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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Otago & Southland Provincial Districts]
Wallacetown
Wallacetown is an important agricultural and pastoral district in the electorate of Awarua and in the Wallacetown riding of the county of Southland. The township is eight miles by road from Invercargill, and thirteen miles from Riverton, with which it is connected by the main road. Winton, which is only thirteen miles from Wallacetown, is reached through the settlement of Ryal Bnsh. Wallacetown occupies a very fine site on the terrace between the Makarewa river and the Tomoporahau creek, into both sides of which there is good natural drainage. The land in the surrounding districts is in the possession of large farmers, whose freeholds range from 500 to 1,000 acres. There is also a working-men's settlement known as Wallacetown Extension, which was subdivided in 1897 into sections, averaging from five acres to ten acres. Agriculture and dairying are the chief local industries. The extensive milk-preserving works, known as Underwood, are about two miles and a-half from the township, towards the Wallacetown railway station, and give employment to a number of persons. The settlement has had a Presbyterian church for about thirty years. The original church building is now (1904) a public hall, and a new church and manse were erected in 1891. Wallacetown has also a public school, a hotel, a store, a blacksmith's shop, and a considerable number of dwellings. The population of the township at the census of 1901 was 160, in addition to thirty-seven in the neighbourhood, fifty-two on the Wallacetown road, and nineteen at Wallacetown junction; the two latter places are in the Awarua riding of the county of Southland. Wallacetown district is well served by railway stations. The one known as Wallacetown, on the Invercargill-Kingston line, is three miles from the township and five miles from Invercargill, and stands at an elevation of forty-five feet above the level of the sea. That at Ryal Bush is three miles beyond Wallacetown, on the same section of railway, and ten miles from Invercargill, and is ninety-two feet above the sea level. Wallacetown is also connected with Invercargill by a line of coaches. One of the ridings of the county of Southland is named Wallacetown, and has a population of 1,486.