Barrytown

Barrytown (originally known as Seventeen Mile Beach and Fosbery) is a town in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island. Barrytown sits on and is north of Runanga, on the Barrytown Flats. Punakaiki is further north. The town is near the southern end of Pakiroa Beach. The Māori name for the region is Paparoa. History The land is originally Māori, and the local hapū is Ngāti Waewae of the iwi Ngāi Tahu. Pakiroa Beach along the Barrytown Flats was an important food source for local Māori, and middens of tuatua shells attributed to the iwi Waitaha have been dated to 1500 AD. A gold rush in the 1860s led to workings at Seventeen Mile Beach and Canoe Creek, and by 1879 about 2000 miners were living in the area. In 1880 the township serving the miners was officially named "Fosebery" and a post office opened. The following year, however, a government opinion poll of residents and miners was held to choose between Fosbery and Barrytown. The 130 votes were unanimous for Barrytown. By 1895, Barrytown had a Catholic church, a state school, two lodging-houses (Luis's and Cargill's), a smithy, and the All Nations Hotel. The two general stores, one including and butchery and bakery, were established in 1870 and 1879. The post office dispatched mail twice a week. By 1901 the population had dropped to 64, with an additional 60 people in the surrounding area.