- Roxburgh, New Zealand
Roxburgh Urban Area Population 1,210 (2006) Territorial
AuthorityName Central Otago District Council
(see AlexandraPopulation 16,950 (2004 est.) Extent Includes the towns of Alexandra
Clyde, Cromwell, Roxburgh,
and RanfurlyRegional
CouncilName Otago Roxburgh is a small
New Zealand town of about 750 people on the banks of theClutha River , 40 km south of Alexandra in theSouth Island . It is on the main highway linkingCentral Otago (in which it lies) with the city ofDunedin , 155 km to the east.An important centre during the
Central Otago goldrush of the 1860s, in more recent times Roxburgh has relied on a mixture of livestock andstone fruit production for its economic survival. It is one of the country's most importantapple growing regions, and other stone fruit such ascherries andapricots are also harvested locally.Five km to the north of the town is the
Roxburgh Dam , the earliest of the major hydroelectric dams built on the Clutha.From 1928 until 1968, Roxburgh was served by the
Roxburgh Branch , abranch line railway that ran to the town from theMain South Line . For the entire period the line served Roxburgh, it made a working loss, but it helped to promote economic development in the town and was an important means of supplying materials for the Roxburgh Dam. Today, relics of the town's former status as a railway terminus still exist, including a turntable pit, awater tank forsteam locomotive s, and the station building has been converted into a hayshed and workshop.Most of the houses which once housed railway workers (also known as "Railway Houses") still stand and are now in private ownership.There is also an opencast lignite mine located just north of town at Coal Creek.
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