Hyde (New Zealand)
| Hyde | ||
| Geographical location | ||
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| Coordinates | 45 ° 18 ′ S , 170 ° 15 ′ E | |
| Region ISO | NZ-OTA | |
| Country |
 New Zealand
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| region | Otago | |
| District | Dunedin City | |
| Ward | Mosgiel - Taieri Ward | |
| Residents | 75 (2013) | |
| height | 345 m | |
| Post Code | 9397 | |
| Telephone code | +64 (0) 3 | |
| Photography of the place | ||
 State Highway 87 in Hyde, on the right the war memorial |
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Hyde is a small settlement in the urban area of Dunedin on the South Island of New Zealand . In 1943, Hyde was the site of the second worst railway accident in the country's history.
geography
Hyde is located around 68 km north-northwest of the city center of Dunedin , but belongs to the northernmost part of the urban area. The settlement is located on the Taieri River in the Strath Taieri plain , near the northern end of the Rock and Pillar Range .
The New Zealand State Highway 87 connects the settlement with Middlemarch and Mosgiel in the south and a later junction on State Highway 85 (also called The Pigroot ) with Ranfurly in the north. Alexandra is to the west and Palmerston to the east.
history
The first settlements in Hyde took place in the course of the gold rush in Otago in the 1860s. Initially, the town was called Eight Mile due to its distance to the gold fields and later in honor of the superintendent of the province Otago and the second mayor of Dunedin , John Hyde Harris (1826 *, † 1886), in Hyde renamed.
When the settlement in 1894 of the railway line Otago Central Railway has been connected population and growing infrastructure considerably. There were several hotels, a courthouse, a school, a church and numerous shops in which blacksmiths, butchers, bakers, saddlers and stonemasons offered their services. But when the gold rush was over, Hyde lost its meaning too .
On June 4, 1943, a train derailed near Hyde , which the driver, who was under the influence of alcohol, drove through a curve at more than twice the permitted speed. 21 people died, 47 were injured, some seriously. In February 1991, a 2.5 meter high stone monument was erected for the victims near the site of the accident . There is also a small exhibition on the accident in the Ranfurly train station .
population
In the 2013 census, the settlement had 75 inhabitants, 20% more than in the 2006 census.
The settlement today
When the Otago Central Railway stopped operating in April 1990 and the section to Middlemarch was dismantled, Hyde lost its connection to the New Zealand rail network . Nevertheless, a large transport company still has its headquarters in Hyde , and a slate quarry is also very close by.
It doesn't give much evidence of the former importance of the place. What remains are a former school building, the Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and a war memorial in memory of the residents who did not return from the two world wars . The only road next to the State Highway was named after Michael Prendergast , one of the first settlers in the area.
The settlement has remained important for tourism thanks to the Otago Central Rail Trail . The hiking trail, which can also be used by bike or horse, connects to the Taieri Gorge Railway museum train, which still runs from Dunedin to Middlemarch , and runs on the former route of the Otago Central Railway to Clyde . The first section to Hyde was opened in November 1995, the rest of the route opened in February 2000.
The fact that you can take a trip from Hyde to the historic gold rush settlement Macraes Flat and the largest, still operating gold mine of New Zealand, the Macraes Gold Mine , has the Otago Central Hotel , the last of the old hotels in town, before Closure preserved.
literature
- Bernard John Foster : Harris, John Hyde . In: Alexander Hare McLintock (Ed.): An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand . Wellington 1966 ( online [accessed December 17, 2015]).
Web links
- Hyde . Otago Central Rail Trail Charitable Trust, archived from the original onJune 1, 2010; accessed on August 21, 2014(English, original website no longer available).
- Christchurch Libraries, New Zealand Disasters - Hyde Rail Accident
- New Zealand History Online - Hyde Railroad Tragedy
- Ghost Railways . Archived from the original onMay 24, 2010; accessed on August 21, 2014(English, original website no longer available).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b 2013 Census QuickStats about a place: Hyde . Statistics New Zealand , accessed August 21, 2014 .
- ↑ a b Topo250 maps . Land Information New Zealand , accessed June 13, 2017 .
- ^ Foster : Harris, John Hyde . In: An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand . 1966.