Greymouth

Aoraki / Mount Cook and other mountains from Greymouth's beach

The town is located at the mouth of the Grey River, on a narrow coastal plain close to the foot of the Southern Alps. In clear weather, Aoraki / Mount Cook can be clearly seen to the south from near the town. The mouth of the river divides the town into three areas: Blaketown, close to the river's mouth on the south bank; Karoro, to the southeast, separated from Blaketown by a series of small estuarine lagoons; and Cobden, formerly a separate town, on the river's north bank.

Greymouth is on State Highway 6, which connects it with Hokitika in the south and Westport in the north. It also stands at the terminus of State Highway 7, which runs through Dobson and Reefton, eventually reaching North Canterbury and its junction with State Highway 1 at Waipara, 55 kilometres (34 mi) north of Christchurch, via Lewis Pass. Highway 73 is accessed 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of Greymouth, which is the most direct route to or from Christchurch. The town is also the western terminus of the Midland line from Christchurch. Large coal trains often operate from Greymouth on this line to Christchurch. The famous TranzAlpine train also terminates at Greymouth. The Greymouth Airport is only 1.9 kilometres (1.2 mi) south of the centre of the town.

Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as oceanic (Cfb).[2] Greymouth receives mean annual rainfall high by New Zealand standards and this rainfall is distributed relatively evenly throughout the year.[3] This is due to its position receiving marine westerlies throughout the year that often do not rise above the Southern Alps. As a result of this, it creates a rain shadow effect that sees east coast locations having far sunnier and warmer summers. This extreme marine influence also shelters the Greymouth area from hot summer days and cold winter nights. Snow is rare, the last reported event occurring on 4 August 2019.[4]

Grey River / Māwheranui

Māori had lived in Greymouth for a considerable time before European settlement, and called the area Māwhera (for 'wide spread river mouth',[6] still an alternative name for the Grey River). The first Europeans to visit the site of what is now Greymouth were Thomas Brunner and Charles Heaphy in 1846.

Brunner discovered coal in the Grey valley, and several places in the region (notably the town of Brunner and Lake Brunner) bear his name. Brunner himself named the Grey River after Sir George Grey, Governor of New Zealand.[7]

As numbers of colonists continued to increase in Nelson and Canterbury, interest grew in settling the West Coast, but the land was still owned by Māori – Poutini Ngāi Tahu. In 1857 Poutini Ngāi Tahu chiefs wrote to Donald McLean, the New Zealand government land purchase officer, offering to sell the land for £2500, as long as some land was reserved for their use, and they kept their rights to the pounamu (greenstone) of the Arahura River.[8] In 1859, James Mackay was sent to broker a purchase deal, the Arahura Deed. This was signed in Māwhera by leading chiefs on 21 May 1860, and sold the entire West Coast to the Crown for just £300 ($36,000 in 2019 dollars), apart from a scattering of reserves totalling 4,000 hectares (40 km²).[9] (Just after the signing, Mackay capsized his canoe in the Grey River, and some of the writing in the document is smudged to this day.)[9] The reserves included Māwhera, now the centre of Greymouth.

On 22 July 1864 the 'Nelson' became the first steamer to cross the Grey bar and steam up the Grey River.[10] Aboard the 'Nelson' were Matthew Batty and Reuben Waite plus approximately 70 prospectors.[10] Reuben Waite would open the first store in Greymouth on the banks of the Grey River at the corner of which is now Waite St and Mawhera Quay.[11] Matthew Batty would become the first European coal miner on the Grey River overseeing a group of Māori digging up the Brunner Seam on the Grey River bank.[11]

John Rochfort undertook the original survey of the site of the township in 1865.[12][13] Greymouth was proclaimed a Borough on 16 July 1868, and on 26 August 1868 an election was held. On 16 September 1868 the new borough council held its first meeting and unanimously elected Mr Edward Masters as the first Mayor of Greymouth.[14]

