Foxton Courthouse facts for kids
The Foxton Courthouse is an old and important building in the town of Foxton, New Zealand. It has a long history, first as a place where legal cases were heard, and later as a museum.
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History as a Courthouse
The brick building you see today was built in 1929. Before that, there was an older wooden courthouse, built in 1867. People thought the old wooden building looked very bad on the main street, so they asked for a new one. Mr. T. W. Hunt from Foxton was the person who built the new brick courthouse.
For many years, until 1948, the courthouse handled all kinds of legal cases, both about disagreements between people and about breaking the law. After 1948, only cases about breaking the law were heard there. The courthouse finally closed its doors in 1971.
Important Events
Soon after the new building opened in 1929, it was used for an important investigation. This was about a sad event that happened in Foxton, sometimes called the Himatangi Tragedy. The courthouse was where officials looked into what happened.
Foxton Museum and Historical Society
After the courthouse closed, it became the home of the Foxton Historical Society's museum collection. This means it held many old items and stories about Foxton's past.
However, in 2013, the Horowhenua District Council closed the building. This was because it was not strong enough to be safe in an earthquake. The Foxton Historical Society wanted to fix the building. They planned to raise money to make it earthquake-safe and open it again as a museum. As of early 2020, the society was still working on their plans to develop the building.
Images for kids
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Foxton Courthouse in 2020
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Foxton Court House, located in Avenue Road, Foxton
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Foxton Museum in the 1970s
