This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1980. This report includes the text from the original Building Classification Committee report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. Formerly the site of a major Maori pa, Okarito became South Westland's principal port following the West Coast gold rushes of 1865-6. In its heyday, when the nearby Five Mile Beach was the richest gold-yielding black sand beach in all of Westland, as many as 25 hotels served the local population. One of them, the Club Hotel, was later bought by Jimmy Donovan and converted into the store which still bears his name. James Donovan was born in Hokitika in 1867 and spent much of his childhood accompanying his parents as they moved from one gold rush to another. After turning his hand to roadwork, gold mining, stable-minding and pit-sawing Donovan opened a store at the now extinct Lake Mapourika settlement with his wife, Eva. The Donovans lived in Mapourika until c1889 when they moved to Okarito to open the store which they ran for over fifty years. Between 1912 and 1932 Jimmy Donovan also farmed at the nearby settlement of Whataroa, but it is for his work on the Westland County Council that he is best remembered. Donovan served as the representative of the Okarito Riding on the Council between 1893 and 1896, and again after 1925. In 1940, at the age of seventy-three, he served a term as council Chairman. By 1950 his store had become the last remaining shop in Okarito. In recent years it was run by Mr Keith Robertson, who bequeathed it to the Department of Conservation in 1987.
Location
List Entry Information
Overview
Detailed List Entry
Status
Listed
List Entry Status
Historic Place Category 1
Access
Private/No Public Access
List Number
5008
Date Entered
6th June 1990
Date of Effect
6th June 1990
City/District Council
Westland District
Region
West Coast Region
Extent of List Entry
Extent includes the land described as Sec 12 Town of Okarito, (RT WS3A/13, NZ Gazette 1990 p. 3432), Westland Land District and the building known as Donovan’s Store thereon.
Legal description
Sec 12 Town of Okarito, (RT WS3A/13, NZ Gazette 1990 p. 3432), Westland Land District