Milton is a town of some 2,000 people, located on State Highway 1, 50 kilometres to the south of Dunedin in Otago. It lies on the floodplain of the Tokomairiro River, the two branches of which flow past the north and south ends of the town.
Founded as a milling town in the 1850s, there has long been dispute as to the naming of the settlement. The town's streets are named for prominent British poets, and it is possible that the town's original intended name of Milltown became shortened by association with the poet of the same name. It is equally possible, however, that the name Milton inspired the choice of poets' names for the streets.
Milton's early history was strongly affected by the discovery of gold by Gabriel Read at Gabriel's Gully close to the nearby township of Lawrence. As Milton stood close to one of the most easily accessible routes to the interior, it grew greatly during the goldrush years of the 1860s and was a major staging post for prospectors heading for the goldfields.
Today, Milton is, after Balclutha, the second largest town in South Otago. Its main economic livelihood is as a service town for the surrounding farming community, although forestry is also becoming of increasing importance.
Milton is also home to an unusual planning anomaly - the main street (Union Street) has a kink in it. Heading north on the main street the road moves a whole roadwidth to the west. The reason for the anomaly is disputed. A widely accepted view, but not the offical view, states that the road was set out by two surveyors, one moving north and the other moving south, who each set out the road to the left of their survey line. Another widely held belief is that the kink was designed to protect a large tree which formerly stood at the site where the kink is.
The farming settlement of Milburn two kilometres north of Milton, has recently been controversially chosen as the site of a new prison.
