| Lodge Otaihape No 142 |
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Please install Flash and turn on Javascript. The Master of Lodge Otaihape No 142 welcomes visitors to the Lodge in Taihape. Come and try the unique experience of Freemasonry in what is affectionally named 'gumboot city'. The members of Lodge Otaihape are noted for their friendliness and hospitality. The Lodge meets at 7.30pm in the Lodge Rooms 33 Huia Street Taihape on the second Tuesday in each month except January. Taihape is a small, picturesque town near the middle of the North Island of New Zealand. It services a large rural community and lies on the main North-South route through the centre of the North Island. Taihape is a rural supply town and was at its peak during the 1960s when it was a bustling railway and transport hub for the surrounding farming community. Much of its economic activity revolved around the railway and rural communities. A major decline occurred in the 1980s due to a restructure and electrification of the railway system and a general downturn in the farming sector. In recent years with the advent of major tourist attractions Taihape is now experiencing an upturn in local commerce. Its location on the North Island Main Trunk Railway and on State Highway 1 has ensured its economic survival as a key stopping point for weary and hungry travellers, although today only occasional excursion trains stop at the once busy railway station. Taihape's main claim to fame is as the "Gumboot Capital of the World", and it attracts large numbers of people to the annual gumboot-throwing contest. The Taihape region was originally inhabited by local Maori tribes who settled the area well before the arrival of Europeans; descendants of these tribes still live in the area. The first record of a European to the region is William Colenso's visit in 1845. In 1884, the surveyor's party for the Main Trunk railway line cut a rough track through the district. The town was founded in 1894, when European settlers arrived from Canterbury in the South Island. The site of the town was a small natural clearing in dense native bush, which the first settlers set about clearing. Many of the original families have descendants still living in the area. The settlement was first called Hautapu after the local river, then Otaihape ("the place of Tai the Hunchback"), and finally Taihape. Taihape has a population of about 2,000 people. Population peaked at around 3,500 in the late 1960s, but declined in parallel with many other rural towns after that time. For most New Zealanders, Taihape is a "one-horse" town on the main highway ideal as a stopover for weary travellers going north or south. By far its biggest claim to fame is as the home of the annual Gumboot Day. Gumboot day was first celebrated on Tuesday 9 April 1985. This festival was devised by local business people who, realising that they could never rid the town of its rural backwater image, decided to capitalise on its rural image. Taihape's second claim to fame is that it is regarded (along with Eketahuna) as the archetypical small New Zealand farming town. This reputation was greatly enhanced when entertainer John Clarke used it as a location for his Fred Dagg comedy persona. You can write to us in the Contact Us section. Driving directions can be found below. The pictures at the top are an overview of Taihape, the town hall, two pictures of the main street looking north and a local business owned by one of the Otaihape brethren RWBro Gordon Riach
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