Ophir is a small settlement in

Central Otago Central Otago is an area located in the inland part of the Otago region in the South Island of New Zealand. The motto for the area is "A World of Difference". The area is dominated by mountain ranges and the upper reaches of the Clutha River ...

, New Zealand, located between

Alexandra Alexandra () is a female given name of Greek origin. It is the first attested form of its variants, including Alexander (, ). Etymology, Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; genitive, GEN , ; ...

and Ranfurly close to the east bank of the

Manuherikia River The Manuherikia River is located in Otago in the South Island of New Zealand. It rises in the far north of the Maniototo, with the West Branch draining the eastern side of the St Bathans Range, and the East Branch draining the western flanks of ...

. The settlement of

Omakau Omakau (sometimes spelled Ōmakau) is a settlement in Central Otago, New Zealand, located between Alexandra and Ranfurly on the northwest bank of the Manuherikia River. The smaller settlement of Ophir is located on the opposite bank, three kilo ...

is located on the opposite bank, to the northwest. Ophir was originally known as Blacks, when gold was discovered in Central Otago in 1863. Ophir's population grew to over 1000 as it became the commercial and social centre of the district. It was renamed Ophir at this time which was where King

Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...

obtained the gold to sheath the

Temple in Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. Accord ...

, and is thus the place name of the legendary "King Solomon's Goldmines". When the

Otago Central Railway The Otago Central Railway (OCR) or in later years Otago Central Branch Railway, now often referred to as the Taieri Gorge Railway, was a secondary railway line in Central Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand. Construction Construction o ...

was constructed in 1906, it was routed through

. This had a positive effect for Omakau, which thrived, but a negative effect on Ophir which saw a considerable loss in population. Today, with a current population of around 50, the town is also known for the many original buildings still surviving including the restored Post and Telegraph Office, the 1895 Courthouse, and the 1870s Police Station. The Post Office is a schist and stone masonry structure built in 1886, and registered by

Heritage New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust; in ) is a Crown entity that advocates for the protection of Archaeology of New Zealand, ancest ...

as a Category I Historic Place (List number 341, 22 November 1984). New Zealand's second-lowest official temperature of -21.6 °C was recorded at Ophir on 3 July 1995, even though it is not located at a high elevation.

Demographics

Ophir is considered by Statistics New Zealand to be a part of the

rural settlement, which is itself part of the much larger Manuherikia-Ida Valleys statistical area.

Climate

References

{{Central Otago Populated places in Otago