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Runanga Miners' Hall
The Runanga Miners' Hall is a hall in the town of Runanga, on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. The current structure dates from 1937, and replaced an early miners' hall from 1908 that was destroyed by fire. The hall is notable for its place in the history of the organised labour movement in New Zealand, and was granted historic place category 1 status by Heritage New Zealand in 2013. History The union movement was building at the beginning of the twentieth century and the Runanga coal mine was a focus for the movement and for socialists who were proponents of a nationalised coal industry. Plans for the hall were begun in 1905 and the unionist and politician Bob Semple was instrumental in planning and getting the hall built. It was built on the corner of Mills and McGowan Streets and was opened on 4 December 1908 by Semple. A train brought people from Greymouth to Runanga for the opening. It was the country's first co-operatively built building with input from th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Community Centre
Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole community or for a specialized group within the greater community. Community centres can be religious in nature, such as Christian, Islamic, or Jewish community centres, or can be secular, such as youth clubs. Uses The community centres are usually used for: * Celebrations, * Public meetings of the citizens on various issues, * Organising meetings(where politicians or other official leaders come to meet the citizens and ask for their opinions, support or votes ("election campaigning" in democracies, other kinds of requests in non-democracies), * Volunteer activities, * Organising parties, weddings, * Organising local non-government activities, * Passes on and retells local history,etc. Organization and ownership Around the world (and s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western False Front Architecture
Western false front architecture or false front commercial architecture is a type of commercial architecture used in the Old West of the United States. Often used on two-story buildings, the style includes a vertical facade with a square top, often hiding a gable roof. The goal for the architecture is to project an image of stability and success, while in fact a business owner may not have invested much in a building that might be temporary. Four defining characteristics have been suggested: * the front façade of the building "rises to form a parapet (upper wall) which hides most or nearly all of the roof" * the roof "is almost always a front gable, though gambrel and bowed roofs are occasionally found" * "a better grade of materials is often used on the façade than on the sides or rear of the building" and * "the façade exhibits greater ornamentation than do the other sides of the building." The N. P. Smith Pioneer Hardware Store in Bend, Oregon is an example where the own ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Runanga, New Zealand
Runanga is a small town on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is located eight kilometres to the northeast of Greymouth, to the north of the Grey River. Barrytown is further north. and the Rapahoe Branch railway run through the town. Runanga was formerly a railway junction, with the steep Rewanui Branch diverging from the Rapahoe line until closure in 1985. The town's origins can be traced back to European colonisation in the late 19th century, when large numbers of settlers came to work the local coal fields. The town's name is Māori for "meeting place". Coal mining is still the main employer of the town. History During the period 1853 to 1876, the area which became the township of Runanga was administrated as part of the Nelson Province. Unlike many towns and settlements on the West Coast which grew up around gold mining, Runanga was established as a centre to support the local coal mining industry. In 1902 the Seddon Government established its own co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West Coast, New Zealand
The West Coast ( mi, Te Tai Poutini, lit=The Coast of Poutini, the Taniwha) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand on the west coast of the South Island that is administered by the West Coast Regional Council, and is known co-officially as Te Tai Poutini. It comprises the Territorial authorities of New Zealand, territorial authorities of Buller District, Grey District and Westland District. The principal towns are Westport, New Zealand, Westport, Greymouth and Hokitika. The region, one of the more remote areas of the country, is also the most sparsely populated. With a population of just 32,000 people, Te Tai Poutini is the least populous region in New Zealand, and it is the only region where the population is declining. The region has a rich and important history. The land itself is ancient, stretching back to the Carboniferous period; this is evident by the amount of carboniferous materials naturally found there, especially coal. First settled by Ngāi Tahu, Kāi T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Island
The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, and to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean. The South Island covers , making it the world's 12th-largest island. At low altitude, it has an oceanic climate. The South Island is shaped by the Southern Alps which run along it from north to south. They include New Zealand's highest peak, Aoraki / Mount Cook at . The high Kaikōura Ranges lie to the northeast. The east side of the island is home to the Canterbury Plains while the West Coast is famous for its rough coastlines such as Fiordland, a very high proportion of native bush and national parks, and the Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers. The main centres are Christchurch and Dunedin. The economy relies on agriculture and fishing, tourism, and general manufacturing and services. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heritage New Zealand
