Blacks Point Museum
{{Short description|Museum in Blacks Point, New Zealand}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{en-NZ|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox museum
| name = Blacks Point Museum
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| image = Blacks_Point_Museum_MRD_03.jpg
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| image_size = 250px
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| caption = Blacks Point museum, showing the mural by Alun Bollinger
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| coordinates = {{coord|42|7|53.7|S|171|52|55.9|E|display=title,inline|region:NZ_type:landmark}}
| former_name = Methodist Church, Reefton
| established = {{ubl|1876 (church)|{{start date|1966|10|01|df=y}} (museum)}}
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| location = Blacks Point, near Reefton, South Island, New Zealand
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Blacks Point Museum is a museum in Blacks Point, near Reefton on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand.
Building
The museum building is a former Methodist/Wesleyan church, which was built from pit-sawn timber in 1876 and led as a non-denominational church by a Methodist minister.{{Cite web|last=Tomahawk|title=Our History {{!}} Reefton The Town of Light|url=https://www.reefton.co.nz/discover/our-history|access-date=6 September 2020|website=www.reefton.co.nz|archive-date=13 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200813144428/https://www.reefton.co.nz/discover/our-history|url-status=live}} The church formerly overlooked the town, but 1912 it was moved back and rotated 90° on its section. As the population of Blacks Point declined, worship shifted to Reefton, and the church closed in 1960.{{Cite Q|Q105750397|page=74}}
The church building was sold to the community for the purposes of a museum, and Blacks Point Museum opened on 1 October 1966. The building was extended in 1976, and the working Golden Fleece stamper installed in the 1980s. In 2008, a $135,000 purpose-built archive and research room was added. In 2009, a display building and lean-to was constructed, and in 2013 the museum building was re-roofed.
The exterior of the museum hosts a mural by cinematographer and local resident Alun Bollinger.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Blacks Point Museum|url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/20977/blacks-point-museum?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=19696f43c4af9f6c87e416d9cdf0c4f055b33dae-1599432586-0-ASXJ6UjC95PWe8ttPZKUuAQq8LirhPelzksgF66f9nkwZkysH02S5NLXiUJxFrlNVqCtHys-om7Wjf-6EnnmpflTEAucUFDifS2Lr1jiUBXHWKd6UlBneDidptmu-Szn4NbWoqQ_K8UrYpmx4zBTs76WXd0uOo7N38gcr4UgyLOx_YNIS9liCbydAyfyliAogdL-8uzYxOnKsa2WQYW2XdVWL8pcgZ-qDMdOFuBoAZMT3S430eOrZ0h8Jxw3UHUfqL0txRP_dQKL8HDERmoYXAa5BjtZlg126c5kwtr1H3SIT3NEzs8HqKIPBYBJlwnqdR_VZ2K3uVZCTz8122TTnEw|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018014956/https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/20977/blacks-point-museum?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=19696f43c4af9f6c87e416d9cdf0c4f055b33dae-1599432586-0-ASXJ6UjC95PWe8ttPZKUuAQq8LirhPelzksgF66f9nkwZkysH02S5NLXiUJxFrlNVqCtHys-om7Wjf-6EnnmpflTEAucUFDifS2Lr1jiUBXHWKd6UlBneDidptmu-Szn4NbWoqQ_K8UrYpmx4zBTs76WXd0uOo7N38gcr4UgyLOx_YNIS9liCbydAyfyliAogdL-8uzYxOnKsa2WQYW2XdVWL8pcgZ-qDMdOFuBoAZMT3S430eOrZ0h8Jxw3UHUfqL0txRP_dQKL8HDERmoYXAa5BjtZlg126c5kwtr1H3SIT3NEzs8HqKIPBYBJlwnqdR_VZ2K3uVZCTz8122TTnEw|archive-date=18 October 2021|access-date=7 September 2020|website=Te Ara New Zealand}}
Collection
The museum contains a collection of memorabilia relating to life in a mining town in New Zealand, including records from the school, the cemetery, genealogical material, a historical photograph collection, town directories, and a range of mining paraphernalia.{{Cite web|title=Blacks Point Museum {{!}} Reefton, New Zealand Attractions|url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/new-zealand/the-west-coast/reefton/attractions/blacks-point-museum/a/poi-sig/1161640/362776|access-date=6 September 2020|website=Lonely Planet|language=en|archive-date=1 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001204757/https://www.lonelyplanet.com/new-zealand/the-west-coast/reefton/attractions/blacks-point-museum/a/poi-sig/1161640/362776|url-status=live}}
Next to the museum the still-functional Golden Fleece Battery, which was used by prospectors to crush quartz to extract gold. The battery is a water-driven stamper battery built and used in the 1870s.
References
{{Commons category|Blacks Point Museum|Blacks Point Museum}}
{{Reflist}}
Category:History museums in New Zealand
Category:Buildings and structures in the West Coast Region
Category:Mining in New Zealand
Category:Churches completed in 1876
Category:Former churches in New Zealand
Category:Methodism in New Zealand