Tauranga Memories :Tauranga Local History

Tags: Captain James Cook sails across the Bay of Plenty in the Endeavour, Art Gallery due to open, Opening of new library at Papamoa, Mission Station at Te Papa opened by William Wade, Several flax traders operating in the area: Tapsell, Dillon, Farrow, Continued fighting amongst Maori tribes. Mission Station evacuated., Rev J.A.Wilson to Te Papa Mission Station, Rev A.N.Brown and family arrive at Te Papa Mission Station, Purchase of first block of land by Brown for CMS, Second land purchase (3000 acres), John Lees Faulkner, trader, settles at Otumoetai, Treaty signed at Maungatapu Pa by Nuka, but Tupaea (Otumoetai) refuses to sign, Roman Catholic Mission established at Otumoetai, Ernst Dieffenbach visits Te Papa, Trouble over a stolen boat. Troops on Mount Drury (Hopukiore) for 4 months, Death of Marsh Brown, son of Rev. A.N.Brown, Peace treaty between Te Arawa and Ngāiterangi. Peace stones set up at Maketu and tai, HMS Pandora’s survey of Tauranga Harbour, Death of Charlotte Brown, wife of A.N.Brown, in Auckland., First steamship enters Tauranga harbour. Name unknown., Visit of Dr Ferdinand von Hochstetter, geologist Celia Brown marries Rev John Kinder, Henry Tacy Clarke appointed Resident Magistrate at Tauranga, Archdeacon Brown marries Christina Johnston, Military occupation of Tauranga, Battle of Gate Pa, Battle of Te Ranga, Gov. George Grey takes part in formal peacemaking with Maori, Land west of Waimapu River confiscated, Rev C. Volkner murdered at Opotiki, Military settlers taking up farm and town lots, Tauranga District Lands Act legalises the confiscation, School opened in Durham Redoubt, Fear of attack by Te Kooti’s followers, Opepe massacre – 9 Tauranga men killed, Tauranga Highways District and Tauranga North Highways District Boards established, Telegraphic communication with Wellington established, Town Wharf built, Mechanics Institute (library, reading room and museum) set up, Bay of Plenty Times established, Anthony Trollope passes through Tauranga en route to the Hot Lakes, Public School opened, Rev A.N.Brown buys 17 acres from CMS, which he names The Elms, Springwell Brewery opened, Branch of Bank of New Zealand opened, Canon Charles Jordan (Holy Trinity) arrives in Tauranga, Foundation stone of wooden government building laid, First Wairoa Bridge opens, George Vesey Stewart’s Special Settlers arrive on the Carisbrooke Castle for Katikati, Greerton School opens, Victoria Wharf at foot of Harington Street completed, Work on Sulphur Works begins, Lady Jocelyn arrives with second party of Special Settlers, Population of Tauranga 793, Fire Brigade established under Asher Asher, Lady Jocelyn arrives with Te Puke settlers, Tauranga gazetted a Borough, George Vesey Stewart elected first Mayor, Population of Tauranga 1258, Hairini Bridge completed, Tauranga cheese and bacon factory opened, Death of Archdeacon A.N. Brown, Deer released by Acclimatisation Society, Tarawera Eruption, Second Tauranga primary school opened, First land sale at Mount Maunganui, Land sale at Te Puna, Population of Tauranga 1055, Phonograph heard for the first time in Tauranga, Otumoetai school opens, Te Puna school opens, A.H.Whitehouse, first person to make moving pictures in New Zealand, gives, Kinematograph show in Tauranga, First municipal lamppost erected, Population 945, Government Buildings destroyed by fire, Foundation stone for Edward VII Esplanade laid, New concrete retaining wall built along Strand, First motor car seen in Tauranga, Opening of school at Oropi, New Government Building completed, Experimental Farm established on eastern side of Cameron Road, Tauranga District High School formed, Telephone system installed with 21 subscribers, Survey of Tauranga-Waihi-Te Puke railway reaches Tauranga, Gasworks built, Faulkner’s regular ferry service to Mount begins, First sod of railway line between Mount Maunganui and Te Puke turned, First vehicles licensed, First septic tank completed, Population 1346, Tauranga Harbour Board formed, Train service Mount Maunganui to Te Puke begins, First Tauranga Hospital opened, First recorded motor car accident in Tauranga, Foundation Stone of Town Hall laid, Omanawa Falls Power Station completed, and lights turned on in borough, Public sewer installed, School at Ohauiti, School at Tauriko, Electric light turned on in Otumoetai, First bus service, First swordfish caught in Mayor Island waters, First plane to visit Tauranga - seaplane carrying Bishop Cleary, X-ray outfit for hospital, Population 2, 241, Filming of My Lady of the Cave on Mayor Island, Avro bi-plane lands on Waikareao estuary, First planting of trees on Matakana Island, Foundation stone of new hospital laid, Driving of the last rivet on the Matapihi railway bridge, First train over the bridge, Opening of Strand station, McLarens Falls Power station commissioned, Further plantings of pinus radiata on Matakana Island, Railway connection to Auckland completed, School at Pahoia, Aero and Gliding Club formed, Licensed grazing of cows on