.LynEve

gallery

This mill cottage was built on Clarks Mill land in 1865. It later became the company office and latterly was known as "Smokey Joe's",named after Allan Clark who was known as Joe. An interesting history it has for sure :)
The following is copied from a Heritage NZ document written by Jonathan Howard in 2014.
"During service in the Middle-East he saw many night clubs and after returning to New Zealand from his overseas tour of duty and imprisonment he converted the company office into a 'music hall'.The internal walls were removed and the walls and ceiling lined over with pinex. During the late 1940s a travelling sign writer and his assistant stayed in Smokey Joe's and painted Hawaiian scenes on the walls. The space was decorated with war memorabilia. Allan collected a very large collection of music (carefully catalogued) which he played in Smokey Joe's. The space was sparsely furnished with a few chairs and a record player and reel-to-reel tape recorder set up on a curved bar from which Allan entertained the dozens of people who filled it. Smokey Joe's was used as a venue for parties and private functions, including during the period of prohibition lasting until 1956. It was also used as the clubrooms for various sports organisations, especially the Maheno Football Club and Maheno (womens) Basketball Club, who held training on the ground until the early 1950s."