With its main street empty of cars, hawkers offered their wares, people panned for gold and a horse-drawn coach took centre stage as Ophir turned the clock back 150 years on Saturday.
The ''town built on gold'' celebrated its origins with a gala day to mark the 150th anniversary of gold being discovered in the foothills of the Raggedy Range behind the town. Organised by the Ophir Welfare Committee, the event attracted hundreds of visitors.
Swindon St was closed to traffic and stalls set up along the roadside.
Gala day organising committee chairman Malcolm Topliss was pleased to see ''a constant stream of people'' visiting during the day. It was hard to gauge the exact number, he said.
There was musical entertainment throughout the day, a vintage car display, quilting display, Devonshire teas, guided tours of the historic post office, displays of gold-mining history and art by Omakau School pupils, gold-panning demonstrations and the chance to pan for gold.
Children were invited to write a letter using a pen and ink and send it from the Ophir Post Office. Visitors were invited to tour the historic buildings in the town and they were also able to travel on a horse-drawn replica Cobb and Co coach belonging to Peter Robson, of Lochiel.
''The feedback we had about the day was very positive,'' Mr Topliss said. An interpretive panel on Swindon St was unveiled by local identities Isla Hamilton and Brida
Dowling as part of the celebration. The panel, on Swindon St, outlines the history of the town and highlights some of the early buildings that remain.
It said gold was discovered on the property of runholders Charles and William Black, so the town was originally known as Blacks Diggings and then simplified to Blacks. It was renamed Ophir in 1875.
