MIDDLEMARCH
Being the start point of the central
Otago Cycle Route has been the catalyst for a bit of an economic
rebirth for Middlemarch.
Middlemarch is on state highway 85 and
is one of many alternative routes to Queenstown. The town lies in a
huge and impressive valley that in truth makes driving a delight.
Middlemarch is a nice strip town that had its birth in the railway
era.
The rail is now terminating at
Middlemarch and the Central Otago Trail track begins.
Several suggestions exist
about how the township was named. One is that Mrs Alice Humphreys,
whose husband Edward Wingfield Humphreys owned and had surveyed for
sale of sections in this new township, was reading George Eliots nove
Middlemarch.
As with many places in and
close to the Maniototo area, its name may have been influenced by the
Northumberland ancestry of early surveyor John Turnbull Thomson (there
is a Middle March region in Northumberland, centred on the town of
Otterburn). Whose name will come up again at Ranfurly.
Middlemarch has the classic
Otago Hotel. Where a drink is a must. The hotel is by the railway and
not in the main street.
For a small town there are
a number of churches.  
The War Memorial is a
significant structure on the main road.
And, Middlemarch has a
museum that is open at train arrival times.
Be sure to stop and take in
this great little town.
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