page_title: Waikino
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Waikino / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The Waikino Express 1889
context_page_description: Waikino is a small town at the southern end of a gorge in the North Island of New Zealand alongside the Ohinemuri River, between Waihi and the Karangahake Gorge. The Waikino district lies at the base of the ecologically sensitive Coromandel Peninsula with its subtropical rainforests, steep ravines and fast moving rivers and streams. The cascades f the Owharoa Falls lie just to the north of the settlement.
  The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "harmful waters" for Waikino.
  The population of Waikino was 213 people in 90 households in the 2013 New Zealand census.
context_section_description: Gold mining around Waikino has a history dating back to early colonisation of New Zealand. Waikino was the focal point of gold mining in the Waikato-Bay of Plenty district with the 1897 construction of the Victoria Battery on the edge of what was a busy town supporting the extensive local mining industry. Waikino's Victoria Battery processed ore from the large Martha Mine in Waihi. The Victoria Battery was then New Zealand's largest industrial complex. Besides processing ore, it supported carpenters' shops, a sawmill and a foundry. With 200 stamps, the battery was the largest quartz crushing plant for gold extraction in Australasia, and was capable of crushing over 812 tonnes of ore each day to the consistency of sand. The loud thumping sounds of crushing rock could be heard 10 kilometres away.
  Up the scenic Waitekauri road 5 km behind Waikino, once existed the mining town of Waitekauri, near Golden Cross. Waitekauri is no longer there today, because the town was demolished at the end of that era's gold rush, consequently the village reverted to farmland. The local Waitekauri pub, the historic two storeyed "Golden Cross Hotel", was literally transported to Waihi where it stands proud today as a reminder of days gone by.
  On 19 October 1923, the Waikino school shooting occurred at Waikino School, claiming the lives of two students, Kelvin McLean, aged 13, and Charles Stewart, aged 9. This remains New Zealand's only school shooting. The gunman, John Christopher Higgins, was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. The death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Higgins later had his conviction quashed, on the grounds of insanity.
  When gold became uneconomic to mine after World War II, Waikino residents lost their economic base and the town reverted into a sleepy little village predominantly inhabited by retirees from the old era. However, the small retail business community in Waikino's main street endured till the late 1950s. When Tom and Nell Buchanan finally closed the doors to the local general store and haberdashery and retired up on the hill behind the village, this signalled the end of an era.
  The 1970s heralded an influx of new people to Waikino, drawn by cheap housing and magnificent scenery. The counterculture had arrived in town and set about transforming Waikino into a bustling centre for hippies and crafts people to gravitate towards. These counterculture folks purchased many of the old houses in the village which had been neglected over time, even converting some of them into small craft workshops and outlets from where they sold their wares locally and around the nation. Waikinos main highway retail shops were back in business.
  The main highway (State Highway 2) retail shops which traversed the beautiful Ohinemuri river before it plunged into the Karangahake Gorge had its old shops and Lodge Hall refurbished and reopened from this influx of young alternative lifestyle people moving in their droves away from the big city chaos. Social revolution was in the air, this was the roaring seventies, and for many young people the flow from big city living towards a more country-oriented sustainable lifestyle in rural New Zealand was the name of the game. Overnight, flourishing cottage industry crafts and health food outlets grew around Waikino, servicing the local village and Coromandel. Once again, the former ghost town, having been closed down for some time, became the focal meeting point of the community. The business strip reinvigorated, people returned to town to do business. Hundreds of tourists, drawn by the quirky hippie atmosphere, stopped at Waikino's main highway retail outlets every week to try out healthy homemade foods at the tea rooms, and to purchase locally made Arts and crafts from the various hippy shops. Some stopped to simply chill out taking in the scenic atmosphere, watching the Ohinemuri river flow into the breathtaking Karangahake Gorge.
  January 1977 saw the community supporting the Waikino music festival of rock, blues and culture, held on Bicknels farm up the Waitawheta Valley. This
caption: The Waikino Express 1889
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