Kingston is a small town at the southernmost end of

Lake Wakatipu Lake Wakatipu () is an inland lake (finger lake) in the South Island of New Zealand. It is in the southwest corner of the Otago region, near its boundary with Southland, New Zealand, Southland. ''Lake Wakatipu'' comes from the original Māori l ...

, just north of the border of Otago and Southland, in

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 ...

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 ...

. It is 47 kilometres south of Queenstown by a road, "The Devil's Staircase", which winds between the lake to the west and The Remarkables mountains to the east. It is 70 kilometres north of Lumsden, and close to the headwaters of the

Mataura River The Mataura River is in the Southland Region of the South Island of New Zealand. It is long. Description The river's headwaters are located in the Eyre Mountains to the south of Lake Wakatipu. From there it flows southeast towards Gore, New ...

History

Kingston was originally named 'St Johns' after police commissioner St. John Branigan. Following the Otago gold rush in the 1860s, Kingston played an important role in the transport system throughout the district. The busy shipping town hosted ten hotels, two banks and several stores, and it has been reported that there was as many as 5000 people camped in the area at its peak.

Demographics

Kingston is described by Statistics New Zealand as a rural settlement. It covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². It is part of the much larger Kingston statistical area. Before the 2023 census, Kingston settlement had a larger boundary, covering . Using that boundary, Kingston had a population of 306 at the

2018 New Zealand census The 2018 New Zealand census, which took place on Tuesday 6 March 2018, was the thirty-fourth national census in New Zealand. The population of New Zealand was counted as 4,699,755 – an increase of 457,707 (10.79%) over the 2013 census. Resu ...

, an increase of 108 people (54.5%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 159 people (108.2%) since the 2006 census. There were 135 households, comprising 156 males and 150 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.04 males per female. The median age was 37.5 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 51 people (16.7%) aged under 15 years, 45 (14.7%) aged 15 to 29, 186 (60.8%) aged 30 to 64, and 24 (7.8%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 92.2% European/

Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...

, 5.9%

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 Co ...

, 2.0% Pasifika, 2.9% Asian, and 2.0% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 61.8% had no religion, 20.6% were

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

, 1.0% were

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

, 1.0% were

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

and 3.9% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 66 (25.9%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 33 (12.9%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $49,600, compared with $31,800 nationally. 54 people (21.2%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 201 (78.8%) people were employed full-time, 24 (9.4%) were part-time, and 3 (1.2%) were unemployed.

Kingston statistical area

The Kingston statistical area covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Kingston 27

The statistical area had a population of 348 at the

, an increase of 111 people (46.8%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 147 people (73.1%) since the 2006 census. There were 144 households, comprising 180 males and 168 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.07 males per female. The median age was 35.4 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 57 people (16.4%) aged under 15 years, 60 (17.2%) aged 15 to 29, 201 (57.8%) aged 30 to 64, and 27 (7.8%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 92.2% European/

, 6.0%

, 1.7% Pasifika, 4.3% Asian, and 1.7% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 25.9, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 62.9% had no religion, 20.7% were

, 0.9% were

and 4.3% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 78 (26.8%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 36 (12.4%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $49,000, compared with $31,800 nationally. 60 people (20.6%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 228 (78.4%) people were employed full-time, 30 (10.3%) were part-time, and 3 (1.0%) were unemployed. Kingston Station 1

Transport

The Kingston Flyer historic railway service is closely associated with the town. It operated over a 14 kilometre long preserved section of the former

Kingston Branch The Kingston Branch was a major railway line in Southland, New Zealand. It formed part of New Zealand's national rail network for over a century: construction began in 1864, Kingston was reached in 1878, and it closed in 1979. For much ...

, which provided a rail link from the city of

Invercargill Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...

to Kingston for over a century, opening in 1878 and closing in 1979 after a section of track between Garston and Athol was washed out in a storm.

References

External links

{{Queenstown-Lakes Populated places in Otago Queenstown-Lakes District Populated places on Lake Wakatipu