DescriptionSawmilling began in the Clutha District both to clear land for agricultural development as well as to supply timber for building a fledgling country. In areas such as the Catlins and Tapanui district employment in sawmills drew large populations and many settlements popped up to service sawmilling communities. The need to transport the timber supply from the mills to both domestic and international markets drove the push for railways into otherwise very isolated locations further boosting the population with construction workers and later railway employees. Sawmilling boomed in South Otago from the 1880s, however struggled throughout the Great Depression. The Savage governments state housing scheme in the late 1930s saw a renewed boost to the sawmilling industry in the area with a lot of timber required for the massive production of community housing. However, by the mid-1940s this had begun to dwindle. The closure of the railways in the 1970s sealed the fate of the sawmills of the past, however a sprinkle of sawmills continue to operate in the district.
