Story: Ports and harbours
In a storm in 1868 an exposed wooden jetty at Ōamaru was swept away along with three ships. The devastated settlers decided to build a small dock in the lagoon behind the beach, then opted for a large breakwater off the end of Cape Wanbrow. The concrete barrier took 12 years to build, and cost a fortune, but when it was completed in 1884 it offered even the largest ships safe anchorage. By then Ōamaru’s harbour board might have been teetering on the brink of insolvency, but its port was one of the colony’s finest.
About this item
Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: 1/2-C-22767; F
Photograph by Burton Brothers
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.