Greymouth in 1924

From 1853 until the abolition of provinces in 1876, Greymouth was first part of Canterbury Province (the West Coast part of the Province was known as West Canterbury) and then part of an independent Westland Province. However Cobden, on the north (or right) bank of the Grey River was a part of Nelson Province from 1853 to 1876. The boundary between the Canterbury and Nelson provinces had been set as a straight line from the head of the Hurunui River to Lake Brunner at a time when the area was virtually uninhabited, but the West Coast Gold Rush straddled that boundary, with a population boom also straddling the boundary.[15] In 1866, there had been a proposal for portions of Canterbury Province, including the urban area of Greymouth and the rural area south, to be annexed and solely administered by Nelson Province.[16] The situation for the citizens of the area was partially alleviated with the creation of the County of Westland – which had all the administrative powers of a provincial council, but saw the legislative powers remain with Parliament in Wellington. Members of Parliament were not happy with having to spend their time on local legislation, and in 1873 the government elevated the county to full provincial status as Westland Province.

Greymouth, comprising the statistical areas of Cobden, Blaketown, Greymouth Central, King Park, Marsden, Karoro and Rutherglen-Camerons, had a population of 7,962 at the 2018 New Zealand census, a decrease of 156 people (-1.9%) since the 2013 census, and a decrease of 267 people (-3.2%) since the 2006 census. There were 3,345 households. There were 3,933 males and 4,038 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.97 males per female, with 1,398 people (17.6%) aged under 15 years, 1,356 (17.0%) aged 15 to 29, 3,573 (44.9%) aged 30 to 64, and 1,641 (20.6%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 90.9% European/Pākehā, 10.6% Māori, 1.5% Pacific peoples, 3.8% Asian, and 2.1% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities).

The proportion of people born overseas was 11.5%, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people objected to giving their religion, 51.3% had no religion, 37.5% were Christian, 0.7% were Hindu, 0.4% were Muslim, 0.2% were Buddhist and 2.0% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 765 (11.7%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 1,839 (28.0%) people had no formal qualifications. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 3,144 (47.9%) people were employed full-time, 1,023 (15.6%) were part-time, and 198 (3.0%) were unemployed.[21]

Greymouth was founded during the West Coast gold rush of the 1860s, but for 150 years after this its economy was based on coal mining and native timber forestry. These brought prosperity to the town which at one point had 47 hotels (today it has only six).[30] In 2020 most of the coal mines have now closed yet at there were once ten coal mines in the Brunner Field. Brunner (1861–1935), Tyneside (1876–1954), Wallsend (1894–1932), Coal Pit Heath (1877–1893), Coolgardie (1894–1932), Pig and Whistle (1900–1944), South Brunner (1906–1907), St Kilda (1907–1921), North Brunner (1908–1920), Dobson (1920–1968).[31] The 10 mines produced over 8 million tonnes of coal.[31] The coal reserves in the district including - measured, indicated, and inferred total 164 million tonnes.[14] Fishing has long been important to the town, despite the fact that the entrance to the Grey River has two notoriously dangerous sandbars; an inner and outer bar.[32]

Beginning in the 1960s, forestry and coal mining began to decline on the West Coast. The planned opening of the Pike River Mine in early 2008 spurred new investments in upgrading port facilities at the town.[33] The opening of the new mine, as well as the planned Spring Creek mine, was called the biggest investment happening in the area for a hundred years; coal barges travelling to and from reshipment facilities in Taranaki would have carried containerised cargo to the town and saved the port from closure.[34] On 19 November 2010, there was an explosion at the Pike River Mine, trapping 29 miners.[35] Attempts to rescue the trapped miners were repeatedly delayed due to high levels of methane gas, until a second explosion on 24 November dashed all hope of survival for the miners.[36] Pike River Coal went into receivership in the wake of the disaster and was purchased by Solid Energy, which closed the Spring Creek Mine in 2012 with the loss of 220 jobs and went into voluntary administration in August 2015.

