Buildings

Butcher Shop at 533 Blockhouse Bay Road

Butcher Shop at 533 Blockhouse Bay Road Changes coming in our village mainstreet. The building at 533 Bockhouse Bay Road is due for demolition, because the old original building was moving on its foundations, and it will be replaced with a new shop, and apartments. In about 1930, No. 533 was a purpose built butchers shop. It had sawdust on the floor, a huge wooden butcher chopping block, a rail on which carcasses were hung, as well as a cool room at the rear.

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Blockhouse Bay library

Blockhouse Bay library (Adapted from a talk given by Keith Rusden (President of the Blockhouse Bay Historical Society), at the Blockhouse Bay Library on the 10th Anniversary of the official opening of the library, 25 February 2005.) The Blockhouse Bay library on its 10th anniversary in 2005 Blockhouse Bay for many years was served by a Mobile Library which visited the area two days a week, Local residents were not happy, however, complaining that it could not supply a wide enough range of reading material.

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Four Square Store

Blockhouse Bay Grocery and General Store opened c.1917 Talk by Frances Winchcombe Booker, 1 December 2004 Introduction: From 1917 to 1922 the Store was owned by Percy Fowler, followed by L. & W. Wood; then in 1924 Mr Simons, followed by Mr Walters; 1927 to 1938 it was owned by the McMurray family; and 1943 to 1952 by W. G. Winchcombe & Co. In 1938 McMurray built and moved into a brand new brick building on the corner of Blockhouse Bay Road and Kinross Street, which consisted of a huge storage basement, a very large shop with living accommodation at the rear, and five bedrooms and bathroom upstairs.

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The Whau Blockhouse

The Whau Blockhouse (Adapted from a talk given by Keith Rusden (Blockhouse Bay Historical Society), at the Blockhouse Bay Library during Heritage Week, on 7 September 2004.) The building which eventually gave our marine suburb its name was constructed in 1860. At this time the Land War in Taranaki was escalating and there were fears it would spread north and so a defence system for Auckland was actioned. Colonel Thomas Mould of the Royal Engineers was charged with planning the location and type of defence system needed.

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Pine Ridge — the story of an old house

Pine Ridge — the story of an old house The story of an old house, presented to the meeting of Blockhouse Bay Historical Group on Wednesday, 4 August 2004, by Eileen (Eades) Rusden We have been extremely fortunate to trace the history of a house and the families which lived in it, from 1888 to the present day. As to be expected, it has sustained extensive structural alterations in the course of over 100 years, as it was altered to sustain the lifestyles of the families.

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Armanasco House

Armanasco House — the historic home on the Village Green The historic house on the Village Green was built by Stefano and Maria Armanasco, early settlers in Blockhouse Bay. The house was built circa 1890 on their farm facing onto Wynyard Road (now Blockhouse Bay Road), just down from the Medical Centre at 497 Blockhouse Bay Road. Photo of the original home without its verandah The Armanasco family outside the front of the house on its original site on Wynyard Road, before the verandah was added

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Auckland City Heritage Listings

Auckland City Heritage Listings The following places have been given Heritage Listing under the Auckland City District Plan, Isthmus section. Green Bay Mission Hall (1970 Baptist Church). Blockhouse Bay beach sea wall. Paice House, built 1889. 75 Endeavour Stret (access from the beach) but now access from 11b Taunton Terrace.

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The Blockhouse Bay Grocery and Tearooms

The Blockhouse Bay Grocery and Tearooms Alfred (Fred) and Margarette (Daisy) Thom lived in Folke Street, New Lynn, with their family and Daisy’s widowed mother. The children attended New Lynn Primary School and the whole family participated in the New Lynn community life, with Fred serving on the New Lynn Town Board. However, they spent every free minute over at Blockhouse Bay, fishing, swimming, picnicking and camping in the summer holidays and on long weekends when the weather permitted.

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The Dunny at Armanasco House

The Dunny at Armanasco House Armanasco House Dunny Photo of the dunny at Armanasco House When Stephano built in 1890, no pioneer house was complete without its little outhouse out the back. At that time they would have had a long drop, but later the night cart man called around the Bay in the night hours to empty the can. Keith has built a kauri board and battern thunderbox/dunny/privy/long drop, call it what you will, complete with the standard interior furnishings of kerosene lamp hanging on a nail, a coat hook, the bottle of Jeyes Fluid and, of course, the Weekly News neatly cut into squares and hanging on the wall.

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The First Shop

The first shop The very first shop in the district opened, not in the “Mainstreet”, but at the foot of Endeavour Street in 1912. In those days the street was completely undeveloped and was just a track winding down through the scrub to the beach. The creek at the bottom, where the pumping station used to stand, was then crossed by a log in place of a bridge. The log was later replaced with a black plank bridge.

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