New Zealand - Greymouth - Two views of Tainui Street, Greymouth. One photo taken in 1890, the other in 1928. - 1/3/1928 - Ring and Inkster Photographer - Originally published in "The Auckland Weekly News" #336098 Greymouth - Greymouth is the largest town in the West Coast region in the South Island of New Zealand. - Māori had lived in Greymouth for considerable time before European settlement, and called the area Māwhera (for 'wide spread river mouth', still an alternative name for the Grey River). - The first European to visit the site of what is now Greymouth was Thomas Brunner in 1846. Brunner discovered coal in the Grey valley, and several places in the region (notably the town of Brunner and Lake Brunner) bear his name. Brunner himself named the Grey River after prominent 19th century New Zealand politician Sir George Grey. Together with gold, coal mining was a major impetus in the town's early European history. - When the mining industry started to decline, forestry became a new staple industry. Fishing also has long been important to the town