Mackay Street- looking towards the Town Hall.Greymouth.

About this image

DescriptionThis photo was taken from the Band Rotunda looking down Mackay St to the Town Hall with spire.Map^[1]ContributorKelvin Webster

Shown in this image

Location (city or town)GreymouthLandmark (Place)Mackay StreetGrey River ArgusJ CohenGreymouth town hallEventMackay Street pronounciation

From Facebook

LinkFacebookDate Created20th July 2018CommentsLaura Mills Detlaff Does it say J Cohen on the right? Also, can just see Grey River Argus. And large house up Chapel Street area?

Geoffrey King house wd be up Mount St me thinks

Del Godfrey Wow! Awesome to see these historical photos of Grey. So much has changed!!! What year would this be?

Kelvin Webster Early 1900's.

Arthur Johnson I arrived in Greymouth in Jan 1929,a seven year old boy,I have seen many changes since then.

Del Godfrey Arthur Johnson I hope you have recorded or written your memoirs! So much insight is to be gained, and it is amazing to discover what life was like, not that long ago!
Delete or hide this

Don Hutton Is it a "touched up" photo or even a drawing? Whatever, it's very interesting.

Kelvin Webster No drawings..all photos, some of less quality and no digital cameras then.

Don Hutton Old b & w photos were touched up with pencil and sometimes colour. I have a number of family pics from the 1860s onwards which were "enhanced!" This one looks as though the sharp edges of buildings like the Town Hall were sharpened up by the use of a pencil and then rephotographed. But I'm only chewing the cud on this!

Glenice Hansen What a great photo

Russell King Town Hall Council Offices and Library takes whole block Albert to Tarapuhi and went back to lane behind separating Holy Trinity. Church hall became the town library after the fire. Argus building on Tarapuhi Street corner. Spent many hours in that building while Joe As key, the printer, who boarded at the Dominion, was maintaining the machinery

George Gardner I was an Argus paper boy under Joe too.

Andy Grigg Egad ole chap,the dashed Colonials have been busy!

Karla Haussmann The town hall was an impressive building

Arthur Johnson Very interesting photo!

Tamai Sinclair
I asked Google AI "Why is Mackay St pronounced Mackie St, would it be because Alexander MacKay pronounced it that way? If the street was named after him". I was astounded by the detail in the answer, especially that the AI could interpret the difference in sounds: Yes, Mackay Street in Greymouth was named after James Mackay, a significant early explorer and government agent in the region. It is indeed a local custom to pronounce the name of the street as "Mackie".
James Mackay played a crucial role in the history of the West Coast, particularly in land negotiations with local Māori.
Naming Origin: James Mackay negotiated the purchase of the West Coast region from local Māori on behalf of the New Zealand government, the deed for which was signed at Māwhera pā on May 21, 1860. The street was named in his honour for this work and his other explorations and administrative roles as a goldfields warden. His cousin, Alexander Mackay, who was also involved in the land sale, has Alexander Street named after him.
Pronunciation: While the surname Mackay is often pronounced "Mac-eye" in other parts of the world, or even "Mac-kay", the local pronunciation in Greymouth is "Mack-ee". Local historians suggest that "Mackie" was likely how James Mackay pronounced his own name with his Irish or Scottish accent, and this pronunciation was adopted by the local residents and has persisted as a unique local custom.

OCR Text Transcription Edit Edit +-Close

Editing is temporarily disabled

Cancel Edit

Start typing here to find a location	Latitude	Longitude	Zoom	Actions

loading google map....

Save Cancel

Menu

Mackay Street- looking towards the Town Hall.Greymouth.

Editing is temporarily disabled