Rimu, originally known as Upper Woodstock, is a small town in the

Westland District Westland District is a territorial authority district on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is administered by the Westland District Council. The district's population is History Westland was originally a part of Canterbury ...

of New Zealand's

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

. Rimu is located some by road south of Hokitika and located on the south side of the

Hokitika River The Hokitika River is in the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is about long, beginning in the Southern Alps, emerging from the narrow Hokitika Gorge after merging with the Whitcombe River, and flowing into the Tasman Sea just ...

. It is immediately south of

Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

. It is named for the native tree ''

Dacrydium cupressinum ''Dacrydium cupressinum'', commonly known as rimu, is a species of tree in the family Podocarpaceae. It is a dioecious evergreen conifer, reaching heights of up to , and can have a stout trunk up to in diameter. It is endemic to New Zealand ...

''—with the common name "rimu"—that was once prevalent in the area. Rimu was founded in the 1800s and grew rapidly when gold was found in 1882 west of the town. In 1890, gold was discovered east of Rimu. These were New Zealand's last

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...

es. Around 1900, Rimu had a school, two banks, two hotels, two churches, two butcheries, four stores, a post office, and a library.

References

{{coord, 42, 46, 10, S, 170, 59, 45, E, display=title, region:NZ_type:city Westland District Populated places in the West Coast Region