
Hindon is a small settlement in inland
Otago
Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...
, in the
South Island
The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...
of
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
. It is located northwest of
Dunedin
Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...
in the
Silverpeaks Range, close to the edge of the
Strath Taieri
The Strath Taieri (sometimes spelt Strath-Taieri) is a large glacial valley and river plateau in New Zealand's South Island. It is surrounded by the rugged hill ranges to the north and west of Otago Harbour. Since 1989 it has been part of the cit ...
. The
Taieri Gorge Railway
Dunedin Railways (formerly the Taieri Gorge Railway) is the trading name of Dunedin Railways Limited, an operator of a railway line and tourist trains based at Dunedin Railway Station in the South Island of New Zealand. The company is a counci ...
runs through Hindon on its way between Dunedin and
Middlemarch
''Middlemarch, A Study of Provincial Life'' is a novel by English author George Eliot, the pen name of Mary Ann Evans. It appeared in eight installments (volumes) in 1871 and 1872. Set in Middlemarch, a fictional English Midlands town, in 1829 ...
.
Hindon was named by provincial superintendent
John Hyde Harris
John Hyde Harris (24 November 1826 – 24 July 1886) was a 19th-century New Zealand politician. Born in England, he came to Dunedin as a young man and practised as a lawyer, and was then a judge. He entered provincial politics and was elected as ...
, who owned land in the area, though the origin of the name is not known. The area was a centre of activity during the latter part of the
Otago gold rush
The Otago gold rush (often called the Central Otago gold rush) was a gold rush that occurred during the 1860s in Central Otago, New Zealand. This was the country's biggest gold strike, and led to a rapid influx of foreign miners to the area � ...
, with several mines working the
gold-bearing quartz reefs
A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition of sand or wave eros ...
at Hindon and nearby Barewood. The size of the township dwindled markedly after the end of the rush. Little remains of the mines, though some subsided shafts remain as hazards for local farmers.
[Hutchinson, D.,]
Hindon mine shaft 'bit of a graveyard'
" ''Otago Daily Times
The ''Otago Daily Times'' (''ODT'') is a newspaper published by Allied Press Ltd in Dunedin, New Zealand. The ''ODT'' is one of the country's four main daily newspapers, serving the southern South Island with a circulation of around 26,000 and ...
,'' 5 May 2013. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
Hindon has a population of around 70 people. At the height of the gold rush its population was around 1200.
Climate
References
Localities in the Dunedin City territory
{{Otago-geo-stub