Alexandra has a golden history dating back to the 1860s when gold was discovered and extensively mined until the 1930s. 

The town was originally known as Lower Dunstan, then Manuherikia and then the Junction. It was renamed Alexandra in 1863 after Princess Alexandra by John Aitken Connell who surveyed the town. The original orchards served the mining community, but it was around the turn of the century that orchardists realised the potential of the dry climate and fertile soil combined with the irrigation available from the mining races. As a result, orcharding expanded rapidly and is still a strong staple of the town''s economy today.

Whilst the gold that founded the town is long gone, Alexandra is thriving with new gold - viticulture and wine-making. If you love history, Alexandra is teeming with relics from its past, including mining dredges, a water wheel located outside the town''s museum and many historic buildings, railway bridges and walks