A Walk Around Historic Ophir

Gold was discovered on the property of local grazier, Charles F. Black, in 1863. Almost overnight a town sprang up with a population of about 1,000. The town was originally known as Blacks, but in 1875 its name was officially changed to the biblical Ophir, from where the Queen of Sheba obtained her gold for King Solomon.

Ophir lies just to the east of State Highway 85 near Omakau, and by far the best approach is from this direction via the Daniel O’Connor bridge, one of the last surviving suspension bridges in Central Otago, built in 1880 and named after the Irish liberator.

From the bridge the trail takes you down Ophir’s once busy main street. Its special character as a former gold town is still evident, even though many of the buildings have been adapted or restored over the years. Most of the early buildings are of local schist stone or mud brick, some plastered over, though several early timber structures also remain.

One of the most impressive buildings is the historic Post Office, built in 1886 and now maintained by the N.Z. Historic Places Trust. Nearby is the Courthouse, built in 1884. Two of the original churches survive, the simple Gothic St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, which opened for worship in 1897 and is now the Union Church, and the former St Peter’s Catholic Church, which dates from 1880, now turned into a private residence.

Apart from some charming early cottages, there are also a couple of more substantial private houses, built in concrete during and after the First World War.

This trail is published by the Promote Dunstan Group (http://www.promotedunstan.org.nz). As most of the buildings are privately owned, viewing is from the street only.