Hokitika Museum, Regional museum in Hokitika, New Zealand
Hokitika Museum is a regional museum in Hokitika, New Zealand, that documents the history and development of the West Coast region through photographs, artifacts, and documents. Its collection spans different periods and shows how the region changed over time.
The museum began in 1869 as two Museum Rooms in the Hokitika Town Hall, run from at least 1877 by the Westland Institute. The Hokitika Pioneer Museum opened in 1960 in one room of the 1908 Carnegie Library, and the West Coast Historical Museum opened behind it on 20 December 1973. The museum moved back into the restored Carnegie Building in 1998 and took its present name in 2010.
The museum preserves Maori heritage through items like the kete woven by Ripeka Te Owai and holds records of local traditions and community stories. These collections show how indigenous culture remains part of the region's identity today.
The museum reopened on 28 June 2025 after seismic strengthening, having been closed since September 2019. It occupies the 1908 Carnegie Building, entered from Hamilton Street, with the research centre and archives now at 17 Revell Street. The building is a Category II Heritage New Zealand structure, registration 1702.
The collection includes the Preston Egg, which holds signatures from attendees of a farewell party for local soldiers during World War II. This personal artifact connects the museum's history to memories of people from the community during that era.
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