Tauranga's Historic Village on 17th (Avenue)

Image: Tauranga, New Zealand, 23 April 1864, by Col. Edward Arthur Williams (1824-1898).  

From interpretive panels, Faulkner House.

One thing that gets me about Tauranga's history -- it almost always seems that it has to be teased out to be discovered, like teasing out a piece of yarn.  That's probably the reason why I enjoyed my weekend down there this year so much and have good memories. Having history served up on a platter, ready cooked, pre-seasoned; all that's left is to either savour it, or pick it apart to find the fishbones of contention. Much of Auckland's history, well-documented, still argued over, is like that.

But for some reason, Tauranga's story seems to demand that you go look for it. A real case in point is the Historic Village there.

Image: Plan of Tauranga District, 4 May 1867, by James McKay, Civil Commissioner.  

From interpretive panels, Faulkner House.

When you come up to the admin office -- you'll get a map of the village. Very cool -- but there's nothing on it to tell you about the village, how it came to be, and even which buildings are real structures inherited from the past, and which ones are mock-ups built specially to remind you of the past. Frustrating ... but I did carry on, and eventually found out kind of how things came to be. At least in summary.

Tauranga in its early days had a Mechanics Institute, much like most towns up band down the country in the 19th century -- a place where the working man could read and learn in a culture which prized learning, knowledge, and education. Some of the Institutes, because a library was at their core, spawned the public library system we know today in various places. In Tauranga, it seems (according to the panels I found at Faulkner House -- more on that later) it led to a museum. The organisers gathered a collection -- which went up in smoke when the Mechanics Institute burned in 1881. Undaunted, they gathered subscriptions and erected a replacement building, and started gathering anew.

Fast forward to 1938, when all of sudden "a collection of rare and valuable exhibits" found temporary resident in the Tauranga Town Hall which, just out of interest, also served as a part-time movie theatre.

Come World War II, however, with no permanent home found, the collection was packed up in three cases and stored away, secured into a wall at the Town Hall. It remained there until 1954 when members of the Tauranga Historical Society found references to the collection in the records, and unblocked the wall. But, down to 1969, there was still no permanent home for the collection. It was even suggested that the quest be given up, and the items sent to Auckland War Memorial Museum.

But, in that year, the Tauranga District Museum was finally established, with a facility on Hamilton Street. 900 people attended the opening on 22 August 1970. The Hamilton Street museum ran until 1976.

From 1972, plans were prepared for a historic village, depicting Tauranga between 1880 and 1920 on the 14 acre Thomas Wrigley Reserve at the western end of 17th Avenue. It finally opened 11 December 1976. It once had a tug-boat named the Taioma, displayed high and dry on land. Later, she was scuttled. Today, the Taioma is now a featured wreck off the southern side of Motiti Island.  It once had a small railway, and L508, affectionately called "Gertie". It was purchased in 1974, and remained until the museum's demise 14 years later. Today, "Gertie" is at Shantytown in Greymouth.

What happened was a decline in visitor numbers from 1990. A decision was made in 1998 to close the historic village down, with the view to building a modern museum facility -- but that has yet to happen. Meanwhile, the collection was put in storage. The village itself remained, however, with a new life as the headquarters for a number of community groups and businesses.

So, here it is -- Tauranga's Historic Village on 17th.

This Town Board and Library building is one of my favourites ...

... because it's home to the Tauranga Gem & Mineral Club, with a wonderful display area, and samples on sale to suit any budget.

Charlie Haua's Smithy -- purchased for £500 by the Tauranga Historical Society in 1969-1970 for the Tauranga District Museum.

The base of the lamp features the plaque for a foundation stone laid at King Edward VII Esplanade on 9 August 1902 by Mayor Charles Jordan.

Even a mural for me to photograph ...

Sad to say, this picturesque little church is one of the fake buildings. But the doors came from the Catholic church at Maketu.

But this, Faulkner Cottage, is one of the real ones.

I saw on the map that there was a collection of gravestones -- but alas, I was too late. They'd been removed in late 2010.

The making of Memorial Park, Avondale

I had put up an earlier post on the Memorial Park, but as with the way things go, I've needed to update it. Previously, I'd gone by what the centennial booklet put out by St Ninian's Church in 1960 said: that the park was donated to Auckland City Council in 1951. Actually, Council Archives records (ACC 219/706q) point to the land being offered to the city by the church in 1948. So, I've adjusted the previous post -- but the story, so I found while looking at the file, didn't end there.

Council minutes from 12 February 1948 refer to the offer by the Sessions Managers of St Ninians Presbyterian Church to donate an area of land at the corner of St Georges and Great North Roads (see above 2008 image). Council accepted the offer in April that year, and the Parks Department began to plan the shape of the war memorial there -- to be not more than 2 feet in height. The triangular area was to be walled with rough-faced stone on two sides (facing the two roads), and the surface grassed.

By October the City Engineer, Arthur James Dickson (from 1944), was able to advise the Town Clerk that it was expected to take £500 to develop the park. The war memorial was to consist of a spacious memorial seat or permanent construction, with plant boxes and a small terrace of pre-cast paving slabs of crushed brick. The cost of the main feature, the memorial itself, was to be borne by the RSA to an estimated sum of £100-£115. In the end, it cost them £107. All these plans and intentions were authorised by Council on 24 February 1949, but -- in July there was a sudden hitch.

This being still within the postwar era, construction projects of any size in the country had to be approved by the wartime-created Building Advisory Committee in Wellington. That committee advised that it was unable to issue a permit for the work of constructing the stone walls, seat, terracing and memorial, due to a critical material supply situation. Council had to wait until November 1949 for the concrete and steel work to finally be approved.

A quote was received in February 1950 from W G Archer, building contractors, to do the work for £1392 and 15 shillings, just over $93,000 in today's values. Work began that month, but on 20 February vandals knocked over 15 feet of the stone wall. According to the newspaper report of the time, the "wall is of fairly substantial construction and it appears that the mischief was caused by several adults."

Still, work proceeded and all was ready for April 1951. "This Memorial," the church's centennial booklet tells us, "was unveiled by Sir John Allum, then Mayor of Auckland, assisted at the ceremony by ministers of several denominations."