Ngapara is a locality in the north

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

region of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

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 ...

. It is located in a rural setting 25 km inland from

Oamaru Oamaru (; mi, Te Oha-a-Maru) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific coast; State Highway 1 and the railway ...

. The name of Ngapara is derived from the

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

word for the "tables" or plateaus of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

in the area.

Economy

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

is the most important economic activity, with farming activity consisting primarily of

sheep husbandry Sheep farming or sheep husbandry is the raising and breeding of domestic sheep. It is a branch of animal husbandry. Sheep are raised principally for their meat (lamb and mutton), milk (sheep's milk), and fiber (wool). They also yield sheepskin a ...

and growing

cereal crop A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food en ...

s such as

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

. A

flour mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...

was established in the town in 1898. Heavier industrial activity has also taken place around Ngapara, including mining for

lignite Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

and

. In recent years due to the dairy boom happening around

, there has been an increase in the number of dairy farms in the surrounding area. This is aided by the installment of the Tokarahi Irrigation Scheme in 2006. This scheme has provided a much needed source of water to farmers of the area.

Railway

From 1 April 1877 until 31 July 1959, Ngapara was the terminus of the Ngapara Branch, a

branch line A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Industrial spur An industri ...

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 ...

that left 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 ...

near Oamaru. At its peak, Ngapara station had a small

locomotive depot The motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is the place where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained when not being used. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine shed ...

, complete with

turntable A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

. Ngapara was one of the first towns on New Zealand's

national rail network In United States railroading, the term national rail network, sometimes termed "U.S. rail network", refers to the entire network of interconnected standard gauge rail lines in North America. It does not include most subway or light rail lines. F ...

to lose its passenger service, with a bus substitute introduced in December 1926. In the wake of this decision, the locomotive depot was closed in 1927 and trains operated from Oamaru rather than Ngapara, though the turntable remained inactive and was not removed until the last train, a work train that ran on 10 December 1959, months after the official closure. Some remnants of the railway remain, including the station's platform and loading bank, and the station sign is now affixed to the exterior of the local rugby club's rooms.Leitch and Scott, ''Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways'', 85-6.

School

Ngapara Primary School was opened in 1877, for 5 to 13-year-old children. In latter years it had 23 students and one teacher. When the students reached high school age they were bused into Oamaru to one of its three high schools. In 1998 the school closed, and since then students have mostly attended the primary school in

Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * ...

, with some at Duntroon primary school. Much of Ngapara Primary School's buildings and supplies were transferred for use in Weston.

Ngapara statistical area

Ngapara statistical area includes Georgetown and

Tokarahi Tokarahi is a small village located in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. Its location is a rural setting in the Waiareka Valley, inland from Oamaru. Economic activity is focused on agriculture. History Tokarahi was first a ...

. It covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². The statistical area had a population of 1,806 at the

2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...

, an increase of 195 people (12.1%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 270 people (17.6%) since the

2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. There were 681 households. There were 948 males and 855 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.11 males per female. The median age was 34.1 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 429 people (23.8%) aged under 15 years, 342 (18.9%) aged 15 to 29, 882 (48.8%) aged 30 to 64, and 150 (8.3%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 83.1% European/Pākehā, 6.8% Māori, 0.3% Pacific peoples, 12.1% Asian, and 4.0% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). The proportion of people born overseas was 20.9%, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 51.0% had no religion, 39.5% were Christian, 0.8% were Hindu, 0.2% were Buddhist and 2.0% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 246 (17.9%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 255 (18.5%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $37,600, compared with $31,800 nationally. 198 people (14.4%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 834 (60.6%) people were employed full-time, 237 (17.2%) were part-time, and 15 (1.1%) were unemployed.

References

External links

Map and history of the Ngapara Branch railway
{{Waitaki District, New Zealand Waitaki District Populated places in Otago