NEWTOWN
S19-219f View of Hyde Township Settlement,
Otago Witness, 4/6/1902, p.41
Hocken Collections - Uare Taoka o Hākena, University of Otago
Hyde
Hyde's Mini-village
This small settlement was built along the Hyde Railway Road, which joins the main road near the present Hyde Hall and sprang up when the railway reached Hyde.
Hyde Station, the Stationmaster's house and the stockyards, were built there because it was the nearest area of flat land to Hyde township.
Businesses rose up around the station along Railway Road with two hotels (one being the original Otago Central Hotel), a store, saleyards and a butchery creating Newtown.
The Post Office was moved from Hyde to Newtown once the railway went through and the Station Master took on the duties of the Postmaster. The Railway porter cycled to Hyde each day, delivering the mail to residents and cleared the mailbox in Hyde where it was taken to the station to be sorted and put on the train to Dunedin.
Stamps postmarked 'Hyde Railway',
from album 'Post offices, Hyde - Kaimataitai', S19-602a, George Griffiths Papers, MS-3888/027
Hocken Collections - Uare Taoka o Hākena, University of Otago
In 1895, there was a petition from the local residents of the Hyde area wanting the station at Newtown to be moved to Hyde. The residents stated that the railway station being situated at Newtown caused ‘very serious inconvenience’ to all persons using the Otago Central Railway. They complained that they have to leave their horses and vehicles at Hyde, and either walk or arrange for a vehicle to take them and their luggage, to and from Hyde to Newtown.
In 1925, a fire destroyed the Otago Central Hotel and adjoining store and premises effectively ending Newtown’s existence. The current Otago Central Hotel was rebuilt in 1927 in Hyde itself. A District Hall was built in 1929 opposite Railway Road and today only a few ruins show any sign of the former village.
THE TOWN THAT VANISHED
