Mangatini was a mining town up around the back of Millerton, north of Westport. I say was, because it no longer exists. The town was the home to about sixty miners and their families, and a colder, rougher place was hard to find. It was reached via the Millerton Track, and through a dank tunnel. The houses were little more than huts, surrounded by steep hills that often were covered in snow. There was a boarding house, run by a formidable lady named Sarah McCANN. She was reportedly a huge woman, who nobody dared to cross. A plain cook, with a heart of gold. Sarah kept her accounts by writing in chalk on the wall, and no doubt many a loan was simply erased.
The population peaked at 100 in 1911, and had dropped to 51 in the 1916 census. By the 1931 census the settlement had ceased to exist.
Is this the only photo of Mangatini? I hope not!
Links to all places featured on this web site
Photos of Denniston from the turn of the century
Photos of Millerton from the turn of the century
Photos of Waiuta - once a gold town
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