Nightcaps

Serviceable service town of Southland.

Apparently the name Nightcaps came from the observation, by early arrivals, that the nearby Takitimu Mountains appeared to have their 'nightcaps' on after the first snows of winter. The unique name stuck.

Nightcaps has a delicious Art Deco Town Hall which actually looks like a cake. And a smattering of other public services. The Railway Hotel is also decidedly Deco. An awkward street layout in the middle of town is due to roads overtaking rail as the main form of transport. The employer here is a an opencast coal mine right on the edge of town called also called 'Takitimu'.

Residents of Nightcaps and neighboring Wairio were seven times more likely to die than the general population during the 1918 Influenza pandemic. Here 45 people died per thousand, compared with the national average of five. Nobody can explain this anomaly, though at the time, the sheer isolation of these towns was considered a factor, possibly meaning that families nursed the ill in their own homes, contributing to increased infection rates, and reducing community organisation. Some people were sent to Sinclair Miners Cottage, converted briefly to a hospital and now a local heritage attraction. Also on High Street is the former Winton Courthouse, which is privately owned.

There have been studies on the issue.