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Story: Streets and lighting

Lamplight, 1867

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Lamplight, 1867

The first street lighting was often provided by hotels and bars to attract custom. Large lamps like this one outside Hokitika’s Shotover Hotel in 1867 were common, although the weakness of light they emitted often belied the size of the lamp.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: 1/4-002702; F

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Adrian Humphris, Streets and lighting – Street lighting, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/24495/lamplight-1867 (accessed 3 June 2026).

Story by Adrian Humphris, published 6 April 2010.