Franklin: The Centre (12 Massey Avenue)
Pukekohe has a long association with libraries. The first library in the area was founded at Pukekohe East in 1873. The first official town library was opened on 11 August 1903 on Edinburgh Street. It held 780 books and had a reading room and lecture hall. Two years after its construction, the newly formed Town Board chose it as its meeting place. In 1913 the library came under the Pukekohe Borough Council and remained there for decades. In 1960, the building was expanded to be used as the Franklin County Council Chambers. As a consequence, the library was shifted to a new addition at the back of the facility.In 1976, a new much larger library was opened at Edinburgh Street. This solution lasted until the summer of 1992, when the library was entirely relocated in Roulston Street. A ceremony commemorating the opening of the new facility was held in June 1993. The former library building was taken over by the Franklin Bridge Club and is still held by them.On 3 July 2007, Franklin: The Centre opened to the public. This new district-funded facility combined a new public library, known originally as Bookinopolis, with the Franklin Arts Centre. The Centre includes two art galleries—New Zealand Steel Gallery and the Community Gallery—a café, gallery shop, the Pukekohe Library and Service Centre, the Franklin Local Board offices, public meeting rooms, and two businesses.From immediately outside The Centre, follow the pathway east to the adjacent white building.
War Memorial Town Hall (14-16 Massey Avenue)
After the First World War, some residents of Pukekohe supported building a memorial hospital or swimming pool, but eventually the more conventional option of a memorial gate was chosen. Their memorial was unveiled by Prime Minister William F Massey on 6 November 1921.The memorial stood on a plot of land donated by William Roulston (now Roulston War Memorial Park) to the eastern side of the railway line and included three stone pillars. The central pillar supported an inscribed marble panel with a bas-relief carving of a soldier holding a flag at half-mast; the other two with panels listing the names of the fallen.Meanwhile, the War Memorial Town Hall was opened on 4 October 1958 by Governor-General Viscount Cobham in honour of those who served and gave their lives during the Second World War. Before its erection, the site had served a military purpose during World War II, although its exact role is unclear. The hall was built in a monumental style and features a lobby, sizeable auditorium, and a concert hall. The rear also houses the RSA clubrooms as well as the local Plunket rooms.In 1980, the central memorial column of the World War I memorial was relocated to near the entrance of the War Memorial Hall. This allowed Pukekohe’s Anzac Day ceremonies to be held at one place. On 11 October 1992, a memorial stone was unveiled at the hall to commemorate 50 years since the arrival of Americans to local military camps.Curiously, the War Memorial Hall has no Roll of Honour. Instead, this is located at the Memorial Chaplet at the Pukekohe RSA Cemetery on Wellington Street. The RSA rooms behind the hall display a rather special ‘C&C Roll of Honour’, giving the names of all employees of the local firm Cooper & Curd Motors who served during the Second World War.Walk to the intersection of Massey Avenue and Edinburgh Street. Look across Massey Avenue.
Former Fire Station (27 Edinburgh Street)
The first fire service in Pukekohe was started at 1911, made up of volunteers storing their equipment in a shed near the Odd Fellows Hall on Harrington Avenue. Shortly afterwards, the brigade moved into a purpose-built structure across from the Franklin County Council Chambers. The fire shed included a 30-foot bell tower relocated from the town centre. In 1928, the bell was replaced with a siren. The current two-storey brick building was opened on 5 April 1930. It is the work of renowned Pukekohe architect John Routly, who designed it free of charge. It included accommodation for sleeping firemen when on night duty.The firefighters used a hand-operated reel until 1922, when it was replaced with a motorised reel mounted on a customised Ford Model T. This considerably improved the brigade’s performance. The vehicle also included a 25-foot-long ladder and a 300-foot-long hose. In 1936, the brigade purchased a powerful Ford V8 fire engine with a half-mile-long hose.This station served the community for many decades until the Pukekohe Fire Brigade moved to its current premises in 1982. The building was purchased by the Pukekohe Borough Council in April 1983 for $72,000. Today, it hosts the Ed Street Bar & Restaurant.Cross Edinburgh Street at the protected crossing.
