This historic area was registered under the Historic Places Act 1993. This report includes text from the original Recommendation for Registration considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION:
The history of Waihi is dominated by the development and fluctuations of the gold mining industry. The first excavations for gold were in 1878 and by 1887 the London based Waihi Gold and Silver Mining Company was formed. By the end of 1893 this company had established a cyanide extraction plant in Waihi. The introduction of this new technology made it much more efficient and cheaper to extract gold from quartz and helped the Waihi Gold Mining Company to become New Zealand's largest gold producer by the mid-1890's.
The success of the Waihi gold mines had a direct and obvious effect on the development of the town. In 1886 there were only twenty families in the entire Waihi district, with a single shop and a small hotel. By the mid 1890's a thriving commercial centre had developed and by 1902 Waihi had become the North Island's largest borough with over a thousand men working in the mines.
With the development of Waihi came a recognition of the necessity of extending the Auckland rail link to the town. In 1895 the government ordered a survey of the gorge and approved the construction of a gauge line to be built between Paeroa and Waihi. This would include the construction of the Karangahake tunnel. Late in 1903, in an effort to get the line completed, the Waihi Goldmining Company advanced the Government £75,000. While the laying of the new line went smoothly it was not until 1905 that the tunnel was completed.
On November 9, 1905 the Paeroa-Waihi line was formally declared open by the Premier, Richard Seddon. For the next 22 years it was the main terminus of the East Coast Line.
The station buildings contract was for a goods shed, two stall engine sheds, privy and urinals, station building, water tallies, coal store and a platelayer's cottage. The cost was £1764-3s-6d. On opening, the yard had accommodation for 97 wagons in a loop, a middle and goods shed road. The station handled five trains daily each way between Paeroa and Waihi. By the time it closed in 1978 there were nine daily trains each way from Paeroa to Taneatua. As well as passengers, a considerable quantity of stock, coal, timber and other goods were loaded and unloaded at the Waihi station.
There have been major alterations made to the station yard in 1935 and the 1950s. The area presently consists of a four road station with the remains of a back road loop used to service the stock yards and which is now used to park old carriages.
With the expansion of New Zealand's Railways in the latter nineteenth and early twentieth centuries there came the problem of housing the itinerant railway workers. While some housing was provided by the Railways Department before 1919, it was from this date that the need to provide readily available, low cost housing close to both rural and urban railway stations throughout New Zealand became apparent. Under William Fergusson Massey (1856-1925), Minister of Railways, the Department decided to enter into a large scale housing scheme which would provide housing for all permanent members of staff. There are seven railway houses within the Waihi historic area boundaries.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION:
The history of Waihi is dominated by the development and fluctuations of the gold mining industry. The first excavations for gold were in 1878 and by 1887 the London based Waihi Gold and Silver Mining Company was formed. By the end of 1893 this company had established a cyanide extraction plant in Waihi. The introduction of this new technology made it much more efficient and cheaper to extract gold from quartz and helped the Waihi Gold Mining Company to become New Zealand's largest gold producer by the mid-1890's.
The success of the Waihi gold mines had a direct and obvious effect on the development of the town. In 1886 there were only twenty families in the entire Waihi district, with a single shop and a small hotel. By the mid 1890's a thriving commercial centre had developed and by 1902 Waihi had become the North Island's largest borough with over a thousand men working in the mines.
With the development of Waihi came a recognition of the necessity of extending the Auckland rail link to the town. In 1895 the government ordered a survey of the gorge and approved the construction of a gauge line to be built between Paeroa and Waihi. This would include the construction of the Karangahake tunnel. Late in 1903, in an effort to get the line completed, the Waihi Goldmining Company advanced the Government £75,000. While the laying of the new line went smoothly it was not until 1905 that the tunnel was completed.
On November 9, 1905 the Paeroa-Waihi line was formally declared open by the Premier, Richard Seddon. For the next 22 years it was the main terminus of the East Coast Line.
The station buildings contract was for a goods shed, two stall engine sheds, privy and urinals, station building, water tallies, coal store and a platelayer's cottage. The cost was £1764-3s-6d. On opening, the yard had accommodation for 97 wagons in a loop, a middle and goods shed road. The station handled five trains daily each way between Paeroa and Waihi. By the time it closed in 1978 there were nine daily trains each way from Paeroa to Taneatua. As well as passengers, a considerable quantity of stock, coal, timber and other goods were loaded and unloaded at the Waihi station.
There have been major alterations made to the station yard in 1935 and the 1950s. The area presently consists of a four road station with the remains of a back road loop used to service the stock yards and which is now used to park old carriages.
With the expansion of New Zealand's Railways in the latter nineteenth and early twentieth centuries there came the problem of housing the itinerant railway workers. While some housing was provided by the Railways Department before 1919, it was from this date that the need to provide readily available, low cost housing close to both rural and urban railway stations throughout New Zealand became apparent. Under William Fergusson Massey (1856-1925), Minister of Railways, the Department decided to enter into a large scale housing scheme which would provide housing for all permanent members of staff. There are seven railway houses within the Waihi historic area boundaries.
