History > European History
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European History
European History
Henderson is named after Thomas Henderson, an early settler who established the timber mill industry in the area. He and partner John McFarlane also established the brickyard industry on the banks of the Whau and Henderson Creeks in Glendene as well as on Te Atatu Peninsula. The Auckland Brick Co. was located on Te Atatu Peninsula pre 1900.
The only European family in the area in the first instance was the Baillie family (Crawford and Ann Baillie), who had very close relations with the Maori chief; closely followed by the Shaws.
Early European settlers to the area included the Pauling family who purchased two blocks of land on the Peninsula between 1902 and 1904. The land was purchased for 10 pounds per acre and was used for farming. The Paulings grew a variety of crops including root vegetables, oats, tomatoes and tobacco. As the soil was prepared for planting, the kauri gum that surfaced was collected, cleaned and sold.
Henderson Creek to the West of Te Atatu Peninsula was used to float kauri logs to where they were loaded onto barges at Taikata.
The first store in the area was opened in 1920 and was located on the corner of Taikata and Te Atatu Road.
Te Atatu School was opened in 1907.
There are historic gun emplacements located on Gunner Drive in the Harbour View Estate residential subdivision. These were constructed during World War II as protection against potential invasion by Japanese forces. The emplacements now form part of a reserve area.
Until the construction of the motorway in 1956, travel to the Peninsula had been by motor launch to Auckland or a muddy track to Henderson or New Lynn. A muddy track provided access to the Peninsula from Glendene corner.
The eastern shore area was identified as a possible deep-water port location by the Auckland Port Authority in 1958 and land acquired for this purpose. The building of the Auckland Harbour Bridge voided the project, which potentially could have changed the way the peninsula developed.
Te Atatu Peninsula experienced explosive growth after the new northwestern motorway was opened in 1956. The peninsula is dominated by houses built between 1945 and the 1960s, generally on lots of 600-800m². The housing style on the peninsula is associated with “Group” houses, typically built of wood with low pitched roofs. Much of the peninsula retains this character to the present time. With the construction of the motorway the population increased from barely 1,000 in 1950 to 8,000 in 1961, and 15,000 in 1970.
In 1962 the Te Atatu Ratepayers Association sought to align themselves with Auckland City through amalgamation as security against the scenario that the City of Waitakere would not be formed. The scheme to turn Waitakere into a city was aborted in 1964 with lack of elector support.
Latterly the peninsula has come under some development pressure with new areas of more upmarket intensive housing being developed along the coastal fringe, particularly the eastern shoreline with views across the harbour to the Central Business District. Much of the shoreline is given over to Reserve with wetlands and walking paths.
Vegetation
Historically the peninsula was covered in a variety of vegetation types with a large portion of kauri podocarp forest. The northern tip of the peninsula was a mangrove environment and remains so today.
The Waitakere District Plan identifies the some vegetation types of the peninsula as Coastal glasswort-shore pimpernel herbfield and Leptocarpus rushland mangrove scrub in intertidal areas. The peninsula is located within the Tamaki Ecological District. The mangrove area at the northern end of the Peninsula is identified as being ‘Outstanding Vegetation’ in the Policy section of the District Plan.
Geological
The Peninsula is identified in the Policy Section of the District Plan as being of gentle slope with alluvial terraces. A strip of land to the east of the Peninsula is identified as comprising high fertility soils. The clay soils of the area were also used in pipe and brick manufacture.
Fauna
The Waitakere City District Plan - Policy Section identifies the Te Atatu Peninsula as containing bird habitat for estuarine swamp birds, particularly the wetland coastal areas. The mangrove area on the western side of the Peninsula is also identified in the Policy section of the District Plan as containing ‘Outstanding Fauna’ including Pukeko and Fernbird.
(Source: www.waitakere.govt.nz)
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