Kumara, New Zealand

Kumara was founded and became one of the country's chief gold mining centres following the discovery of gold at Dillmanstown, about 3 kilometres (2 mi) to the south-east, in 1876. The tramline from Greymouth to Paroa was extended to Kumara the following year. The population was 4,220 in October 1877. The town became a borough in 1877.[3] Kumara Hospital was operating by 1881[5] and continued into the twentieth century.[6] In 1882, the Kumara volunteer fire brigade was formed.[7]

Kumara was the home town of prominent politician Richard Seddon, who was elected mayor of the town in 1877,[8] and served as Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1893 until his death in 1906.

In 1925, the manager of Pearns Hotel in Kumara was charged by police after she refused to supply accommodation to two visiting temperance lecturers.[9] The Pearn's Brewery became part of Westland Ales around this time.[10]

Although the town once had 50 pubs, the numbers dwindled. In June 2009, the last remaining pub, the Empire Hotel, had its licence cancelled by the Liquor Licensing Authority.[11] In 2010, the last store of the town faced closure, with only a few hundred inhabitants left, but it was hoped that one of the New Zealand Cycle Trails to run through the town would lift the settlement's fortunes again.[12] In November 2012 the Theatre Royal Hotel reopened as the only pub serving Kumara, and in November 2013 the West Coast Wilderness Trail cycleway running from Greymouth to Ross was officially opened with a ceremony in Kumara.[13]

Kumara School is a coeducational full primary school (years 1–8), with a decile rating of 5 and a roll of 20.[14] The school celebrated 120 years of education in the district in 1997.[15]