Waimarino Museum
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The Waimarino Museum in Raetihi township chronicles the people, events, and history of the Central Plateau region of New Zealand's North Island. The Museum includes the railway station building from the terminus of the Raetihi Branch. It was originally situated on Station Road which lies off to the right over the Makotuku River bridge on the road to Ohakune. The railway reached Raetihi in 1917 and played a vital part in the logging industry. The line was closed to passengers in 1951 and shut completely in 1968 with the decline in tree felling & milling.
The railway station building was moved to its present site on Seddon Street in 1981, seven years after the formation of the museum society. Two more buildings were moved to the museum site in 1983. They are the jail cells & stables. Both were originally by the Makotuku River.
The museum holds documents, photographs and items of daily life showing the progression of the town from its beginnings as a Māori settlement in the 1800s, the arrival of timber mills and large scale logging between 1900 and 1960 and the slow decline of the town following the end of the logging boom to the present.
As is the case throughout New Zealand, the museum is run by volunteers and is open for viewing most weekends and by appointment. A number of archival photograhs and documents are available for wider viewing on the museum's website.
