Fortification, New Zealand
Fortification is a locality in the western part of the Catlins region of Southland in New Zealand's South Island.[1] Nearby settlements include Quarry Hills and Waikawa to the southeast, Tokanui to the southwest, and Waimahaka to the west. It is over 50 km east of Southland's main centre, Invercargill.
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The area was logged by timber companies which included Fortification Timber Co 1875[2] and Fortification Timber Co Ltd.[3] Subdivisions were created in 1914[4] under the Lands for Settlement Act[5] and the road to Te Peka improved after 1919.[6]
Tramway
To serve forestry interests in the Fortification area, a bush tramway was built in the mid-1920s. It ran from Te Peka railway station on the Tokanui Branch eastwards to a sawmill in Fortification, and then divided into a number of branches to logging sites. The tramway's date of closure is unknown, but it occurred prior to the closure of the Tokanui Branch on 31 March 1966.[7] Tramways to a sawmill east of Fortification Hill were shown on 1944 one inch map S183.[8]
References
- "Place name detail: Fortification". New Zealand Gazetteer. Land Information New Zealand. Retrieved 16 November 2007.
- "COMMERCE AND FINANCE (Otago Daily Times, 1939-02-04)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
- "LONDON WOOL SALES (Evening Star, 1933-07-15)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
- "Page 6 Advertisements Column 5 (Southland Times, 1914-01-22)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
- "LAND HUNGER. (Mount Ida Chronicle, 1914-02-06)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
- "GOVERNMENT GRANTS (Southland Times, 1919-06-14)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
- New Zealand Railway and Tramway Atlas, fourth edition, edited by John Yonge (Essex: Quail Map Company, 1993), 30.
- "Sheet S.183 Tokanui". www.mapspast.org.nz. Retrieved 24 June 2018.