Жаңа Зеландиядағы Кумара қаласының тарихы

Town in West Coast, New Zealand

The population was 285 in the 2018 census, a decrease of 24 (7.76%) from 2013. The name may come from the Māori language Kohe mara, which is the blossom of the tātarāmoa, or bush lawyer.

Kumara was founded and became one of the country's chief gold mining centres following the discovery of gold at Dillmanstown, about 2 mile (3 km) to the south east, in 1876. The tramline from Greymouth to Paroa was extended to Kumara the following year. The population was 4,220 in October 1877. The town became a borough in 1877. Kumara Hospital was operating by 1881 and continued into the twentieth century. In 1882, the Kumara volunteer fire brigade was formed. Kumara was the home town of prominent politician Richard Seddon, who was elected mayor of the town in 1877, and served as Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1893 until his death in 1906. In 1925, the manager of Pearns Hotel in Kumara was charged by police after she refused to supply accommodation to two visiting temperance lecturers. The Pearn's Brewery became part of Westland Ales around this time. Although the town once had 50 pubs, the numbers dwindled. In June 2009, the last remaining pub, the Empire Hotel, had its licence cancelled by the Liquor Licensing Authority. In 2010, the last store of the town faced closure, with only a few hundred inhabitants left, but it was hoped that one of the New Zealand Cycle Trails to run through the town would lift the settlement's fortunes again. In November 2012 the Theatre Royal Hotel reopened as the only pub serving Kumara, and in November 2013 the West Coast Wilderness Trail cycleway running from Greymouth to Ross was officially opened with a ceremony in Kumara.

In 1934, a community swimming pool was constructed using voluntary labour. The pool was built during the 1930s depression when mining activity and the population of the area had both declined. It was long and wide, with a depth of 6.5 feet (2 m) at the deep end. The pool was built in the unique surroundings of debris left behind from old gold diggings, with the walls made from boulders from the diggings. Water for the pool was conveyed from the Dillmanstown Kapitea Reservoir using old iron pipes recovered from historic sluicing schemes. The pool was originally part of a sports complex for the township including a basketball court and a cricket pitch. The pool is no longer in use but the area has been registered with Heritage New Zealand as a Category 2 listed place.

The Bank of New Zealand was first established in Kumara in 1876.

St Patrick's was built by the parishioners in 1877.

Kumara School is a coeducational full primary school (years 1–8), with a roll of as of The school celebrated 120 years of education in the district in 1997.