Parawa is a locality in
Southland Southland may refer to:
Places Canada
* Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia
New Zealand
* Southland Region, a region of New Zealand
* Southland County, a former New Zealand county
* Southland District, part of the wider Southland Reg ...
, New Zealand, on , 5 km southwest of
Athol and immediately north of
Mid Dome
Mid Dome is a prominent mountain in the northern Southland region that overlooks the township of Five Rivers and the Waimea Plain. It rises to a height of . Surrounding farms at the base of the mountain make up the original Dome (later East Dome ...
mountain. Its name is a corruption of ''Paiherewao'', what Maori called the mountain. In the 19th century, several versions of the name were used, including Parrawa and Parrowa.
The Parawa Junction Hotel was built in 1867, near where the main road crosses the Parawa Creek, to service traffic from the south coast to the central Otago goldfields and nearby goldfield at
Nokomai. The hotel operated for a century, then was a tearoom for a number of years before closing.
The
Kingston Branch railway opened through the district in January 1878, and soon after a Parawa siding was built. It operated until the closure of the line in November 1979. For many years Parawa was known for its very small post office, which was open from 1904–1985.
Before the First World War, a flax mill owned by I. W. Raymond & Co. operated near the entrance to the Nokomai Gorge. In 1904 it employed around 20 people.
[''Cyclopedia of New Zealand'' (1905), Vol.4: Otago & Southland, Christchurch: Cyclopedia Co. Ltd., p. 1015]
References
{{reflist
Populated places in Southland, New Zealand