Kurow

For places in Poland, see Kurów (disambiguation). For the video game character, see Kurow Kirishima.

Kurow

Kurow (pop. 339 in 2006 census) is a town in the Waitaki Valley in the South Island of New Zealand, 55 kilometres inland from Oamaru

The name of the town is an Anglicised form of the name of the nearby mountain Te Kohurau.

In the 1920s the Kurow was the base for the building of the nearby Waitaki Dam and forming Lake Waitaki in the first of a series of hydroelectric projects on the Waitaki River.

The first social security scheme for New Zealand workers was designed in Kurow. It was born from, then Presbyterian Minister of Kurow, Arnold Nordmeyer's experience of working with families of workers on the Waitaki hydro electric project.

Examples of pre-European Māori cave paintings can be found near Kurow, close to the small settlement of Duntroon.

The land around Kurow includes summerfruit orchards, and increasing amounts of Pinot Noir are being planted in the limestone soils.

For a number of decades, Kurow was the terminus of the Kurow Branch, a branch line railway that formed part of New Zealand's national rail network. The railway reached Kurow in 1881, terminating across the Waitaki River in Hakataramea, but in 1930, the line was cut back to Kurow. From 1928 until 1937, a line owned by the Public Works Department ran from Kurow to provide rail access to the hydroelectric project 6.4 km to the west, but the branch railway was closed in 1983 and few traces remain.

Notable people from Kurow include current All Black captain Richie McCawcaptain of the Rugby World Cup gold medal winning All Black team.