BIRTH AND EARLY DEVELOPMENT
Brothers, after leaving Charleston, conducted a large sawmilling business at Cape Foulwind and Westport.
The formation of streets in the town, and roads to the outskirts, was hurried on during the first year or so of settlement, and both works were undertaken by the Provincial Council. In 1870, £200 was voted for a dray-road to Ballarat Terrace, and £100 for metalling Darkie’s Terrace Road. In addition to a tramway from Little Beach, and another from Nile bridge to Darkie’s Terrace Road, authority was, on 1st May, 1867, granted to Henry Butler and others to construct “a tramway from the town of Charleston to Darkie’s Terrace,” and by Gazette of 12th May, 1868, the tramway received protection for five years, the owners being authorised to charge a toll of 1/- for each horse or head of horned cattle, “passing along that portion of the tramway that was not on a public road.” It was duly constructed, at a cost of £1,600, and was operated for some time. It ran from a point in Camp Street opposite to Section 121, later occupied by the Court House Hotel, and thence along the south edge of Darkie’s Terrace Road, going through the School Reserve. The driver, and probably part-owner, was Harry Mann, the owner of “Mann’s Corner,” Sections 140 and 141, where his Pakihi Hotel and his brewery were erected. This corner was purchased in 1868, for £555, by John Behan, who in partnership with Kelly opened the Bank Hotel, which afterwards became the City Hotel.
On 22nd November, 1867, the interest in the tramway was sold to John Behan and John Irwin. On 3rd May, 1870, “John Behan, a licensed victualler of Charleston, petitioned the Provincial Council for compensation, alleging that the tramway had proved to be of great public benefit, but that “about 1¼ years ago, a branch road had been constructed running closely parallel to the Darkie’s Terrace end of the tramway and destroyed the traffic.” The result of this petition is not known.
Although many of Charleston’s first settlers came from Australia, most were from Otago, Marlborough, Nelson and Hokitika, traversing the rough and dangerous ways that had but once before been followed by white men; by Heaphy and
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