Arrowtown

Arrowtown is a former gold mining town northeast of Queenstown on the South Island of New Zealand. It is located in the valley of the river in Queenstown-Lakes District and the feet of the Crown Range and had in the census of 2006, 2,151 permanent residents.

Two years after the first European settlers settled down with their farms in the Wakatipu region, the first gold was found in the nearby Arrowtown. For a short time the secret was kept, but the news spread quickly nonetheless: in 1862 Jack Tewa, a shearer, and found gold in the Arrow River.

Within a few weeks, the city grew to 1,500 residents. News about the discovery of gold drew crowds of miners to Arrowtown. A year later, the gold mining industry suffered a severe setback, however as many gold prospectors perished in the waters of a devastating flood.

The city was built with solid houses on the banks of the river again. In total there were 80 Gold Fields, which disappeared within a decade. During the peak of the gold rush, the population rose to 7,000. The bustling city was the center of a larger community, which included the new places Macetown, Skippers and Bullendale (today only ghost towns).

From 1996 to 2001 the city experienced a population increase of over 18%, which caused the town to enjoy a new building boom, but was trapped by the strict prohibitions and limitations of borders in order to preserve the historic appearance.

Many old mining houses, shops and restaurants have been restored in recent years for tourism. The former Bank of New Zealand today is home to a branch of the Lakes District Centennial Museum. It deals with the history of the areas around the Lake Wakatipu, including with the presentation on the subject of gold mining.

On the Arrow River, you can try your luck yourself with borrowed pans for gold. On the eastern edge is the so-called Chinese settlement. Around 1870, many Chinese people came to the area to search in the ravines of Arrow River and Shotover River for gold. Despite or perhaps because of their industry, there was a lot of friction with the whites. Therefore, the Chinese had to live outside the settlement.