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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Otago & Southland Provincial Districts]

Otara

Otara is a settlement which is within about two miles and a-half of the scene of the wreck of the s.s. “Tararua,” part of which is still (1904) seen at low tide, though the wreck happened on the 29th of April, 1881. People began to settle in the district two years after the date of the wreck, in connection with which 130 lives were lost. Otara is eight miles from Fortrose, six miles from the Haldane settlement, and fourteen miles from Waikawa. There has been a post office in the district since 1883, and mails are carried by a mailman on horseback each Wednesday, and by a butcher's cart on Saturdays. The local school was opened in 1887, and is now (1904) attended by twenty children. Anglican and Presbyterian church services are held in the schoolhouse on alternate Sundays. A cheese factory, which was established by the settlers, was carried on for some time, but ultimately sold, and was still in operation in 1904. The land is undulating in character, excellent in quality, and well suited to agriculture and dairy farming. At the census of 1901 the population was 135. The district is in the Titiroa riding of the county of Southland, and in the electorate of Mataura. Magnificent views of land and sea are obtainable from many points, as the traveller journeys to and from the settlement.