TOWN ABOUT TO DISAPPEAR

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29850, 16 June 1962, Page 13

TOWN ABOUT TO DISAPPEAR

End Of Sawmilling

At Maroa

“The Press" Special Service ROTORUA. June 15.

The township of Maroa. 18 miles from Taupo, is about to disappear. A steam-driven sawmill there, which for the last 14 years has been producing about six million board feet of native timber a year for the Taupo Totara Timber Company, Ltd., is being demolished.

With it will go the township of about 60 houses and the school. The population of about 200 will either work for the timber company at Putaruru or seek work elsewhere.

The mill and surrounding township covered about 20 acres in the centre of a large patch of native bush from which mainly rlmu, matai and totara trees have been felled.

The manager of the old mill, Mr D. A. Bell, said the company was building a modern bandsaw mill in Putaruru which would handle native timber from the Maroa area and exotic timber. He said the old Maroa mill was recognised as the biggest native timber mill in the country. The massive steam engines which drove the mill were those which originally hauled cages up and down the shafts of the old Martha gold mine at Waihi. Mr Bell said the engines were still in perfect working order.

About 300.000 board feet of native timber, mainly rimu, remains to be sold in the yards of the old Maroa mill.