Kurow

For places in Poland, see Kurów (disambiguation). For the video game character, see Kurow Kirishima.
Kurow
Town

A small-town straight street, flanked by shops, parked cars and the occasional small tree. A Caltex petrol station is on the left, a two-storey pub painted bright blue and yellow is on the right.

Bledisloe St (New Zealand State Highway 83) in Kurow
Kurow
Coordinates: 44°44′S 170°28′E / 44.733°S 170.467°ECoordinates: 44°44′S 170°28′E / 44.733°S 170.467°E
Country New Zealand
Region Canterbury
Territorial authority Waitaki District
Population (2006)[1]
 • Total 339
Time zone New Zealand Standard Time (UTC+12)
 • Summer (DST) New Zealand Daylight Time (UTC+13)
Postcode 9435

Kurow (pop. 339 in 2006 census) is a town in the Waitaki Valley in the South Island of New Zealand, 55 kilometres inland from Oamaru.

Description

The name is an Anglicised form of the name of the nearby mountain Te Kohurau.[2]

In the 1920s the town was the base for the building of the nearby Waitaki Dam and forming Lake Waitaki in the first of a series of hydroelectric projects on the Waitaki River.

The first social security scheme for New Zealand workers was designed in the town, arising from Presbyterian Minister of Kurow Arnold Nordmeyer's experience of working with families of workers on the Waitaki hydro-electric project.[3]

Examples of pre-European Māori cave paintings are close to the small settlement of Duntroon.

The land around the town includes summerfruit orchards, and increasing amounts of Pinot noir are being planted in the limestone soils.

The town was the terminus of the Kurow Branch railway, opened in 1881 to Hakataramea, across the Waitaki River, but cut back to Kurow in 1930. It closed in 1983: the line can be traced on the ground, and the station still building stands on Liverpool St. From 1928 until 1937, a line owned by the Public Works Department ran from Kurow to the hydroelectric project 6.4 km to the west.

Notable people from Kurow include All Black captain Richie McCaw. From 1929 to 1934, Dr Gervan McMillan and his wife Ethel were residents of Kurow, with Dr McMillan running a medical practice.[4][5]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kurow.
  1. ↑ "QuickStats About Kurow". 2006 Census. Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  2. ↑ Otago places
  3. ↑ http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/pm+commemorates+world-first+social+security+system
  4. ↑ Eunson, Keith. "McMillan, Ethel Emma - Biography". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  5. ↑ Heydon, Susan. "McMillan, David Gervan - Biography". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 17 August 2012.