Nature Coast History
We invite you to step back in time and learn about the history that helped the Nature Coast the region it is today. Rich in both Maori and European history the nature coast Kapiti – Horowhenua has some amazing history from whaling stations on Kapiti Island to the history that surrounds Lake Horowhenua.
The History of the Horowhenua District
The Ngati Toa people migrated south from the Waikato in the early 1820s and their famous Chief Te Rauparaha established his first pa in the district at Waikawa in 1844.
In 1848, Rev James Duncan established his Presbyterian Mission at what was later to become the town of Foxton.
French missionaries and priests were also active in Horowhenua, setting up many practical forms of help for Maori such as flour mills. After the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, land was subdivided by the government for settlement and an overland route, making use of the beaches, was established between Wellington and Wanganui.
In 1869, the first flaxmill was opened in Foxton by James Pownall. The surrounding swamplands were harvested for their flax and a new wharf was built at Foxton's deep water port in 1871 to handle the trade. A wooden tramway was built in 1873 to Palmerston North and in 1876 this was converted into a railway.
In the south of the district, Swainson and Bevan established an engineering, blacksmith and coach-building industry at Manakau, employing over 100 people in the 1890s. Other industry in the area at the turn of the century included sawmills, flaxmills, and dairy factories.
This information is courtesy of the Horowhenua District Council. For more click here
The History of the Kapiti Coast
Māori chief Te Rauparaha established a base on Kapiti Island, and from this position, he was able to launch attacks on other tribes during the Musket Wars of the early 1800s. Around this time, Europeans began whaling in the area, and on 16 October 1839, William Wakefield of the New Zealand Company arrived in the Kapiti region to purchase land for permanent European settlement. Te Rauparaha sold him land in the Nelson and Golden Bay area.
European settlement of the Kapiti Coast only took place on a significant scale after the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company (WMR) opened its railway line from Wellington to Longburn, just south of Palmerston North. The line was opened in 1886, with the final spike driven in on the Kapiti Coast at Otaihanga. Paekakariki was quickly established as a significant steam locomotive depot due to the need to swap locomotives at the location; powerful, heavy locomotives were required to handle trains over the rugged section from Wellington Paekakariki, while lighter, faster locomotives were more suited to the relatively flat terrtain north of Paekakariki. In 1908, the WMR was purchased by the New Zealand Railways Department, who incorporated the line into the North Island Main Trunk Railway.
In June 1940, the Wellington-Paekakariki section was electrified as electric locomotives provided better motive power. This meant trains would swap from steam (and later diesel-electric) to electric traction in Paekakariki and it retained its status as a significant locomotive depot. It also became the northern terminus of the Wellington commuter railway network until 8 May 1983, when it was extended to Paraparaumu, its current terminus.
During World War II, Queen Elizabeth Park - a large tract of parkland between Raumati South and Paekakariki - was the location of two United States Army and Marines camps, McKay and Russell. US troops were stationed at the camps in 1942-44 prior to being sent into combat in the Pacific Ocean theatre.
After World War II, Wellington's Rongotai Airport was closed due to safety reasons in 1947 and Paraparaumu Airport became the main airport for the Wellington Region. In 1949, it was New Zealand's busiest airport and helped to stimulate growth on the Kapiti Coast. The Wellington International Airport was opened in 1959 and Paraparaumu Airport never regained its status, with some of its land sold for residential development in the 1990s and 2000. It is now primarily used for minor commercial activity such as that of airline Air2there and for private and hobby flights.
For More history on the Kapiti Coast District click here.