During his lifetime, accountant and historian George Graham (1874-1952) recorded much of the Maori history of Auckland. Graham lived near the southern end of Northcote Point in the early 1900s.Onewa Pa on the Point, as Graham described it, was in early times a fortified village, pallisaded and entrenched. Maori fished in the bays and gathered berries and roots from nearby forests. The oldest known inhabitants of the district were Ngati Tai, who in ancient times suffered severely from raids of Ngati Whatua and, in about 1650, of Ngati Paoa. Ngati Whatua then conquered the whole of the Auckland isthmus. Onewa was attacked again and again and in about 1740, the remnants of the Ngati Tai tribe were driven out. Ngati Paoa took over Onewa's Ngati Tai villages, but were driven back by Ngati Whatua. Gradually, the remnants of Ngati Tai returned in the early 19th century to their old villages at Onewa. After the musket wars of the 1820s and early 1830s, peace returned to the Auckland area. A few Ngati Tai, with their last chieftain Heteraka Takapuna, continued to live at Onewa for some years.In 1841, the North Shore was included in the vast Mahurangi block, sold by Maori to the Crown, and Onewa Pa passed from Maori ownership. Following the founding of Auckland in 1840, what is now Northcote Point was named Rough Point after Captain David Rough, Auckland's first harbour-master and superintendent of works. In 1848, the name was changed to Stokes Point by Captain J.L. Stokes of H.M. survey ship Acheron, during a survey of the Waitemata Harbour. In the 1840s, the land on Stokes Point was subdivided into eight large lots and sold in the early 1850s to Phillip Callan, brickmaker, John McGechie, farmer, Major Isaac Rhodes Cooper and Colonel Robert Wynyard. In 1867, the end of the Point was subdivided by the Crown and became the Town of Woodside. Callan had a brickworks at the southern end of Sulphur Beach, possibly from the early 1840s on the basis of an agreement with Maori. Another early colonial industry on Stokes Point was R. Clark's soap and candle works, present in 1848, reputedly near Sulphur Beach. In 1854, James Reed was given a licence to run the Stokes Point Ferry and in 1859, Callan built his North Auckland Hotel on the Point to take advantage of the ferry service and the main route north. Sulphur works were built by James Tunny and James Pond next to Sulphur Beach in 1878, but did not last long. From the 1870s, Northcote was well-known for strawberry gardens in the Belle Vue Ave area. By 1880, most of the Point had been subdivided and many of the old villas surviving today date from the 1880-1910 period. From 1848, Stokes Point was administered as part of the Hundred of Pupuke, covering all of the North Shore. The hundreds were dissolved in 1856 and until 1866, the Auckland Provincial Council administered the roads. The North Shore Highway District, which included Stokes Point, was established in 1866 and became the North Shore Riding of Waitemata County in 1876. The Stokes Point district was renamed Northcote by Major Benton in the early 1880s, it is thought after the British aristocrat Sir Stafford Northcote. Northcote attained borough status in 1908, but became part of the newly created North Shore City in 1989. The late 1920s saw significant growth in Northcote, with the cinema, bus barns and the concrete road being built in 1927, and the post office in 1929. The construction of the Auckland Harbour Bridge and motorway in the late 1950s drastically changed the Northcote Point environment. The eastern coastline was obliterated, the ferries ceased, shops closed, and the Point became something of a backwater. Rapid northward development took place and the Northcote Shopping Centre opened in December 1958.
Bridgeway Theatre
122 Queen Street
Former Post Office
Across the road on the corner of Bartley St is the former post office (115 Queen St).
Hall's Beach
Next to the Bridgeway on the southern side is Hall's Beach.
Old Butcher's Shop
Continue south along Queen St. 97, 'Korangi', 96, 'Featherstone', and 94, 'Garfield', were built by George Carter in the early 20th century. There were once many shops along Queen St. Also, Tarry's Hall, built in the 1870s, once stood at 75. Dances, gatherings, Northcote's first movies and early borough council meetings were held there. Continue along to...
Lepper's Former Shop and Post Office
A little further along is Lepper's Former Shop and Post Office (60 Queen St)
House - 59 Queen Street
Cross over the road. Opposite is 59 Queen Street.
