Shantytown, Heritage park and open-air museum in Grey District, New Zealand
Shantytown is a heritage park and open-air museum in Grey District featuring around 30 authentic buildings reconstructed to show a 19th-century gold-mining settlement. The site displays various areas including homes, workshops, and shops that reflect daily life during the mining era.
The West Coast Historical and Mechanical Society founded the park in 1971 to preserve the region's gold-mining traditions from the 1860s. The gathered buildings reflect the growth of mining communities during that economic boom.
The site honors Chinese immigrants who came during the gold rush through a dedicated area showing how they lived and worked. These spaces help visitors understand how different communities shared the settlement during that era.
Plan to spend at least 90 minutes exploring all the areas on the grounds, as there is much to see throughout the site. The property is accessible year-round and easy to navigate on foot.
Visitors can try gold panning themselves and watch daily demonstrations of a sluice gun that blasts gold-bearing gravel with high pressure. These hands-on displays show the actual techniques miners once used.
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