Lawrence, situated only 3km away, became the gold mining centre of the Tuapeka district. By July 1861 about 150 men were reported to be at work in Gabriel’s Gully and by September of that year some 6,000 people in total were on the diggings. This population was about the same as that of Otago’s capital – Dunedin. The peak of the gold boom was reached in 1862 when nearly 200,000 ounces of gold was taken out by gold escort. Blue Spur, in Gabriel’s Gully, was the scene in 1880 of New Zealand’s first hydraulic elevator. This type of elevator enabled the gold bearing gravels to be raised using water pressure. By the late 1930s, gold production on a large scale had ended in the district.

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