lot of people hasn't it? I bet that storekeeper who sailed there did better than 99 percent of the miners! At least we've heard about people like that in this country -- California and Alaska -- the people selling things to the miners made more money than most of the miners and it was safer too.
2 November 2023 at 11:14
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