Waipiata - History

History

Waipiata became a thriving township as the Otago Central Railway line snaked across the Maniototo Plain. A school opened in 1891. The nearby village of Kokonga was the railway camp. In 1914 the Waipiata Sanatorium, a private facility, was constructed a few kilometres along the Waipiata/Patearoa road near the old Hamiltons gold field. Taken over by the in the early 1920s, the substantial buildings, which mostly still exist, in 1925 began a long period of caring for those with tuberculosis. The Sanatorium closed in 1961 and the buildings became a corrective and training centre for the Justice Department until 1979. They are now a private Christian retreat, 'En Hakkore' (meaning the spring of him who calls on God). In 2008 Margaret Bradfield privately published a personal history of the resident community called 'Building an Ark'. A factory with 78 employees processed rabbits from 1901 at Coneys Creek (Green Bridge) until a factory was built in Waipiata. This operated until a slump in prices closed it by the 1930s. The buildings were later used for a variety of purposes, e.g. as a woolshed and as a concrete works. Waipiata today has an hotel, a bowling green, tennis courts, a domain, a library, a large public hall and private and holiday homes. The iron bridge, known locally as the 'Green Bridge', was built in 1896. Timber from the original bridge was used for the side rails and decking. It is the only flood-free road crossing of the Taieri River in the Maniototo. Considerable money has been spent rebuilding both the north and south abutments. It has recently been repainted its original green colour. The Central Otago District Plan Schedule 19.4 includes the Green Bridge, the War Memorial, En Hakkore and Hamiltons Cemetery in its register of heritage buildings, places, sites and objects. Hamiltons Cemetery has been restored and a memorial plaque put in place to record all those buried there. There is an information kiosk on site. A book released in August 2008, "Old Waipiata" by Jim Sullivan, features pictures and stories up until about 1950.