borough streets ends, Visit by aviator Kingsford-Smith, Site for airport negotiated at Whareroa, Cobalt applied as top-dressing cures bush sickness, Ladies Rest Room constructed on Spring Street, Post Office opened on the corner of Grey and Spring Streets, Airport officially opened, Airport taken over by the airforce, Kaimai road widened, Population of Tauranga 3, 910, Gas company goes into liquidation, School opens at Pyes Pa, Co-educational college opens at Hillsdene, Gate Pa added to the borough, Commercial air services re-started, Polio epidemic, Chlorination plant completed, Otumoetai East and Judea added to the borough, Committee of enquiry decides to build deep water port at Mount Maunganui, Wreck of Ranui: 22 people drown, 1 survivor, School at Tauranga South, Population of Tauranga is 7, 823, Construction of Mount Wharf begins, Yatton Park transferred to Tauranga County Council, Merivale school opened, Pillans Point school opened, First shipment of logs to Japan, Hillsdene becomes Tauranga Boys’ College, Tauranga Girls’ College established on separate site, Maungatapu and part of Hairini added to the borough, Opening of Maungatapu bridge, Opening of road bridge over Waikareao to Otumoetai, First large scale street numbering undertaken, Otumoetai West added to borough, Population 14, 150, Inaugural meeting of The Elms Trust to help preserve Mission House, Fluoride added to water supply, Greerton added to the borough., Tauranga becomes a city, First parking meters, New hospital block opens, Otumoetai College opens, Matua school opened, Work begins on Kaimai tunnel, Marineland opens at Mount Maunganui, First Friendship plane lands on newly sealed runway at airport, Sulphur Point reclamation begins, Cave-in in Kaimai Tunnel. 7 men killed, Tauranga Harbour Board becomes Bay of Plenty Harbour Board, Development of Judea industrial area begins, Bellevue school opens, R.A.Owens elected mayor of both Tauranga City and Mount Maunganui Borough, Willow Park opens (later Quality Hotel, then Hotel Armitage), Population 26, 800, Vehicle testing station opens, Te Awanui waka launched, Spring Street Mall created, First escalator in the Bay of Plenty installed in Trust bank building, Transmission of colour television from Mount Te Aroha, Traffic lights erected at Elizabeth Street – Cameron Road intersection, Unveiling of statue of Tangaroa on Stoney Point, First train through Kaimai Tunnel, Work on marina at Sulphur Point begins, Collapse of Ruahihi canal, Population of Tauranga 36, 951, Opening of Baycourt, Opening of Bayfair shopping centre, Fluoride removed from water supply, Tauranga Town Hall demolished, Tauranga Harbour Bridge completed, Bethlehem College opens, Tauranga and Mount Maunganui Councils amalgamate., Name of Tauranga City changed to Tauranga District Council., Tauranga County Council becomes the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, Bay of Plenty Harbour Board becomes Port of Tauranga Ltd, New Tauranga central library opens, Keith Clarke elected mayor of Tauranga District Council, Population 67, 333, New wharves opened at Sulphur Point, Opening of Waikareao Expressway, Masonic Hotel (built 1865) demolished, Mainstreet programmes cause major redevelopment of downtown areas at Tauranga unt Maunganui, Tauranga parking building opens on Durham Street, Oceanside Hotel at Mount Maunganui demolished for high-rise apartments, Baypark Speedway closes, Up to 30 new housing subdivisions underway, Planning to upgrade the airport to cater for international flights, Population of Tauranga 77, 775, Cinema 6 opens, Bridge Marina opens, Tahatai school opens, “Project Phoenix” rejuvenates Mount Maunganui main streets, Baywave aquatic centre opens, Papamoa shopping centre opens, Selwyn Ridge School opens, Opening of upgraded water treatment plant in Joyce Road, The Elms Mission property sold to The Elms Foundation, Cambridge Road tip closes, Maleme Street re-cycling station opens, Waikareao expressway re-named Takitimu Drive, High rise residential towers open at Mount Maunganui, Waitangi Tribunal hearings begin for Tauranga Moana, Bayfair upgrade, Airport upgrade, Holy Trinity Church burns down, Old Post Office building, Willow Street, refurbished, Tug Taioma moved from 17th Avenue and sunk near Motiti as dive reef, Te Akau ki Papamoa school opens, First Woman Mayor elected – Jan Beange, Tolls come off harbour bridge, Fraser Cove shopping centre opens, Opening of new Baypark Speedway, Aquinas College opens, Route K (toll road) opens, Population of Tauranga reaches 100, 000, Tauranga District renamed Tauranga City, Artificial surf reef approved, The Strand waterfront redevelopment wins Creative NZ Award, Papamoa Hills Regional Park opens, Devonport Towers high rise building opens, Heavy rainfall causes major slips and flooding in city in May, Edgewater Fan development completed in Tauranga, Rev.Samuel Marsden sees the Tauranga Harbour from the top of Mount Hikurangi near Waihi, Site for Mission Station at Te Papa (Tauranga) chosen by A.N.Brown and William Williams