Lakes District Museum and Gallery
The Lakes District Museum is located in Arrowtown,
New Zealand that showcases the exciting history of the nation's
southern lakes district, with outstanding and unique exhibits,
special exhibitions gallery and options for tour, conference and
education groups. The museum offers information about the early
Maori in the district, the difficult pioneering days of the European
settlers, and the incredible gold rush period of the mid to late
19th century. The museum would initially open with exciting displays
about the gold rush days that evolved into a museum with something
for everyone. They have hands-on displays, research facilities,
information and retail outlets, special exhibitions, educational
programs and their special programs for conference and tour groups.
When gold was discovered on the west coast, many European miners
would come here as well as Chinese miners, and would settle lower
Arrowtown in the late 1860s. The miners from China would get harsh
treatment from the Europeans here, just as they did in America, when
they arrived there to help build a country. An archaeological
excavation would be started in 1983 that was carried out by members
of Otago University and the Department of Conservation, and a
section of the museum is devoted to them, along with exciting relics
that were uncovered in the dig. They would reconstruct a number of
huts using materials found on the site, and so now, visitors can
visit this old village, learn more about the early miners and enjoy
a walk exploring the huts. The museum would be opened in 1948, in
the billiards room of the Ballarat Hotel that concentrated on the
gold mining history, and in 1955, it would be moved to better
premises into the old Bank of New Zealand building that had been
constructed in 1875. The museum's streetscape includes an 1800s
schoolhouse, farm shed, joinery shop, print shop and butch/baker
shop.
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