Lincoln is a town in the Selwyn District

Selwyn District

The Selwyn District is a predominantly rural area in central Canterbury, on the east coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is named after the Selwyn River, which is in turn named after Bishop George Selwyn, the first Anglican bishop of New Zealand who, in 1843 and 1844, travelled the length of...

 of Canterbury, New Zealand

Canterbury, New Zealand

The New Zealand region of Canterbury is mainly composed of the Canterbury Plains and the surrounding mountains. Its main city, Christchurch, hosts the main office of the Christchurch City Council, the Canterbury Regional Council - called Environment Canterbury - and the University of Canterbury.-...

. The town has a population of 2,727.

Location

It is located on the Canterbury Plains

Canterbury Plains

The Canterbury Plains are an area in New Zealand centred to the south of the city of Christchurch in the Canterbury Region. Their northern extremes are at the foot of the Hundalee Hills in the Hurunui District, and in the south they merge into the plains of North Otago beyond the Waitaki...

 to the west of Banks Peninsula

Banks Peninsula

Banks Peninsula is a peninsula of volcanic origin on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It has an area of approximately and encompasses two large harbours and many smaller bays and coves...

, 22 kilometres south of Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...

.

History

In 1862 James Edward FitzGerald

James FitzGerald

James Edward FitzGerald was a New Zealand politician. According to some historians, he should be considered the country's first Prime Minister, although a more conventional view is that neither he nor his successor should properly be given that title. He was a notable campaigner for New Zealand...

 of ‘The Springs’ subdivided some of his freehold land for the new township of Lincoln, named after the Earl of Lincoln. The site of Lincoln on the L1 River would allow for a flour mill to be build to service the growing farming district. Lincoln was laid out in a grid layout and FitzGerald named the four belts North, East, South and West and the cross streets after his own children Robert, Maurice and William. The main streets James, Edward and Gerald were names after himself.

The new township steadily grew and by 1873 Lincoln had a post office, butcher, brewers, a baker and confectioner, a storekeeper who had a hotel, a wheelwright and a carpenter, and a blacksmith. The peaceful quality of Lincoln changed with the arrival of the railway line in 1875 and the opening of the Little River line in 1886.

On 26 April 1875, a branch line

Branch line

A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line...

 railway was opened to Lincoln from a junction with the Main South Line

Main South Line

The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railroad line that runs north and south from Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the South Island to Invercargill via Dunedin...

 in Hornby

Hornby, New Zealand

Hornby is a major residential and retail suburb at the western edge of Christchurch, New Zealand.-Naming and history:Hornby was apparently named by Frederick William Delamain, who came to Christchurch from England in 1852. The name reportedly refers to Hornby-with-Farleton in Lancashire...

. This line became the Southbridge Branch. Within a few years, Lincoln became a junction itself, with the Little River Branch diverging from the Southbridge Branch in Lincoln. This branch opened to Birdling's Flat

Birdling's Flat

Birdling's Flat, originally named Poranui, is a settlement in Canterbury, New Zealand, close to the shore of Lake Ellesmere / Te Waihora.Birdling's Flat also commonly refers to the nearby pebble beach that is part of Kaitorete Spit...

 on 16 May 1882 and Little River

Little River, New Zealand

Little River is a town in New Zealand on Banks Peninsula in the Canterbury district.-Location:Little River is approximately 30 minutes drive from Akaroa on Banks Peninsula, a major South Island tourist destination, and 45 minutes drive from Christchurch. It is on State Highway 75, which links...

 itself on 11 March 1886. On 30 June 1962, Lincoln became a railway terminus when the Little River Branch and the Lincoln-Southbridge section of the Southbridge Branch were both closed. The railway did not last much longer in Lincoln, closing on 1 December 1967. Today, the Little River Rail Trail

Little River Rail Trail

The Little River Rail Trail is a cycling and walking track on Banks Peninsula in the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island.-Location:...

 is being established along the railway's old route. The Prebbleton to Lincoln leg of the route was opened on November 30, 2006. The trail is used extensively for recreation.

Educational, research institutions and amenities

Lincoln is the site of Lincoln University

Lincoln University, New Zealand

Lincoln University is a New Zealand university that was formed in 1990 when Lincoln College, Canterbury was made independent of the University of Canterbury...

 and Lincoln High School

Lincoln High School (New Zealand)

Lincoln High School is a multi-course, co-educational state secondary school in Lincoln, New Zealand. For fifty years it has served a large number of communities on the southern and western borders of Christchurch...

.

As well as the university, there is a number of other research facilities in Lincoln, including AgResearch, Institute for Plant and Food Research

New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research

Plant & Food Research is a New Zealand Crown Research Institute . The institute was formed on 1 December 2008 by merging existing CRIs HortResearch and Crop and Food Research....

, FAR (Foundation for Arable Research), and Landcare Research. Over 400 people are employed at these organisations making Lincoln a busy little country village.

Lincoln also has a maternity hospital, primary school

Lincoln Primary School

Lincoln Primary School is a co-educational school based in Lincoln, New Zealand located on the Canterbury Plains to the west of Banks Peninsula, 22 kilometers south of Christchurch...

, kindergarten, golf course, and golf range. It is also the home of the New Zealand Cricket Academy.

External links

• Christchurch-Little River Railtrail