Kumara is a town on the West Coast

West Coast, New Zealand

The West Coast is one of the administrative regions of New Zealand, located on the west coast of the South Island, and is one of the more remote and most sparsely populated areas of the country. It is made up of three districts: Buller, Grey and Westland...

 of the South Island

South Island

The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...

 of New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. It is located 30 kilometres south of Greymouth

Greymouth

Greymouth is the largest town in the West Coast region in the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the Grey District Council. The population of the whole Grey District is , which accounts for % of the West Coast's inhabitants...

, close to the western end of State Highway 73

New Zealand State Highway network

The New Zealand State Highway network is the major national highway network in New Zealand. Just under 100 roads in both the North and South Islands are State Highways...

, which leads across Arthur's Pass to Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...

. The Taramakau River

Taramakau River

The Taramakau River is in the northwest of the South Island of New Zealand. It rises in the Southern Alps, 80 kilometres due east of Hokitika, and immediately below the saddle of the Harper's Pass, and runs westward for 75 kilometres into the Tasman Sea 15 kilometres south of Greymouth.Several...

 flows past to the north.

The population was 318 in the 2006 Census

New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings

The New Zealand government department Statistics New Zealand conducts a census of population and dwellings every five years. The census scheduled for 2011 was cancelled due to circumstances surrounding the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, however, and legislation introduced to hold the next...

, a decrease of 6 from 2001.

The name may come from the Māori language

Maori language

Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...

 Kohe mara, which is the blossom of the tātarāmoa, or bush lawyer

Bush lawyer (plant)

Bush lawyer is a common name of a group of climbing blackberry plants that are found in New Zealand, many of them rampant forest vines...

.

The Coast to Coast

Coast to Coast (race)

The Speight's Coast to Coast is a non-standard multisport competition held annually in New Zealand. It is so named as it traverses from the West coast to the East coast of South Island, and features running, cycling and kayaking elements over a total of 243 km .-History:The first Coast to Coast...

 annual multisport race starts at Kumara.

History

Kumara was founded and become one of the country's chief gold mining

Gold mining

Gold mining is the removal of gold from the ground. There are several techniques and processes by which gold may be extracted from the earth.-History:...

 centres following the discovery of gold at Dillmanstown, about 2 miles (3.2 km) to the south-east, in 1876. The tramline from Greymouth to Paroa

Paroa, West Coast

Paroa is a settlement on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand, just south of Greymouth. State Highway 6 and the Hokitika Branch railway both run through Paroa. This railway was originally a bush tramway that opened to Paroa from Greymouth in 1867 and was extended to Kumara in 1877...

 was extended to Kumara the following year. The population was 4,220 in October 1877. The town became a borough in 1877. Kumara Hospital was operating by 1881 and continued into the twentieth century. In 1882, the Kumara volunteer fire brigade was formed.

Kumara was the home town of prominent politician Richard Seddon

Richard Seddon

Richard John Seddon , sometimes known as King Dick, is to date the longest serving Prime Minister of New Zealand. He is regarded by some, including historian Keith Sinclair, as one of New Zealand's greatest political leaders....

, who was elected mayor of the town in 1877, and served as Prime Minister of New Zealand

Prime Minister of New Zealand

The Prime Minister of New Zealand is New Zealand's head of government consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the Parliament of New Zealand...

 from 1893 until his death in 1906.

In 1925, the manager of Pearns Hotel in Kumara was charged by police after she refused to supply accommodation to two visiting temperance lecturers. The Pearn's Brewery became part of Westland Ales around this time.

Although the town once had 50 pubs, the numbers dwindled. In June 2009, the last remaining pub, the Empire Hotel, had its licence cancelled by the Liquor Licensing Authority. In 2010, the last store of the town is facing closure, with only a few hundred inhabitants left. However, it is hoped that one of the New Zealand Cycle Trails to run through the town could lift the settlements fortunes again.

Education

Kumara School is a coeducational full primary (years 1-8) school with a decile rating

Socio-Economic Decile

Decile, Socio-Economic Decile or Socio-Economic Decile Band is a widely used measure in education in New Zealand used to target funding and support to more needy schools....

of 5 and a roll of 20. The school celebrated 120 years of education in the district in 1997.