The Queenstown site was one of eight stations set up worldwide in 1874 to witness the transit, which occurs only four times each 243 years and is not due again until 2117.
The rarity of the occasion meant Wednesday's gathering, featuring mulled wine and a sausage sizzle in Melbourne St, behind the Millennium Hotel, was one of huge significance.
"I've got on my door 'Back by 1,"' Queenstown resident Diane Smith said.
"I don't know a lot about astronomy, but this is a significant occasion."
On December 9, 1874, the transit was observed by the American scientists, putting Queenstown on the map in an era of astronomical discovery.
In 1874, the group, led by Dr C.H.F. Peters, stayed in Queenstown for 11 weeks and arrived with equipment such as a large equatorial travelling telescope housed in an octagonal building with a revolving roof, a telegraph office and a darkened chamber for photographers.
By December 19, the party had taken 239 pictures of the sun.
The rare transit occurs when Venus revolves around the sun inside the earth's orbit and crosses the face of the sun, making it appear as a tiny dot on the sun's surface.
The patterned interval runs between transits of 8, 121.5, 8, 105.5, 8 and 121.5 years - which means those who witnessed this week's transit will most likely miss the next in 105.5 years.
Historically, the rare alignment gave scientists a rare chance to measure the size of the solar system.
In 1769, Captain Cook voyaged to Tahiti for the Royal Society to observe the event and calculate the distance between the sun and the earth.
It was on that voyage he became the first explorer to circumnavigate New Zealand.
Since then, the transit of Venus has occurred in 1874, 1882, and 2004, before Wednesday's event. The next will come in 2117.
