Otautau Early Days:
The Land, Buildings, Surveys & Township - There have been claims made in some publications, that Otautau was founded and grew during the 1860's, in response to the Central Otago Gold Rush. During the last four years of in-depth research, I have found nothing at all to substantiate these claims, which appear to have originated in a book on the Western Southland area, been repeated in a book which touches on early Otautau history, then copied again and cited in a paper on Otautau in more modern times. However, there are no original citations or sources for this information, and no early sources were found anywhere, that verified it. While ‘The Otautau’ as it was known, definitely had its first building by 1862 – namely the Otautau Accommodation House (built on the 10acre block where the Flour Mill and later Crown Hotel were situated), it was not until 1872 that the township was surveyed. Interestingly, the original survey map shows only the Otautau Accommodation House, it