{{Use New Zealand English|date=March 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}} {{Location map |New Zealand |label=Mākareao |lat_dir=S | lat_deg=45 | lat_min=22 |lon_dir=E | lon_deg=170 | lon_min=39 |position=right |width= 150 |float=right |caption= }}{{coord|45|22|S|170|39|E|region:NZ_type:city|display=title}} '''Mākareao''' is a lightly populated rural locality in the [[Otago]] region of [[New Zealand]]'s [[South Island]].<ref>{{LINZ|12670||13 October 2007}}</ref> To the west is [[Dunback]] and to the south is [[Inch Valley]] and the nearest significantly populated town, [[Palmerston, New Zealand|Palmerston]].
== Economy ==
As with the surrounding area, [[agriculture]] is an important economic activity. Deposits of [[Lime (material)|lime]] are also located in Mākareao and accordingly a limeworks operates.<ref>Holcim New Zealand, [http://www.holcim.co.nz/NZ/EN/id/1610645478/mod/gnm20/page/product.html "Taylor's Lime"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014111732/http://www.holcim.co.nz/NZ/EN/id/1610645478/mod/gnm20/page/product.html |date=14 October 2008 }}, accessed 13 October 2007.</ref> In 1990, Taylor's Lime opened a new plant at Mākareao replacing one formerly operated at [[Weston, New Zealand|Weston]].<ref>[http://www.holcim.co.nz/holcimweb/gc/NZ/uploads/About%20Holcim%20poster5oxbq.pdf About Holcim – Holcim New Zealand]{{Dead link|date=March 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
== Transport ==
No major roads pass through Makareao. [[State Highway 85 (New Zealand)|State Highway 85]] passes through Dunback on the other side of the [[Shag River (Otago)|Shag River]] from Mākareao.
From 1900 until 1989, Mākareao was the terminus of a short [[branch line]] [[railway]]. On 29 August 1885, a branch had been opened to Dunback from a junction with the [[Main South Line]] in Palmerston, but to provide better access to the lime deposits, a sub-branch was built from Inch Valley to Mākareao. Together, the two lines were known as the [[Dunback and Makareao Branches]] and the Mākareao portion served solely the limeworks; it did not carry passengers or general freight. It was just under 4 km long and opened on 31 March 1900.<ref>David Leitch and Brian Scott, ''Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways'', revised edition (Wellington: Grantham House, 1998 [1995]), 88.</ref> The terminus in Mākareao was a modest affair, with just loading bins for the lime and a loop to hold 26 wagons.<ref>Patrick Dunford, [http://www.trainweb.org/enzedrail/branch/makareao/ "Dunback & Makareao Branches"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929134137/http://www.trainweb.org/enzedrail/branch/makareao/ |date=29 September 2007 }}, accessed 13 October 2007.</ref> On 1 January 1968, the Dunback portion of the branch closed and the 11 km section between Palmerston and Inch Valley operated solely to carry Mākareao lime. The demise of the line was sudden. Trains ran thrice weekly to carry the lime to a [[Dunedin]]-based cement factory, and when this factory closed in 1988, the reason for the line's existence disappeared. The line was formally closed on 1 June 1989, but railway remnants remain at the Mākareao terminus and the line's disused [[track bed|formation]] can still be seen between Mākareao and Inch Valley.<ref>Leitch and Scott, ''Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways'', 89.</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
{{Waitaki District}}
[[Category:Populated places in Otago]] [[Category:Waitaki District]]