Romahapa

Romahapa is a locality in the Catlins region of Otago in New Zealand's South Island.[1] It is located between the towns of Balclutha and Owaka. The last shop closed in 1977.

Romahapa

Education

Romahapa has a small primary school, named Romahapa School. It was established in 1856 and is one of the oldest schools in South Otago.[2] In mid-October 2006, it celebrated its 150th anniversary.[3]

Railway

On 15 December 1885, a branch line railway (the Catlins Branch Line) from the Main South Line in Balclutha was opened to Romahapa. The village became a railway terminus for a few years and a number of bush tramways also operated in the area during the 1890s. Romahapa lost its terminal status on 7 July 1891 when an extension opened to Glenomaru.[4] The railway line came to be known as the Catlins River Branch and ultimately terminated in Tahakopa; it serviced Romahapa until its closure on 27 February 1971. In the early 1900s, up to sixteen trains ran through Romahapa a week; these were predominantly mixed trains.[5] Today, the Romahapa station's goods shed remains in its old location, while the station building has been resited a few kilometres away, and the wooden railway bridge over the Romahapa Creek still stands.[6]

Notable people

References
  1. "Place name detail: Romahapa". New Zealand Gazetteer. New Zealand Geographic Board. Retrieved 27 November 2007.
  2. Romahapa School, "School Detail" Archived 25 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 27 November 2007. The title of oldest school in South Otago is also claimed by Tokomairiro High School in Milton, which celebrated its 150th anniversary in June 2006. The latter school has undergone several organisational changes during that time, however, notably from District High School to High School.
  3. "Romahapa School 150th Jubilee 1856-2006", Education Gazette New Zealand 85(16) [18 September 2006].
  4. New Zealand Railway and Tramway Atlas, fourth edition, edited by John Yonge (Essex: Quail Map Company, 1993), 28.
  5. David Leitch and Brian Scott, Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways, revised edition (Wellington: Grantham House, 1998 [1995]), 103-4.
  6. Leitch and Scott, Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways, 104-5.


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