Tapanui was proclaimed a borough in 1876 under the municipal ordinance of the Provincial Government of Otago, and Mr. John McKellar, of Brooksdale station, was elected the first Mayor. The township is on the Waipahi-Heriot branch railway, ninety-seven miles from Dunedin, and is about one mile from the railway station. It is situated in the county of Tuapeka and in the Clutha electorate, and has a population of about 500 persons. There is a magnificent water supply conducted by pipes throughout the township. The Presbyterian, Anglican, Wesleyan, and Roman Catholic churches, and the Salvation Army have places of worship. Tapanui also has branches of the Bank of New-Zealand and National Bank, a post and telegraph office, district high school, magistrate's and warden's court, police station, town hall and library, an Athe- page 757 nseum, a Masonic lodge, and hotels. The site of the township was originally dense bush, and it owed its origin to the sawmills, but the timber has now been worked out, and the township is supported entirely by the agricultural and pastoral industries. Tapanui is a favourite resort for deer-stalkers in the season. The Blue Mountains are in the neighbourhood, and their scenery, and that of the surrounding country, cannot be surpassed in Otago. Anglers find capital trout in the Pomahaka and Waipahi. The “Tapanui Courier,” a well-conducted journal, is published in the town.

The Borough Of Tapanui has an area of 126 acres and a population of 500. The annual rateable value of the borough is £2.121, on which there is a general rate of Is 9d in the pound. Mr. David Murray is Mayor, and the councillors for 1904 are: Messrs Patrick McCann, Thomas Brownlie, John Liddell Wylie, Augustus Munyard, John Fleming, George Troupe Dawson, Peter Hay, John Crawford, and Alexander Mason. Mr. William Sinclair is Town Clerk and Treasurer.

His Worship The Mayor, Mr. David Murray , was born in Lanarkshire, Scotland, in 1864, and is the eldest son of the late Mr. David Murray of the Thames, Auckland. He received his education at public schools and in 1878 was apprenticed to the blacksmith's trade at Lawrence. After working as a journeyman for several years, during which time he acted as manager for Mr. J. B. McAlister of Papanui for ten years, he joined the latter's son in business, but has now (1904) retired. Mr. Murray was married in 1889 to Catherine, daughter of Mr. John Campbell, of Clinton.