Terawhiti Station facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Terawhiti Jack
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James McMenamen (Terawhiti Jack)
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Terawhiti Station is one of New Zealand's oldest and largest farms. It is located along the south coast of Wellington. This special place has been used for many different things over the last 160 years.
At first, Terawhiti was a farm for cattle. Then, it became one of New Zealand's biggest sheep farms. In 1993, it went back to being a cattle farm. The land was first bought by two businessmen from Wellington, Samuel Revans and William Mein Smith. Later, Captain William Barnard Rhodes bought some of this land. He put shorthorn cattle there. His young manager, James McMenamen, who was known as Terawhiti Jack, later bought the farm. He added more land to it, creating Terawhiti Station. He also started Te Kamaru Station nearby.
Today, Terawhiti Station is about 13,000 acres (53 km2) in size. It stretches from Te Ika a Maru Bay in the north to Karori Stream in the south. It also reaches Cape Terawhiti in the west.
A Rich History of Terawhiti Station
This area has a very interesting and long history.
Gold Mining Days
Gold mining was a big deal on the station in the 1800s. The first small gold rush started in the 1850s. Later, in the 1880s, people tried harder to find gold at Cape Terawhiti. However, this effort did not make much money.
Miners faced problems because the land in the Wellington area is very broken up. They would find veins of quartz rock with gold inside. But these gold veins would suddenly stop. This made mining very difficult and expensive. Because of this, gold mining at Cape Terawhiti eventually stopped.
The company that spent the most time and money on the Terawhiti goldfield was the Albion Gold Mining Company. The Albion Battery, built in 1883, is one of the last things left from that short gold rush. It shows where they used to crush rocks to get gold.
Terawhiti Today: Wind Power
The farm is still owned by the family of James McMenamen, also known as Terawhiti Jack. Today, wind farming is a new way the land is being used. It helps the station survive in this tough landscape.
Meridian Energy finished building a large wind farm called Project West Wind in 2009. It has 62 wind turbines. This project covers parts of Terawhiti Station and Makara Farm. The energy made by Project West Wind can produce 143 megawatts of power. This is enough electricity for all the homes in Wellington City, Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt, and Porirua.
