Tūātapere History - Business and Industry, Railway and West's Waiau Hotel

Shared by Central & Western Murihiku Southland Archive

Tūātapere History - Business and Industry, Railway and West's Waiau Hotel: Different views of the same scene, from slightly differing angles. Image 1 - from a collection of early town photos donated by Margaret Thomas, this particular image is in the Public Domain Image 2 - taken from "The Hole in the Bush" book record, and while the image is Public Domain, acknowledgement is made to Des Williams Images 3 & 4 - donated by D&C Erskine, this is a preservation copy only. While the image itself is in the Public Domain, the article with it is still in Copyright. Thanks however to Lloyd Esler for permission to use this. NOTE: more photos of the township through the years will soon go up in our archive, and some are already available, just search to find them. Des William's "The Hole In The Bush" book suggests the above photo is dated around 1911 and we are inclined to agree with that date, given all of the available evidence, as below. The photographer is unknown. HISTORY: The Tūātapere railway was really only built for the timber industry, which was at that time, the whole backbone of the local community, and this can be clearly seen in the photos above. It is probably safe to assume, that without the local timber industry, Tūātapere would never have had a railway and would not exist. This is one of the reasons that a group of dedicated locals are passionate about seeing and getting the remaining Tūātapere Branch railway buildings secured & restored to use. Photos of the current remedial work are also available in this archive. More information about the scene above can be gleaned from early resident and first teacher Hugh McFeely's memoirs, which are also quoted in depth further below, regarding the early buildings in town. But in this instance, he is discussing the importance of the Timber Industry and the Tūātapere Branch Railway which had just opened, when he arrived in the fledgling township in mid 1910: He recalls: "The sawmilling industry has passed through many ups and downs in Southland. Naturally in the March of progress, conditions of working, transport and modern machinery have revolutionised the industry. As the railway pressed on to Tūātapere, sawmilling gained momentum, and with mills first at Waihoaka and on to Te Wae Wae, the Southland Sawmilling Company and the Austin Mills began operations. The Southland Sawmilling Company was to loom largely in the sawmilling world of the Waiau for many years, the principals in the firm being Messrs W. Guthrie and W. Brent. Mills were also established at Te Tua, the chief of which were those of Peter Hamilton and Company. With the arrival of the railway to the banks of the Waiau, sawmilling received a great impetus. The Southland Sawmilling Company had four mills adjacent to Tuatapere, Hamilton and Co. two and Lance Raymond one. The timber was mostly red pine but totara and white pine were also milled. The native beech had not then come into its own. The timber from the Papatotara side of the river was carted by horse wagons and crossed the Waiau River by punt at the railhead. Although the sawmills have pushed into the back country, some 30 miles from the railhead, modern transport and good roads have made it comparatively easy to get the timber to market today. Last year (1951 when Hugh McFeely wrote his memoirs) 10½ million feet of timber was railed from Tuatapere." NOTE: [Sadly within two decades, the line was closed.] In "The Hole In The Bush", Des writes that while visiting the area to look at opening a new school, in Oct 1909 the Southland Education Department were told that the Railway Department were building 8 houses for married men, all of which will be occupied within six months, some within six weeks. These can be seen to the left of the photos. 'West's Waiau Hotel' imposing new two storied Hotel seen here, would have been not long opened (6th February 1909). It was conveniently situated immediately opposite where the Railway Station and terminus line were being built. That guaranteed that the new Hotel would attract train travelers in need of a bed and meal. William or 'Bill' West previously had run an accommodation house on the Papatotara side of the Waiau, known as 'Angler's Rest', entry number CWA.012.103.004 Then, on Thursday 23rd September 1909, a beautiful sunny day, the final eight miles and six chain of the railway track from Invercargill to Tūātapere was formally declared open and there was plenty of fanfare with dignitaries and other excursionists (between 400-500) having arrived by train from Invercargill, which was a pretty decent sized crowd, as can be seen in the photo. Some traveled in open top carriages according to local history, see in entry CWA.012.105.002 To start with, the West's Waiau Hotel was surrounded by trees, which can be seen in this and other earlier photos. But later in 1909 the drapers and more Billiard Rooms behind were built next door, which can be seen in later photos of this part of the township and by the time the now famed Tūātapere Sports Days were started in 1910, they were held at a cleared paddock by West's Waiau Hotel, see more in CWA.012.082.005 and the tree clearances can certainly be seen. We