Māori history

The Panmure Basin area close to Pakuranga was a major settlement for Ngāti Pāoa in the early 19th Century

The Pakuranga area is part of the rohe of Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, who descend from the crew of the Tainui migratory waka, who visited the area around the year 1300.^[15] The mouth of the Tāmaki River was traditionally known as Te Wai ō Tāiki ("The Waters of Tāiki"), named after the Ngāi Tai ancestor Tāiki. Tāiki settled with his followers along the eastern shores of the Tāmaki River, alongside the descendants of Huiārangi of the early iwi Te Tini ō Maruiwi.^[16] The upper reaches of the river near modern Pakuranga is traditionally known as Te Wai Mokoia, referring to Mokoikahikuwaru, a protector taniwha of the Tainui waka who is described in legends as taking up residence at the Panmure Basin.^[7]

Ngāi Tai created extensive cultivations along the eastern shores of the Tāmaki River.^[15] Ōhuiarangi / Pigeon Mountain was an important pā site for Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, named after ancestress Huiārangi, daughter of Tāmaki of Te Tini ō Maruiwi.^[15] The slopes of the mountain and surrounding areas were home to stonefield gardens, and the mountain was an important location for snaring kererū.^[15] In approximately the first half of the 18th century, Ngāriki, a rangatira of Ngāi Tai, built a fortified pā at Te Naupata (Musick Point), the headland at the end of the peninsula, called Te Waiārohia (a shortening of Te Waiārohia ō Ngāriki).^[16][17] The followers of Ngāriki also settled at the Ōhuiarangi pā.^[9]

By the mid-18th century, Ngāti Pāoa, a Hauraki Gulf tribe with close relationships to Ngāi Tai, established themselves on the western shores of the river at Panmure, at Mokoia pā and a kāinga called Mauināina.^[18][19] By the time missionaries Samuel Marsden and John Gare Butler visited the isthmus in 1820, there were thousands of inhabitants living along the shores of the Tāmaki River at Mokoia.^[20]

During the Musket Wars in the 1820s, Mokoia pā and Mauināina were attacked by a Ngāpuhi taua (war party), devastating the settlement. The wider area was evacuated by Ngāti Pāoa and Ngāi Tai,^[6][21] with most members of Ngāi Tai fleeing to the Waikato for temporary refuge during this time. When English missionary William Thomas Fairburn visited the area in 1833, it was mostly unoccupied.^[22] The land at Mokoia and Mauināina pā became tapu for Ngāti Pāoa due to the large number of deaths, and was not resettled.^[19]

In 1836, William Thomas Fairburn brokered a land sale between Tāmaki Māori chiefs covering the majority of modern-day South Auckland, East Auckland and the Pōhutukawa Coast.^[23] The sale was envisioned as a way to end hostilities in the area, but it is unclear what the chiefs understood or consented to. Māori continued to live in the area, unchanged by this sale.^[24] In 1854 when Fairburn's purchase was investigated by the New Zealand Land Commission, a Ngāi Tai reserve was created around the Wairoa River and Umupuia areas, and as a part of the agreement, members of Ngāi Tai agreed to leave their traditional settlements to the west.^[25][22]

European settlement

Lthograph of the first Panmure Bridge in 1867

The Pakuranga area was sold by Government auction in 1843.^[26] Much of the area was farmed by Hemi Pepene, a Ngāpuhi orphan who grew up at the Paihia Mission Station and was taken care of by the Fairburns,^[26] and by Joseph Hargreaves, who bought 82 acres in 1843 and constructed the first European house in Pakuranga.^[27] In 1847, Howick was established as a defensive outpost for Auckland, by fencibles (retired British Army soldiers) and their families.^[28] The first ferry services across the river to Panmure began in 1850.^[29] Many of the first European farmers in the area were fencibles from Howick,^[11] such as brothers Robert and Thomas Every Maclean in 1851 who developed extensive livestock farms,^[30] and Patrick and Ann Fitzpatrick who bought land in 1852.^[27] By the mid-1860s, wheat became the most significant crop in the area.^[31]

In September 1863 during the Invasion of the Waikato, the Ngāi Tai village of Ōtau near Clevedon was attacked by the British army, and the village was evacuated, with people moving to communities at the river's mouth. While Māori of South Auckland such as Te Ākitai Waiohua were forced to leave, Ngāi Tai were designated as a "friendly" people by the Crown, and remained neutral in the fighting.^[16][32] After the Native Lands Act of 1865, the Native Land Court confiscated many Ngāi Tai lands. The remaining land was individuated, slowly sold on to European farmers.^[16][15]

Pakuranga became more accessible after the opening of the Panmure Bridge, connecting Pakuranga to Panmure across the Tāmaki River in 1865.^[33] In the same year, the capital of New Zealand was moved from Auckland to Wellington, causing major financial problems for the area as land prices plummeted and demand for butter dropped.^[34] In 1869, Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (the Duke of Edinburgh) visited New Zealand, spending a month living at Pakuranga.^[35]

In 1874, the Pakuranga Hunt was established, and by 1900 had become one of the largest social clubs in Auckland. The Hunt was based in East Tāmaki, organising hare hunts and county balls for the wider area. The name Pakuranga became synonymous with the hunt, and by 1960 the hunt had relocated south to Karaka.^[36]

By the latter 19th Century, Pakuranga developed into an area similar to the English countryside, dominated by poplar, oak and willow trees.^[37] Over time, the wheat fields were gradually replaced with dairy farms, which dominated the area until the 1940s.^[31] The Pakuranga Hall was opened in 1921,^[37]

Suburbanisation

Aerial view of Pakuranga in 1961, when the area was predominantly farmland

Aerial view of Pakuranga in 1969, during the widespread construction of suburban housing developments

In the 1930s, the road to Howick was concreted, improving transport times for milk to Auckland, and for passengers into the area.^[33] In 1948, Pakuranga was considered as a potential site for the new international airport, which eventually opened in Māngere.^[38] Land in Pakuranga was subdivided into housing from the 1950s, and the Manukau County Council planned to leave a green belt separating Pakuranga from Howick, however lost a court case with a farmer who planned to subdivide his land.^[38] By 1956, the area had grown in size enough that the Pakuranga County Town was established within Manukau County.^[14] A new Panmure Bridge facilitated further growth after its construction in 1959.^[33][39]

In 1965, the Pakuranga Town Centre (now known as Pakuranga Plaza) was officially opened.^[40] It was the second modern American-style mall constructed in Auckland, and incorporated a number of major stores, such as Farmers and a George Court department store.^[41] By the mid-1970s, Pakuranga developed an image as a stereotypical location for busy housewives. The area acquired the nicknames "Nappy Valley" and "Vim Valley", the latter referring to a popular advertisement for the cleaning product Vim, that featured Pakuranga housewives.^[42][43]

The Pakuranga Community Hall was opened in 1975,^[44] and in 1981 Lloyd Elsmore Park, a multi-purpose urban park, sporting facility and home to the Howick Historical Village, was officially opened.^[45]

The Eastern Busway, a project to link Botany to Panmure by rapid transport, began construction in 2019.^[46] The busway opened to Pakuranga in 2021, with the entire project scheduled to open by the mid-2020s.^[47]

Pakuranga Plaza

Pakuranga Plaza was established in 1965.^[51] It covers 28,000 m² with 1400 carparks.^[52] The plaza has 70 retailers, including Farmers, Countdown and The Warehouse.^[53]

Museums

Howick Historical Village is a recreation of a 19th century European settler village.^[54][55] It opened to the public in 1997.^[56]

Te Tuhi, (previously known as Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts), an art gallery, opened in 1975.^[57][58][59]