Reefton...

………………………….....…the Town of Light


A BackBlip uploaded on Monday 13th March



Reefton is a small town in the West Coast region of New Zealand, in the Inangahua River Valley.

In 1888 Reefton was the first town in New Zealand and the Southern Hemisphere to have electric streetlights!


The Oddfellows Hall boasts the first light that was powered just above the entranceway. See the extra photos - minus a lightbulb!


The following is from the Electricity Engineers' Association (EEA) website
- On 4 August 1888, Reefton became the first town in New Zealand, and the southern hemisphere, to have its own public electricity supply.
- Two years before, in 1886, engineer and entrepreneur Walter Prince had visited Reefton and enthused residents with his demonstrations of electric power.
 - A group of them put money into a private company to build a 20kW hydroelectric power station using water from the Inangahua River.
- Power lines were installed through the town, with householders and business owners paying £1 (about $100 in today's money) to have the power connected, then a flat £3 a year for every light they had in their building.
- By Christmas 1888, there were some 500 bulbs blazing