Kurow
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- For the place of similar name in Poland see Kurów. For the video game character, see Kurow Kirishima.
Kurow (pop. 339 in 2006 census) is a town in the Waitaki Valley in the South Island of New Zealand. It lies in the Waitaki District within the southern part of the Canterbury Region, 55 kilometres inland from Oamaru. Kurow lies close to several major hydroelectric projects.
Examples of pre-European Māori cave paintings can be found a handful of kilometres from Kurow, close to the small settlement of Duntroon.
Some controversy exists as to the origin of the name. Local Māori and many current and former residents suggest that it is an Anglicised form of the name of the nearby mountain Te Kohurau.
The land around Kurow includes summerfruit orchards, and increasing amounts of Pinot Noir are being planted in the limestone soils.
For a number of decades, Kurow was the terminus of the Kurow Branch, a branch line railway that formed part of New Zealand's national rail network. The railway reached Kurow in 1881, terminating across the Waitaki River in Hakataramea, but in 1930, the line was cut back to Kurow. From 1928 until 1937, a line owned by the Public Works Department ran from Kurow to provide rail access to a hydroelectric project 6.4km west. The branch railway was closed in 1983 and not many traces remain in Kurow.
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