Dacre is a small

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

in the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

of New Zealand. It is situated on the

Southland Plains The Southland Plains is a general name given to several areas of low-lying land in the South Island of New Zealand, separated by the rise of the Hokonui Hills in the north. It forms a sizeable area of Southland region and encompasses its two prin ...

between

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

and Edendale on

State Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbere ...

. In Dacre, SH 1 is met by (Lorneville – Dacre Road), which runs west to

Makarewa Makarewa is a small community north of Invercargill (the southernmost city in the South Island within Southland of New Zealand). History Makarewa was formerly the junction of two branch line railways, where the Tuatapere Branch diverged from the ...

via

Rakahouka Rakahouka is a community in the Southland region of New Zealand's South Island. It is located in a fertile farming area on the Southland Plains just south of the Makarewa River. The nearest major city, Invercargill, is approximately 15 k ...

. Nearby villages include

Mabel Bush Mabel Bush is a small community in the Southland region of New Zealand's South Island. The community has an estimated population of 127 people. The main building in the area is the Mabel Bush Hall, which consists of the hall and tennis courts ...

to the northwest and

Woodlands Woodlands may back refer to: * Woodland, a low-density forest Geography Australia * Woodlands, New South Wales * Woodlands, Ashgrove, Queensland, a heritage-listed house associated with John Henry Pepper * Woodlands, Marburg, Queensland, a her ...

to the southeast. Dacre is 25 km north east of Invercargill, the closest city. The

Main South Line The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railway line that runs north and south from Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the South Island to Inverca ...

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

passes just to the south of Dacre. It is a dairy farming community, that currently has a community hall and a small engine garage. Thumbnail (1)

The town was first surveyed in December 1863 by Theophilus Heale, who was the chief surveyor of the region. It appears to be unknown where the name "Dacre" comes from, further backed up by an article from the Mataura Ensign in 1912, which states that: :"

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

has a foreign appearance but by whom given the writer cannot say. (The old name of this locality was Halfway Bush, so named by Mr W. H. S. Roberts because it was midway between his house at Titipua ossibly a variation in the spelling of Te Tipua">Te_Tipua.html" ;"title="ossibly a variation in the spelling of Te Tipua">ossibly a variation in the spelling of Te Tipuaand that of Mr McClymont's.)" From 1863 until 1865, Dacre had a police station, owing to its strategic location between Invercargill and the Otago Goldfields. After the gold booms ended, the station was closed permanently, during a period of retrenchment which significantly reduced the number of police in Southland. Dacre also used to have a primary school, in a building that was originally set up as a hotel, however it was closed after 108 years of operation due to a dwindling number of students. Dacre Primary School closed at the end of 2008 with a roll of 5 students. When the school celebrated its centenary in 1999, it had two teachers.

References

{{Southland District Populated places in Southland, New Zealand