Kaiapoi’s history

Press, 31 December 1982, Page 25

Kaiapoi’s history

The old Kaiapoi Courthouse on Williams Street. Kaiapoi, is the new home for the Kaiapoi Historical Society.

A room has been set aside in the new building for a special display about the Kaiapoi Woollen Mills which opened in 1978. There was a display in the old museum, but space was limited. One of the two cells in the courthouse has also been opened to the public. It still has the original hand basin and toilet, and the society has furnished the cell with a couch. In the future it is hoped to dress a model as a prisoner. The old courtroom has been divided into many bays

such as a needle work section. a school area and kitchen. The society also has many old photographs, documents and newspapers of the district, which are all filed and indexed. The museum is open from 2 p.m.to 4 p.m. Thursday and Sunday. There is a small admission charge of 50c for adults, and 10c for unaccompanied children. Rangiora Museum The Rangiora Museum’s 10,000 photographs and plates, which have recently been reconditioned and catalogued, will be a prominent feature of the museum's display this summer. The museum’s curator, Mr Philip Young, said the museum had one of the most

extensive photograph collections in North Canterbury. As part of his plan to involve the museum in the community, a display of early photographs and cameras has been set up in the Rangiora Public Library. The display will be running throughout the Christmas and New Year period, in conjunction with the libary’s collection of photography books. The museum’s early settlers’ shop which is ’ being built within the building will be open to the public in midJanuary. The new display will show the interior of a turn of the century shop. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays, and from 2. p.m. to 4.30 p.m. Sundays and public holidays.