Mossburn

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Mossburn is a small town in the western Southland Region of New Zealand, south of Queenstown and east of Te Anau. In 2001, it had a usually resident population of 240, consisting of 129 males and 111 females. This constituted a 12.1% decrease in population since the previous New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings in 1996.

The town is located in a very scenic area, with the mountains of Fiordland creating a beautiful backdrop. The town's main industry is agriculture, with many cattle, deer, and sheep farms nearby. Due to the amount of deer farms, Mossburn claims to be the deer capital of New Zealand.

Mossburn's greatest burst of economic activity came as a result of the construction of the Manapouri Power Station. The Mossburn Branch railway had terminated in the town since 1887 and was the closest railway terminus to the project. Previously, the line had been served by two "mixed" trains of both passengers and freight (only freight after 4 October 1937) from Lumsden on the Kingston Branch, but with the commencement of the Manapouri project as well as other government development programmes such as agricultural expansion, one and sometimes two trains would arrive daily from Invercargill. By the start of the 1980s, these projects were complete and the railway closed on 13 December 1982. Few relics remain.