11 Saunders Street, Owaka, Clutha

Catlins Historical Museum - Owaka Museum

Clutha Museums

A modern and comfortable Museum with strength in local social history of this saw-milling district. Listen (press play above) to the audioguide for Catlins History.

This facility also acts as library, information centre and gallery for the area.

"Early Maori found this coast a plentiful food source. They also hunted the now extinct, giant flightless bird, the moa, whose bones have been excavated by archeologists. Whaling brought the first Europeans in the mid 1800s, and stations were established at Fortrose, Waikawa and Tautuku. The region got its name (slightly misspelt) from a ship’s captain, Edward Cattlin who supplied the southern whaling stations. He bought a vast area of land from Maori chief Tuhawaiki in 1840, but after the Treaty of Waitangi, this was reduced to about 100 hectares. When whaling declined, sawmilling became the predominant industry. In the 1870s sawmills were built near the harbours so small coastal ships could take the sawn timber to markets. A railway line from Owaka allowed sawmills to be built further away. As the once extensive forest diminished, roads were added in the 1920s to make transporting logs easier. The boom years were over by about 1955 and, of the 182 sawmills that operated at some time in the Catlins, only one is working today. Farmers tried their luck on land cleared for timber. Some were successful, but the less fertile lands were left to revert to scrub and bush."

Women of the Catlins: Life in the Deep South The Catlins and the Southern Scenic Route Catlins Bound

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