Firth Tower Museum
At first glance, the Firth Tower Museum in Matamata exudes calm—sweeping lawns, stately heritage buildings, and the distinctive tower Josiah Clifton Firth built back in 1882. By daylight, visitors explore thirteen historic sites carefully preserved by the Matamata Historical Society. But when evening falls, the atmosphere shifts. Empty rooms echo with phantom footsteps, chilly drafts sweep across warm air, and some claim to have seen a lone figure near the old barn that once doubled as a cinema.
It’s these after-hours moments that draw the attention of paranormal investigators. The team from Paranormal New Zealand have documented unusual phenomena inside the Barn/Cinema building: unexplained fluctuations, objects appearing to move on their own, and reports of a mysterious man in uniform who vanished as quickly as he appeared. Such accounts have quietly circulated among staff and those who host events on the grounds.
Local papers, for their part, tend to spotlight the museum’s community role—ANZAC services, exhibitions, and seasonal festivities—rather than its spectral side. Yet the steady trickle of ghost stories adds a certain edge once the sun dips below the horizon. Visitors may come for Waikato’s pastoral history, but it’s the unseen that lingers, whispering along Tower Road.
266A Tower Road
Matamata 3471
+64 7 888 8369
It’s these after-hours moments that draw the attention of paranormal investigators. The team from Paranormal New Zealand have documented unusual phenomena inside the Barn/Cinema building: unexplained fluctuations, objects appearing to move on their own, and reports of a mysterious man in uniform who vanished as quickly as he appeared. Such accounts have quietly circulated among staff and those who host events on the grounds.
Local papers, for their part, tend to spotlight the museum’s community role—ANZAC services, exhibitions, and seasonal festivities—rather than its spectral side. Yet the steady trickle of ghost stories adds a certain edge once the sun dips below the horizon. Visitors may come for Waikato’s pastoral history, but it’s the unseen that lingers, whispering along Tower Road.
266A Tower Road
Matamata 3471
+64 7 888 8369
