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Welcome to the Lakes District Museum and Gallery, Arrowtown, New Zealand. A unique variety of exhibits present an authentic picture of early Maori in the southern lakes district, of the harsh pioneering days of the European settlers, and the exciting gold rush era of the mid to late 1800s. The Lakes District Museum has beginnings which are set in the town's gold mining past, and over the years has developed into a visitor experience with something for everyone. Today the museum welcomes around 50,000 visitors each year who enjoy the hands-on exhibits, special exhibitions, research facilities, education programme, information and retail outlet, and our special programmes for Conference and Incentive and tour groups. There is a small admission charge to visit the museum while admission to the information and retail outlet is free. Arrowtown and the wider area has a colourful history. With a richly preserved heritage Arrowtown's past is all around you. In 1948 a humble museum was opened in the billiards room of Arrowtown's Ballarat Hotel focusing on the district's wealth of gold-mining history. In 1955 the museum relocated to gifted premises at the former Bank of New Zealand, built in 1875. Today the bank and parts of the old township at the museum's site have been retained and incorporated into displays, including the bank's stables, and part of the bank's residence. The museum is proud of its ongoing commitment to further development and has undergone significant expansion over the years. As an information outlet and booking agent we are often the first stop for visitors to the town for inquiries on accommodation and attractions. Visitors enjoy the opportunity to purchase books, crafts and art works, while the archives and research facility is immensely popular with the casual family historian or serious researcher. Our Special Exhibitions Gallery shows a changing selection of history or art based exhibitions.
A five-year plan will see the development of a streetscape which will include an 1800s school house, joinery, printing shop and bakery reconstructed from the remains of George Roman's bakery which still stands in the museum's lower section. The Lakes District Museum runs the Arrowtown Post Office (built 1915) situated opposite the museum. This is one of the few remaining post offices in New Zealand still called a 'Post and Telegraph' office . The Post Office provides a full mail service along with mail products, postcards and souvenirs. Open daily from 9am - 4.30pm. Tel: 64 3 442 1885
In 1862 William Rees' shearer Jack Tewa discovered gold in the Arrow River. The discovery remained quiet for a short time but gradually miners making their way inland from the many gold fields in Central Otago began to arrive. Among them was a Californian gold miner called William Fox. A larger than life character,William Fox worked with a group of around 40 miners appointing himself as something of a rough commissioner. Once word got out the population of Fox's,as Arrowtown was then called, rose within a few short weeks to around 1500. Eventually Arrowtown's population rose to over 7000. Shortly after the Arrow discovery, two further men employed by farmer William Rees, Thomas Arthur and Harry Redfern, struck it rich on the Shotover River, uncovering more than £400 worth of gold in less than two months quickly winning the river a reputation as one of the richest rivers in the world. The population at the Shotover was estimated to swell to as high as 5000 miners within a few weeks. Later, as the miners made their way into the interior in search of the elusive Mother Lode, the townships of Macetown and Bullendale were established. Now ghost towns, these communities established themselves around quartz mining - the source of the gold, adding to the wider population. Life was never easy for the miner whose diet usually consisted of damper, bacon, mutton and tea which resulted in scurvy and dysentery. Long hours working in the icy Arrow River also led to rheumatism and in many cases an early death. Spring floods also took their toll and on one particular occasion in 1863 an estimated 100-200 miners lost their lives in both the Arrow and Shotover rivers. There was also a chronic lack of wood in the region with no timber for many miles. This created problems for building, many turning to the local stone, mica schist as an alternative material. The scarcity of wood also caused a serious shortage of fuel for fires, often making for a miserable life in the Central Otago winters. In Arrowtown the Past Is All Around You
Arrowtown provides the very best in visitor accommodation (from camping facilities, to motels, to the nearby Millbrook golf resort), cafes and restaurants, is just a few minutes drive from the area's many vineyards and is the most centrally located township to all the Central Otago ski fields. The town is popular year round, but particularly well known for its astounding autumn colours. The annual Autumn Festival sees the streets transformed with festivities with many locals adopting period costume. Chinese
Settlement In 1983 an archaeological excavation was carried out by the University of Otago and the Department of Conservation. The Lakes District Museum devotes a section of the museum to the Chinese including an excellent selection of artefacts uncovered in the excavation. At the settlement archaeologists reconstructed a number of the huts using materials found on site. Visiting the settlement today offers an excellent opportunity to walk through the village, explore the huts and to learn about individual miners who lived there.
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The
first people to this area were Maori inland explorers. Waitaha, were present
in the Lakes District as early as 850AD, followed by the Kati Mamoe and
Kai Tahu. From the 1850s a number of European explorers made their way
to the Wakatipu district but never settled here. In 1860 William Rees,
a Welshman, established a station (high country farm), with the headquarters
called simply 'the camp' at the site where Queenstown is today. Fellow
explorer, Nicholas von Tunzelman , a Prussian, took the land on the far
side of Lake Wakatipu. Things may have continued along the path of a thriving
pastoral community but the Rees' farming lifestyle was to be short lived,
for in the not too distant future the discovery of gold changed the course
of history for the area.
Today
thousands still visit Arrowtown as a 'living museum' which has preserved
much of its gold mining heritage. Situated just 20 minutes drive from
New Zealand's premiere resort Queenstown, Arrowtown offers a relaxed pace
in a setting of overwhelming beauty. A large number of the historic buildings
are beautifully preserved, with many visitors choosing to take an historic
walk past miners cottages, churches, into the old jail, a freemason's
lodge and more.