Styx Creek is a small to medium-sized natural

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...

in the

Central Otago Central Otago is 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 and tributa ...

region of New Zealand. It flows into the

Taieri River The Taieri River is the fourth-longest river in New Zealand and is in Otago in the South Island. Rising in the Lammerlaw Range, it initially flows north, then east around the Rock and Pillar range before turning southeast, reaching the sea sou ...

in the valley near

Paerau Paerau is a small settlement in inland Central Otago in New Zealand's South Island. It is located in the Strath Taieri, the upper valley of the Taieri River, at the foot of the Rock and Pillar Range. "Paerau" is a Māori-language name meaning "one ...

, about northwest of

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

. It was given the name Styx by John Turnbull Thomson (1821–1884) chief surveyor of Otago after what is in mythology, the

name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A personal ...

of one of the five rivers which all converge at the centre of the Greek underworld on a great marsh, which sometimes is also called the Styx. In the

district upstream of the confluence of the Taieri River with the creek, the Taieri was forded by the Old Dunstan Road (Dunstan Trail) which provided the most direct route in the 19th century from

to the

goldfields. the trail crosses the Rock and Pillar Range from Clark's Junction (near Middlemarch) and descends into the Upper Taieri, whence it crosses the Taieri River. Originally the second overnighting stop from Dunedin (after Clark's Junction), its importance meant two

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

s operated on either side of the river in case there was a flood. Besides one of the hotels was a stable and a

jailhouse A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correcti ...

. This settlement situated on an outcrop of flat land originally bordered on three sides by the river, and on the fourth by a sheer cliff face and the surrounding area became known as "The Styx". When gold was discovered in Central Otago the provincial government was quick to take over the responsibility of moving the precious metal safely to Dunedin. When they used the Old Dunstan Road an overnight stop was usually made at Styx. As a result, a stone stable was built in the 1860s to cater for the horses of the gold escort and other travellers, while they stayed at the Styx Hotel which was located next door. In keeping with its name, the hotel had a coin embedded in the bar, alluding to the coin required for the ferryman across the river to the underworld. Styx Hotel was run by the McNutt family during the 1940s. The nearby stone jailhouse was also built in the 1860 and while it may have housed some prisoners in transit or an occasional local troublemaker it was mostly used by the gold escort to store the gold overnight. The strongbox that contained the gold was secured to the inside wall by chains. The opening of other routes which while longer were open all year and the Otago Central Railway and Alexandria caused the Old Dunstan road to fall into disuse and thus patronage of the crossing at Styx. The stables and jailhouse and hotels still exist.

References

External links

Styx
Rivers of Otago Rivers of New Zealand {{Otago-river-stub