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HISTORIC HOTEL
W hitianga’s very first hotel, along with its own long ‘Upper
Wharf’, was built in 1867 by Thomas Carina (aka Carini), an
Eastern European immigrant from Tauranga. The historic
Whitianga Marina Hotel, rebuilt after a fire in 1926, is still located on
its original site on Blacksmith Road. The building today contains the
popular Salt Restaurant and ‘infamous’ Blacksmith Bar (now renamed
The Whitianga Hotel), as well as offices and accommodation.
Whitianga’s second hotel, Ferguson’s, was built in 1869.
LOGGING SPURS MERCURY BAY’S GROWTH
The Mercury Bay and Coromandel’s east coast was already an
active logging area. The historic stone wharf had been built in 1830
to accommodate the visiting logging ships and the mill and ship-
building facilities were located nearby. The famous HMS Buffalo was
shipwrecked in Whitianga along Buffalo Beach in 1840. Kauri logging
was booming, and the town’s west side started to develop more in the
late sixties. In 1874, the Mercury Bay population was reported to be
500, including local Maori.
Much of the milling happened at the Auckland Sawmill Co. (later taken
over by the Mercury Bay Sawmill Co.) whose mill was located across
the river from Whitianga at Ferry Landing near that historic stone
wharf, which is being restored and is still used today.
In the early 1880s, a fire prompted the Mercury Bay Timber Company
to move its mill site from Ferry Landing across the estuary, which
proved a significant boost to the growth of residents and businesses
in Whitianga proper. The mill then employed 70 men on each of the
two daily shifts, and the town’s two licensed hotels were the centre of
the town’s imbibing and entertainment.
In 1888 the mill was taken over by the Kauri Timber Company; the mill
was rebuilt after it was destroyed by fire in 1904; it operated until 1922.
IF WALLS COULD TALK...
Local Lore: Hotelier Carina had a keen interest in racehorses, and,
owning a few steeds, he built his own racecourse near the hotel.
There was a lot of scrub and flax in the middle of the course, and
according to local lore, a rider (when out of sight on the racetrack)
made a shortcut through the flax, only to reappear suddenly in the
lead, and won the race!
At the time of his death in 1888, Carina’s holdings included the
Village hotspot since 1867 WHITIANGA
HOTEL
Whitianga
Hotel and
Upper Wharf
Dance
Hall
,
,
Map from July of 1885
Left: The original
Whitianga Hotel in 1910.
Right: Local schoolboys
kick through the sooty
remains of the hotel after
a devastating fire in 1926.
Far right: The hotel was
rebuilt larger and back in
business before the end
of the year. Mr. and Mrs
Robert Snow are seen
outside the hotel in 1935.
34 COROMANDEL LIFE 2016 LATE AUTUMN / WINTER
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