know this series of photos was taken after September 1909 and likely before mid 1911 as both the West's Waiau Hotel and the Railway are open and the Draper's next to the Hotel, later a Bootmakers, is not yet built. It is because of the first School Teacher's carefully written memoirs of his arrival, that we have such clear knowledge of events: More recollections by Hugh McFeely, follow, will help understand the background. McFeely arrived iin June, 1910, he remembers that he arrived by the eight o’clock train and was met at the station by a member of the newly formed School Committee and taken to the hotel, as there was no other place being available for him to board. He recalls soon finding out that there was no school building, but that he would be expected to teach in the Cymric Hall, a large barn-like structure recently built by Mr John Davies. McFeely's further recollections are that from West’s Waiau Hotel, the present shop nearest the hotel was occupied by Mr Tom Ward, bootmaker. There were no other buildings until we reached near the present National Bank of New Zealand. There Mr Stout occupied a new grocer’s shop with a dwelling house nearby. Passing along to come to the site of Cymric Hall (built by Mr John Davies) and afterwards burnt down, this hall was where Mr Bert Stancombes garage was. There were no further buildings until Aitken and Young’s butcher shop, pulled down c2010. In another historical article, which can be viewed in CWA.012.108.002 there is further information, including, "Another shop [Mr Davies] built was the general drapery store owned by H Lobb [this was next to the West's Waiau Hotel]. Behind it he had a billiard room, also a hair-cutting saloon, and beside this building, he built a small hall used for many small functions. Even the Post Office used it temporarily, until the main office was built." In Post Office History, it confirms that the earlier Post and Telegraph Office was housed in a small building up by the Waiau Hotel. The Waiau Hotel enjoyed great patronage and continued to be known for its excellent meals and cleanliness. Bill and Elizabeth sold in 1913 to Mrs Jessie Gardiner a well-known and respected storekeeper from Ōtautau. Jessie kept up the tradition of fine hospitality and generosity of the previous hosts before on selling in 1915 to Mr J Horner of Winton. There have been many owners over the years, and a fuller history of all these will soon be put up in this Community Archive. At the current time (2023) the Waiau Hotel is being refurbished by the new owners and is expected to re-open again in the next year or so. The first Railway station was erected at the time the railway was built, but it did not last long. On the 9th January 1915 the Tūātapere Railway Station was completely destroyed by fire, according to local news. Then the second railway station which was built, is still in existence today, and this has been the focus of another lot of new entries just made here. The attached article titled "How a hole in the bush came by its name" written in the 'About The South' column by historian Lloyd Esler, says: QUOTED "The meaning and origin of the name Tūātapere is unclear. The name for the town first appears in 1903 when the new Post and Telegraph office opened in the settlement, which had begun as a ferry reserve. Tūātapere Island, also called Mānuka Island or Ryan's Island, was the name for a tract of land on the western side of the river, north of the domain and separated from it by a channel. It could be that this name was applied to the town because it was a convenient local Māori placement. Tūātapere was among placenames given by Horomona Patu in 1894 to Percy Smith, the surveyor general and secretary for lands and mines. Smith was also an ethnologist with a keen interest in Māori history and culture. Southland's chief surveyor, John Hay, had written to the Post and Telegraph Department suggesting the name Tūātapere, which was in keeping with the policy of giving Māori names to new settlements. It replaced the usual name of Drummond's Ferry or "The Hole in the Bush" - for, at the time, it was a clearing in dense forest. There is another reference to it as Waiwanganui, heavenly water. Of the various suggested meanings, tūā tapere translates as "pout of the lips", perhaps a reference to the unpleasant taste of the water, "a mall island", "meeting place", "sacred ceremony" or "land beyond the ridge". Sources used for the above are the excellent book, on Tūātapere, 'The Hole in the Bush, a Tuatapere Centennial Review', compiled by Des Williams, 'On The Edge of the Bush', by Sheila Natusch, West to the Fiords', by FWG Miller and published news items from Papers Past, and historical excerpts from the Waiau Gazette, by Ashlee and David Mill, a series of recollections by first teacher Hugh McFeely, also quoted and shown in the above entry is an article by Southern Historian, Lloyd Esler. Hopefully this entry will be added to as more information comes to hand. If you or anyone you know has any more information or photos to share or accounts of the early Tūātapere Township during the years, please do share this with us in the comments section. You can do this by making a comment in the space provided under the image page. Or you can make contact with us as per the archive front page.