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STANDING STRONG
Whitianga Hotel, two stores, a public hall,
a house, cottage, engine house, stables, a
blacksmith’s shop and harness room.
Carina is remembered with a street Carina Way
and Carina’s Creek. And up by Coroglen is
Carina’s Rock. Apparently, this was so named
because Carina had a wish to be buried there.
A Mysterious Murder:
In 1873, a local
bushman was killed after leaving the Whitianga
Hotel. The two hotels’ bars and nearby small
creek were locations of an escalating argument
between Daniel Burke and James Marks, who
both disappeared into the night. Only Burke
returned, muddy and wet. Three weeks later,
and 6 miles away, Marks’ decomposed body
washed ashore, and Burke was tried for the
crime. The packed courtroom was fascinated
with testimonies from the many witnesses.
In the end the jury found Burke not guilty.
Although the men had been seen arguing, no
one actually saw the murder take place.
(Note: News reports refer to the hotel as both
‘Carini’s Hotel’ and ‘Whitianga Hotel’. Lessons we
learned the hard way: history searches stymied
because of erroneous spellings! Even within the
article Ferguson’s is spelled two different ways.)
Early Ambulance Location:
The nearest
hospital (built in 1898) was in Coromandel
Town, but the hotel had just the means to get
you on your way. The hotel porch sported a
push cart. If an accident happened at the mill,
a horn would sound to call for this ‘ambulance’.
1926 Fire Destroys Original Buildings:
The
hotel, its large cabin and other outbuildings
were destroyed by a fierce quick spreading
fire in May of 1926. No one was injured, but
occupants of the hotel barely escaped, having
no time to rescue their belongings. The bucket
brigade could not quench the structures’ fire,
but were able to save the wooden wharf.
The owners, LD Nathan and Co, rebuilt and
expanded the accommodation to 16 rooms,
with a fine dining hall and an electricity plant.
Thames liquor licensing board issued a renewal
the next December citing that the “new building
was now ready to commence business”.
What’s in a Name:
In 1927, the hotel was
owned by a Mr. Chadburn. In the great debate
about the town name change, Chadburn
claimed to have been the first to move to
change the town name to Mercury Bay. As we
all know, this debate was lost and the town
remained ‘Whitianga’.
HOTEL HOSTS GAME FISHING CROWD
Logging, gum digging and gold mining in the
region gave way to dairy farming and (thanks
to the publicity generated by writer Zane Grey)
deep-water game fishing. The Whitianga Hotel
became more holiday-focused, attracting
groups of visiting fishing parties. However, the
sport and its clubs did take a dive when men
were called up to serve in WWII.
One memorable night in 1947, a group of men
gathered in the hotel to play cards and began
reminiscing about their Game Fishing Club, one
of the many which had closed down because of
the war. Spurred into action by the host’s wife,
they decided to rejuvenate the sport and go
fishing, right then. They awakened the hotel’s
proprietor to open the shed which stored their
fishing gear, and the group, with skipper Bill
Clark, headed out to sea.
Town residents grew concerned when the
boat failed to come back by the next night. A
search party was sent out, only to encounter the
fishermen coming around Cemetery Point. They’d
been towed out to sea by a great black marlin,
which took 12 exhausting hours to bring aboard.
Word got out and the hotel’s dance hall emptied
down to the wharf to see the catch, estimated
to be 1000lb (453.6kg). This escapade got
game fishing going again in Whitianga, and the
revitalised club soon adopted a new name ‘The
Mercury Bay Game Fishing Club’.
The infamous trophy was displayed in the
hotel for many years until almost lost in
another fire, when over half of the fish was
burnt away. Only the head survived, and you
can still see the great marlin hanging in the
Mercury Bay Museum.
WHITIANGA’S HISTORIC HOTEL
CONTINUES AS TOWN HOT SPOT
Previously called the Blacksmith Bar, the pub
was renamed ‘The Whitianga Hotel’ to preserve
the heritage of 149 years of operation – and is
still quite the town gathering place, even calling
itself a ‘bar and party centre’. It was upgraded
with a real nautical theme that includes historic
photos and memorabilia,
Enjoy themed meal nights with special pricing,
karaoke, live bands, visiting DJs, and dancing
– also TV screens for sport-lovers, pool tables
and gaming machines.
And, yes, the hotel offers reasonably priced
marina-view accommodation.
See many photos and more info at
www. whitiangahotel.co.nz and their Fb page. Read
about Salt owners Dave and Kelly Simmonds
at
www.coromandellife.co.nz/flipview/winter_2015_V2/index.html#36
Look for more of
Coromandel Life’s
‘Historic Pub
Crawls’ in future issues. Know any fascinating
hotel stories? Contact us at 07 864 9908.
The Whitianga Hotel shown in 1913 with adjacent County Wharf.
A set of tram tracks was used for a small wagon to move freight from the boats.
The current Whitianga Hotel and Bar shown above are located on Blacksmith Road;
the attached Salt Restaurant faces the marina.
Researched by SHANNON OKEY
Photos courtesy of Mercury Bay Museum