Reefton is a small town in the West Coast region of New Zealand, some 80 km northeast of Greymouth, in the Inangahua River valley. Ahaura is 44 km south-west of Reefton, Inangahua Junction is 34 km to the north, Maruia is 63 km to the east, and the Lewis Pass is 66 km to the south-east.
In 1888, it was the first town in New Zealand to be lit by electricity, generated by the Reefton Power Station. Reefton was a thriving gold mining town in the late 19th century, and gold mining lasted from the 1870s to the 1950s. Its economy is based on tourism, forestry, coal mining and farming.
Reefton is home to the Inangahua County Library.
Name
The rich veins of gold found in a quartz reef near the town led to its name, originally spelled "Reef Town". Two nicknames in use soon after it was founded were "Rest Town" and "Quartzopolis". The main street, Broadway, was named after West Coast magistrate Charles Broad. The nearby Wealth of Nations mine was named after Adam Smith's book because the gold been discovered by another Adam Smith (no relation).
History
1866 – Alluvial gold discovered in the Īnangahua Valley
1870 – Quartz reefs discovered at Reefton
1872 – Reefton Hospital opened
1886 – Reefton School of Mines opened
1888 – Town electricity supply commenced
1892 – Railway line opened
1908 – Rail line to Cronadun opened
1912 – Mine workers locked out
1967 – Rail passenger services ceased
Gold mining
Alluvial gold was first discovered near the town in 1866; the major discovery of gold in quartz reefs was made in 1870 and gold was being extracted by 1872. Mining from quartz reefs only took place at Reefton and Lyell.
An earlier settlement, known as Ross Town, had been established on the opposite bank of the Inangahua River around 1870, but most businesses shifted across the river in 1871 to be nearer the quartz mining. There were mines at nearby locations such as Waiuta and Blacks Point.
There was a downturn in the industry in the 1880s due to lack of money to develop deeper mines. Consolidated Goldfields New Zealand formed in 1896 and ran several mines. Technology was modernised and the Reefton School of Mines opened in 1887 to apply more scientific knowledge to mining.
Gold mining at Reefton ceased in 1951.
Electricity
In 1888 Reefton became the first town in New Zealand to receive electricity, the work of Walter Prince, and its streets were lit by commercial electricity generated by the Reefton Power Station. The power station was demolished in 1961 but the Reefton Power House Charitable Trust Inc has raised $4.5 million for a restructure project, and work started on buildings and a water race in 2019.
Geography
Climate
Located in the Inangahua Valley at an altitude of 194m, Reefton falls under the Köppen-Geiger climate classification of Cfb (Oceanic), though the town's sheltered inland location lends its climate less maritime influence than coastal areas; as such, Reefton has recorded both the extreme highest temperature of 33.7 °C (92.7 °F) and the extreme lowest temperature of -8.5 °C (16.7 °F) in the West Coast region. At an average temperature of 17.4 °C (63.3 °F), February is the warmest month. July is the coldest month, at 5.4 °C (41.7 °F). Reefton's average annual temperature is 11.7 °C. Due to the town's inland location, summer afternoons are often considerably warmer in Reefton than coastal locations such as Greymouth or Westport, and it is not uncommon for winter mornings to be several degrees colder; nightly inversions of temperature are common due to the local geography, which encourages frequent periods of calm air. An average of 24 days per year will exceed 25 °C (77 °F); during an average winter, Reefton can expect to see 46 days of air frost and 61 days of ground frost. The Reefton area is the driest in the West Coast; this is largely due to the rain-shadow effect of the Paparoa Range.
Demographics
Reefton covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2.
Reefton had a population of 927 at the 2018 New Zealand census, a decrease of 129 people (−12.2%) since the 2013 census, and a decrease of 54 people (−5.5%) since the 2006 census. There were 447 households, comprising 471 males and 456 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.03 males per female. The median age was 51.9 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 132 people (14.2%) aged under 15 years, 120 (12.9%) aged 15 to 29, 453 (48.9%) aged 30 to 64, and 222 (23.9%) aged 65 or older.