Research Catalog

Kiwitown's port : the story of Oamaru Harbour / Gavin McLean.

Title
Kiwitown's port : the story of Oamaru Harbour / Gavin McLean.
Author
McLean, Gavin
Publication
Dunedin, N.Z. : Otago University Press, 2008.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Filter by

1 Item

StatusFormatAccessCall NumberItem Location
TextRequest in advance DU430.O23 M339 2008Off-site

Details

Description
150 p. : ill. (some col.); 27 cm.
Summary
A politician inspecting Oamaru's first wharves prophesied that its docks would one day rival those of London. The 'progress industry' of the late nineteenth century, fuelled by the frozen meat trade, was reshaping New Zealand's destiny. Oamaru built its entire port from scratch, bankrupting itself in the process and being condemned by the Financial Times in London for constructing 'works quite beyond the needs of their business... in the true colonial way.' In this beautifully illustrated book, the author revisits his hometown. He shows how its tempestuous history demonstrates our dependence on the sea. The need for a sheltered port ('breakwaters or bust!'), the need to dredge ever-deeper harbours as ships increased in size, the need to attract 'Home' boats loading cargo for London, the need to pay for it all, have given way to a region now based on viticulture, dairying and tourism. As the author says, 'Today's heritage object is yesterday's developer's dream.'
Subjects
Genre/Form
History
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references (p. [146]-147) and index.
Processing Action (note)
  • committed to retain
ISBN
  • 9781877372636 (pbk.)
  • 1877372633 (pbk.)
OCLC
273853245
Owning Institutions
Harvard Library