After the decline in coal mining and forestry, the West Coast economy has become increasingly dependent on ecotourism. Thousands of coal mining jobs had declined to just 60, and hundreds of tourism jobs had replaced them.[30] During Greymouth's boom years, much of the centre of town was built up in brick Art Deco building on leased land in the Mawhera Reserve. This land was administered for many years by the Department of Maori Affairs, but was returned to the control of the iwi in 1976. At that time Mawhera Inc's total assets were worth $2m, but had grown to $123m by 2018. Mawhera Inc is now the town's largest landlord, with 1600 shareholders.[30] After regulations were tightened following the 2010 Canterbury earthquake, many of Greymouth's heritage buildings were found to be unsafe, and the combination of earthquake-strengthening costs and being on lease land makes many of them uneconomic to restore and occupy.[30]

Greymouth is also known for its pounamu ("greenstone", a form of jade) carving industry which goes back to Māori origins. The town's local brewery, Monteith's, has produced beer since 1868 which is now sold nationwide.[7]

Greymouth has several state primary schools offering education up to year 8, and Greymouth High School providing secondary education. There are also state-integrated Catholic primary and secondary schools.

Tai Poutini Polytechnic has its head office based in Greymouth. It also has campuses in Auckland, Christchurch, Hokitika, Reefton, Wanaka and Westport.

• Inner suburbs:
  • 

    Southern Breakwater in Blaketown
    Cobden – reflects the English origins and political awareness of its founders. Many of the streets are named for English political rebels and reformers of their times. Richard Cobden (1804–1865) was a radical politician involved in repealing the Corn Laws, emancipating the worker and encouraging free trade. Some of his contemporaries such as John Bright and Edward Cardwell also have streets named after them. Other more recent streets honour some of Cobden's significant citizens.[37]
  • Greymouth Central – Māwhera to Māori but renamed 'Grey' to honour the then Governor of New Zealand Sir George Grey. The earliest street names honour pioneer residents, explorers and prominent local Māori, while others pay tribute to English literary figures and politicians. Later developments recognise the achievements of local residents who contributed significantly to civic and local body affairs.[37]
  • Blaketown – named for its founder, Isaac Blake who, according to his contemporaries, although unable to read was a wily and ambitious character. He came as a gold prospector but soon saw that there was more money to be made as a trader and storekeeper. In its early days, Blaketown was bigger than Greymouth. Blaketown shows the influence of early politicians in its street names.[37]
  • Wharemoa
  • Karoro - the meaning in Māori is 'blacked-backed gull' or 'seagull'. The streets of Karoro, which are mostly the result of more recent subdivision, reflect the names of developers or landowners in the area. Some are named for geographic features and native trees.[37]
• Outer suburbs:
  • South Beach
  • Paroa – the meaning in Māori is 'long fortified village'. The area around the Saltwater Creek was so named in 1866 when upwards of two thousand men were prospecting in the area. The streets of Paroa are mostly named for prominent citizens and landowners.[37]
  • Rutherglen
  • Gladstone
  • Camerons

• Mary Anderson (1887–1966), politician and founding member of the Greymouth branch of the New Zealand Labour Party
• Julie Christie (born 1962), television producer who grew up in Greymouth
• Paul Coll (born 1992), squash player born in Greymouth
• Arthur Guinness (1846–1913), lawyer and politician
• Kevin Hague (born 1960), politician and chief executive who lives in Greymouth
• Tony Kokshoorn (born 1955), politician, activist and publisher born and lives in Greymouth
• Janice M. Morse (born 1945), medical researcher who grew up in Greymouth
• Bill Pearson (1922–2002), writer born in Greymouth
• Mark Priest (born 1961), cricketer born in Greymouth
• Gaylene Preston (born 1947), filmmaker born in Greymouth
• Blair Tennent (1898–1976), politician who grew up in Greymouth
• Leigh Hart (born 1970), comedian and radio announcer born in Greymouth
• Jackie Thomas (born 1990) singer born in Greymouth

• Bank of New Zealand (1 Tainui Street), now home of the Leftbank Art Gallery
• Revington's Hotel (45–49 Tainui Street), now demolished

• 
  The former Greymouth Government buildings
• 
  Greymouth Courthouse building
• 
  Left Bank Art Gallery, in the old Bank of New Zealand building
• 
  History House museum, the former Grey County Chambers
• 
  Hannah's building
• 
  Greymouth Royal Hotel
• 
  Dispatch & Garlick Foundry

• Regions of New Zealand
• Territorial authorities of New Zealand.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Greymouth.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Greymouth.

• The district council's website
• Greymouth Street Map
• Photo of the road and rail bridges c1930
• Photo of SS Opouri off Greymouth bar c1948