of irrigation enabled cropping and increased stock-carrying, and led the way for later investments in irrigation in the district. Cameron was also a pioneer for the frozen meat export industry. The Mount Hutt Road Board office was completed in 1879. Despite the depression of the 1880s and 1890s, the Methven library was built in 1883. The Anglican church was built in 1880 and the Catholic church in 1888. The population of Methven town was 300 people in 1902. Methven contributed troops to the First World War with 69 of them losing their lives. In the 1920s Methven slowly changed from having livery stables and smithies to garages and engineering firms to service cars and farm machinery. The 1920s also saw the arrival in Methven of companies such as Dalgety's and Wright Stevenson and Co. Trucking firms also aimed to compete with the railways to ship farm goods such as wool to the ports. Electricity also arrived around this time. The farm labourers who working on the local farms often resided in Methven or came to Methven to socialize after work. Farm labourers frequented the grocery stores, clothing retailer, pubs, billiard halls, brothels, and boarding houses that were present in Methven in the early days of the town. The Methven branch railway line closed in 1976. For the first 100 years of Methven's existence, its primary role was that of servicing the needs of farmers and farm labour. Methven expanded dramatically in 2021 with over three hundred residential sections sold. This is expected to lead to an increase in the population to 2411 people by 2023. The population was expected to climb to this number in the year 2048 according to Ashburton District Council projections. Governance Methven is part of the Rangitata electorate. The Ashburton District Council is responsible for providing local government services to Methven. Demographics Methven is described by Statistics New Zealand as a small urban area, and covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2. Methven had a population of 1,779 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 60 people (3.5%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 375 people (26.7%) since the 2006 census. There were 723 households. There were 906 males and 873 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.04 males per female. Almost 50% of Methven residents are married and a further 33.7%