Gumtown was established in 1864 when a large timber mill, known as Upper Mill, was erected.
Bullock teams and later bush trams would bring logs down out of the bush to be milled.
Steamboats that would visit three times each week then transported the timber.
In 1881 the Kauri Timber Company erected a large mill at Mercury Bay, and Whitianga was relocated
from the other side of the river to its present site.
In 1889 Upper Mill was closed and it's operations moved to KTC's mill in Whitianga, with a 2'6" gauge
bush tram being put through to Whitianga from Gumtown.
By this time gum-digging was in full swing with many gum-diggers being grubstaked by local store owners.
Gumtown remained very much a frontier town serving the timber camps and gum-diggers.
In 1898 gold was discovered six miles south of Gumtown in the Slipstream branch of the Rangihau River.
A number of claims were staked and Gumtown added miners to the list of dependants.
In 1899 the Gumtown & Kauri Pass Tramway Company was formed.
Bush tram right of way between Gumtown and Whitianga was "upgraded".
The line was pushed over Kauri Pass and down into the Kauranga Valley, again "upgrading" bush tram right of way down
that valley to meet the Thames branch of the New Zealand Government Railways.
The tramway brings logs down out of the bush to the mill at Whitianga.
Gold ore is bought from the mines to the battery near Gumtown, machinery and supplies are brought inland from Whitianga,
and over the pass from Thames and beyond,and of course mixed trains provide rudimentary passenger service.
The Gumtown & Kauri Pass Ty. Co. runs a mixture of locos from a diminutive Porter 0-4-2ST, through 0-6-0T locos, to the mighty
outside framed 2-8-0 which hauls the trains over Kauri Pass and those wonderful geared logging lokies, the Climax and Heisler.
Rolling stock varies from tiny little relics to the more modern and larger pieces used on "mainline" operations. The tramway is
an odd blend of US and NZ practice.
In 1921 Gumtown is a bustling frontier town of timber millers, bushmen, gum-diggers, and gold miners.
There are 3 stores, a bakery, a bootmaker, and a butcher, a 25 room hotel, 2 boarding houses, and even a billiard room.
On a typical day up to 50 horses can be seen from the neighbouring mines and timber camps.
There is still 1 steamboat each week and lots of activity.
Please note that the above narrative is a story written about a ficticous tramway company. The story is based around the real history of Gumtown but the tramway and certain other parts of the narrative are entirely ficticous and this story should not be considered a reliable history of Gumtown in any way.
