Raes Junction is a small settlement in New Zealand, located at the intersection of State Highways 8 and 90, in the lower South Island. The highways that meet at the junction are the main routes to the Clutha valley for travellers from Dunedin and Invercargill respectively.
Raes Junction is 62 kilometres (39 mi) by road from Milton, 67 kilometres (42 mi) from Gore, and 72 kilometres (45 mi) from Alexandra. The junction lies 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) to the south of the Clutha River. The nearest town of any significant size is Lawrence, which is 25 kilometres (16 mi) to the southeast.
The area was named after James Rae,[1][2] who operated J. Rae's Junction Hotel during the late-1800s. The name for the area later became just Rae's Junction,[3] and eventually the possessive apostrophe was lost. The area was also known as Bastings, after Horace Bastings, a member of the Otago Provincial Council.[4]
Although the settlement itself is little more than a farming and horticultural community, its location at this mid-way junction is thus of considerable regional importance,[citation needed] as is the larger settlement of Beaumont, some six kilometres to the southeast. The Raes Junction school opened in around 1884[5] and closed in 1927.[6]
- ^ "Up the Road. No II.", The Tuapeka Times, p. 3, 29 November 1879, retrieved 6 February 2024,
Raes Junction takes its name from Mr James Rae, who owns the hotel property which is there situated widely known as the Junction Hotel.
- ^ Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives of New Zealand, vol. 2, New Zealand Parliament House of Representatives, 1882, retrieved 6 February 2024
- ^ The Otago Daily Times, 13 March 1879, p. 2, retrieved 6 February 2024
- ^ "NZGB Gazetteer - Raes Junction", Land Information New Zealand, retrieved 6 February 2024
- ^ "Beaumont School Election.", The Tuapeka Times, p. 3, 2 February 1884, retrieved 6 February 2024
- ^ "Education board. Monthly meeting.", Otago Daily Times, p. 3, 8 December 1927, retrieved 6 February 2024