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust) ( mi, Pouhere Taonga) is a Crown entity with a membership of around 20,000 people that advocates for the protection of ancestral sites and heritage buildings in New Zealand. It was set up through the Historic Places Act 1954 with a mission to "...promote the identification, protection, preservation and conservation of the historical and cultural heritage of New Zealand" and is an autonomous Crown entity. Its current enabling legislation is the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014. History Charles Bathurst, 1st Viscount Bledisloe gifted the site where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed to the nation in 1932. The subsequent administration through the Waitangi Trust is sometimes seen as the beginning of formal heritage protection in New Zealand. Public discussion about heritage protection occurred in 1940 in conjunction with t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Semple
Robert Semple (21 October 1873 – 31 January 1955) was a union leader and later Minister of Public Works for the first Labour Government of New Zealand. He is also known for creating the Bob Semple tank. Early life He was born in Sofala, New South Wales, Australia. He started working at an early age as gold miner in Australia. In 1903 he was involved in a miner's strike in Victoria, Australia. The strike was defeated and Semple ended up being blacklisted. To avoid the blacklist Semple moved to the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. By 1907 he was president of the Runanga Miner's Union and earned himself nickname 'Fighting Bob Semple'. He was jailed in 1913 for supporting the general strike and again in 1916 after fighting conscription for overseas service during World War I. Semple served as the President of the Labour Party from 1926 to 1928. Semple was a member of the Wellington City Council for a decade between 1925 and 1935. In 1935 he unsuccessfully sto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cobden, New Zealand
Cobden is a suburb to the north of Greymouth on the West Coast of New Zealand. The Grey River separates Cobden from the rest of Greymouth. To the north is the Rapahoe Range, also called the Twelve Apostles Range. skirts the south-eastern edge of Cobden. During the period, 1853 to 1876, Cobden was administrated as part of the Nelson Province. History Early history An early European explorer, Arthur Dudley Dobson, observed Maoris on the north side of the Grey River had a good sized Pa, about where the Cobden quarry is located. The Maoris had a few huts which were the remains of a fair-sized village, once inhabited by a much larger population. The French navigator Jules Dumont d'Urville, sailed along the West Coast of the South Island in 1827 in the warship, ''Astrolabe'' and made reference to the prominent, pyramid shaped limestone outcrops at the base of the Rapahoe Range known locally as the 'Twelve Apostles'. Thomas Brunner and Charles Heaphy left Nelson in 1846 to ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Joseph Savage
Michael Joseph Savage (23 March 1872 – 27 March 1940) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of New Zealand, heading the First Labour Government from 1935 until his death in 1940. Savage was born in the Colony of Victoria (present-day Australia), and emigrated to New Zealand in 1907. A labourer, he became a trade unionist, and in 1910 was elected president of the Auckland Trades and Labour Council. Savage supported the formation of the New Zealand Labour Party in July 1916. He was active in local politics before his election to the House of Representatives in 1919, as one of eight Labour members returned in that election. Savage was elected unopposed as Labour Party Leader in 1933. Savage led the Labour Party to its first ever electoral victory in the . He won public support for his government's economic recovery policies and social welfare programme. His popularity assured the Labour Party of an even more significant electoral victory in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Kent (politician)
James Begg Kent (1885 – 4 November 1970) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. He served as a Member of Parliament and was both a borough councillor and deputy mayor of Greymouth. Biography Early life and career He was born in Dunoon, Argyll, Scotland, in 1885. There he studied as a sign writer at Dunoon Grammar School winning many awards before becoming a teacher at the same school. He then moved to London where he became the head sign writer for the London City Council works department. He became a member of the Independent Labour Party and served as a party organiser before being elected as a member of the Patrick Town Council. Kent emigrated to New Zealand in 1909 and settled in Greymouth and established his own sign writer business. He then became secretary of the Grey Labour Paper Board which purchased the '' Grey River Argus'' in 1920 and was a director of the paper for 40 years. He then became a member of the Greymouth High School board of governors for 24 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Historic Places In Grey District
This list of Heritage New Zealand-listed places in Grey District contains those buildings and structures that are listed with Heritage New Zealand (formerly known as Historic Places Trust) in Grey District, New Zealand. Heritage New Zealand is a Crown entity and the national heritage agency. With a head office in Wellington, the Christchurch area office is responsible for the Grey District. Current listings Previous listings Revingtons Hotel at 45–49 Tainui Street in Greymouth was a Spanish Mission–Art Deco style building constructed in 1938, and listed as a Category II building in 1989. It was delisted in September 2020, after commissioners gave permission for it to be demolished. It was deemed too difficult to repair after significant damage from vandals and squatters. References {{Reflist History of the West Coast, New Zealand Lists of historic places in New Zealand, Grey ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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