Former Bakery
A little further along there was once an ambulance shelter, where the dead were taken on litters during the great influenza epidemic of 1918. On the northern corner of Duke St is a former bakery (55 Queen Street)
Former Billiard Saloon and RSA Clubrooms
On the corner opposite there were once stables and a blacksmiths, and later Andrew Miller's horse-bus company. Just past where Andrew Miller's was there is a Former billiard saloon and RSA Clubrooms (47-49 Queen Street)
Former Shops
Next door are former shops (43-45 Queen Street)
Northcote Tavern
A few doors along is the Northcote Tavern
Former Shops
Opposite the hotel there is a public walkway to the foreshore. Continue along Queen St into what was once the Town of Woodside
Fisherman's Wharf
The photographer William Archer Price, some of whose photos illustrate this walk, lived nearby in the early 1900s. No. 20, built in 1901, was St Hilda's Retreat, the home of Canon Davies, in the 1970s-80s. The last house on the right, known as 'Peterhouse', was built for sea captain, Matthew Slattery and his family around 1885. Walk down to the wharf. The adjacent reserve housed air raid tunnels during World War II.
Northcote Wharf
In 1856, the Crown formed Queen St and built a wharf at the southern end. Horse-buses serviced the ferries. The old wharf was pulled down in the 1960s, and the present much smaller one built.
Stokes Point and Onewa Pa
Walk up the steps opposite Fisherman's Wharf and along the coastal path to the tip of Stokes Point for spectacular views of the Waitemata Harbour.
Auckland Harbour Bridge
On Stokes Point you can see the complex substructure of the Auckland Harbour Bridge.
Quinton Villa
Facing Stokes Point reserve on the western side of the bridge is Quinton Villa.
House - 61 Princes St
Walk northwards along Princes St. To the right is a steep access road to the Gold Hole, a boat haul-out area so named because of yellow sulphur from the Sulphur Beach works that washed up on the beach. works that washed up on the beach. Continue along Princes St. All Black Kel Tremain grew up at 44 and further along, Kiwi Rugby League star Jason Lowrie grew up at 84.
Princess Park Estate
A short way along is Princess Park Estate (67 Princes Street)
Sulphur Beach
Turn right into Beach Rd leading down to Sulphur Beach, or left to return to the Bridgeway.
Former Harbour Bridge Toll Plaza Building
Turn left and walk along Sulphur Beach Rd beside early cottages, beach houses and the huge bank of land reclaimed for the motorway, until you come to Tennyson St and the Former Harbour Bridge Toll Plaza Building.
Stafford Park
The nearby tunnel goes under the motorway to the extensive Shoal Bay intertidal area. Turn left into Tennyson St, right into Alfred St, along to Nelson St and through the public walkway into Stafford Rd. Opposite is Stafford Park.
House - 12 Richmond Ave
Walk up Stafford Rd turn left into Richmond Ave, past 21 where the Bartley's 1850s house once stood. Walk along to 12 Richmond Ave.
House - 8 Richmond Ave
Two houses along on the corner is 8 Richmond Ave.
Balmoral House, Senior Citizens' Centre
Turn right into Bartley St and walk up to the corner. On the right is Balmoral House (119 Queen Street).
Antique Shop - 130 Queen St
On the corner directly opposite is and antique shop (130 Queen Street)
House - 138 Queen St
Return to the Bridgeway, or continue northwards. On the western side of the street is 138 Queen Street.
Methodist Church
Walk along to the corner of Stafford Rd.
Shops - Corner of Queen St and Stafford Rd
On the corner straight across Stafford Rd are shops.
Former Council Chambers
Cross the road into Rodney Rd. On the corner are the Former Council Chambers (corner of Queen St and Rodney Rd)
War Memorial Hall
Behind the former council chambers is the War Memorial Hall.
Masonic Lodge
Continue along until you come to the Masonic Lodge (14 Rodney Rd)
Little Shoal Bay
Walk down Council Tce into Little Shoal Bay.
Former Police Station
Walk up the walkway by the Scout den and turn right along Clarence Rd. About halfway along is the former police station (11 Clarence Rd).