Pukekohe Borough Council Chambers (22 Edinburgh Street)
The Borough of Pukekohe was established in 1912, replacing the Pukekohe Town District. Pukekohe existed as an autonomous unit within Franklin County for many years until it became the leading settlement in the new Franklin District Council in 1989. In 2010, the district council was amalgamated into the Auckland supercity. Since then, Pukekohe is now simply considered another suburb.At first, the borough council met in a room of the public library on Edinburgh Street where it had a provisional office. In 1913, as the borough took over the library and established its official premises there. Although this wasn’t meant as a permanent arrangement, the council ended up staying there for several decades. The idea of combined facilities persisted throughout the decades, with both councillors and residents being in favour of building a new structure to replace the aging facility.The idea came to fruition only after the building of the War Memorial Town Hall, when the present-day building was erected on an adjacent site once occupied by a private villa. The two buildings are part of a stylistic whole representative of local Modernism. When the council was dissolved in 1989, the building became the home of the Franklin Arts & Cultural Centre and the Franklin Historical Society. The library, meanwhile, had moved into different building in 1976, and its former site became home to the Franklin Bridge Club.The coat of arms of the Borough of Pukekohe still hangs over the main entrance, although the lettering on the façade has been modified several times along with the changing purpose of the building. Today, the sign above says Plunket, but the building remains a local community centre hosting the Franklin Historical Society and a hireable community room and kitchen.Continue walking along Wesley Street.
Wesley Methodist Church (36-42 Wesley Street)
Methodism came to Pukekohe East in 1859 and became properly established after the New Zealand Wars. Services were conducted within Methodist Circuits spanning the Franklin area. In the early days, the Methodists used Pukekohe’s Presbyterian Church before erecting their own building on 16 June 1878 near modern-day Bledisloe Park in Queen Street.When Pukekohe’s town centre moved from the Paddock Settlement around King Street, the church acquired a 5-acre site further north in Queen Street in 1883. The building itself was moved there in 1891 and physically enlarged. The old site was sold three years later and the money was used to build a porch. The vestry was built in 1918 and the classroom was enlarged in 1930. In 1941, with the development of state housing, part of the church land was sold to the government, with the request that the newly built road be named Wesley Street, after Methodism’s founder, John Wesley.The present church was opened on 25 October 1959, the foundation having been laid by Rev. G.H.R. Peterson earlier that year. This modernist structure is radically different from its wooden predecessor, which served as the new building’s Sunday School room before it was eventually demolished.Turn left and walk along Queen Street.
Pukekohe Intermediate School (44 Queen Street)
The current school you see here was founded as an intermediate school in 1966 as part of the complex known as the Pukekohe Central School buildings. The complex contained Pukekohe High School from 1921 onward, and before that, a combined primary and secondary school. The main building of the school was a brick edifice made opened on 10 February 1911, made to replace the old 1874 wooden school destroyed by fire in September 1909. That wooden school was the first purpose-built school in Pukekohe, although classes were held in other buildings before.In 1924, Pukekohe Primary School planted memorial trees to commemorate former students who gave their lives in World War I. The following year, schoolchildren put laurel wreaths at the base of each tree. Later, each tree had a memorial stone placed below it, as well as an extra stone for the late William Massey, Prime Minister and local MP. In 2006 the stones were restored and cemented outside what is now Pukekohe Intermediate School.Cross Queen Street at the crossing and turn right. Continue along Queen Street until you reach Wesley Street.
St Andrew’s Anglican Church (43 Queen Street)
The first Anglican service in Pukekohe was held on 4 May 1868, led by RevViscesimus Lush. Initially, services were held in private homes, at the Presbyterian Church, or at the nearby school. The residents had also erected a temporary building nicknamed the ‘Slab Church’ before building a proper permanent structure. The following years saw the construction of a permanent, wooden church in Wellington Street, consecrated as St Andrew’s Church on 23 April 1876 by Bishop Cowie.In 1895, St Andrew’s was moved to a newly acquired site on Queen Street, pulled by a traction engine. With the growth of Pukekohe, the church was enlarged in 1911. Two years later, local church authorities acquired land adjacent to the property, intending to use it for a new church building and vicarage. Robert Bilkey donated the funds for the Memorial Arch that stands outside the church, built in 1921. It was erected to honour locals who served and perished in World War One. It is one of the five arches of this type in Auckland and the only one made of concrete rather than stone.The foundation stone of the current brick church was laid in August 1931, including a time capsule in the foundation stone. It was designed by local architect and mayor John Routly and built by William Massey. The building was consecrated on 25 July 1933 in gratitude to peace after the Great War. This was followed by a memorial window dedicated to servicemen who fought in both world wars, installed in 1952. The pre-existing wooden church was converted into a parish hall in 1939. The hall and the adjacent Sunday School were moved to the west of the church in 1978 to make room for the new ring road.Next door, the Vicarage is single-storey brick house, an example of the transitionary period of New Zealand’s architecture. It was built in 1915 alongside the wooden church, replacing an earlier vicarage erected on another site in 1906. It is a work of the local freelance architect F.W. Mountjoy.Cross Wesley Street at the protected crossing and continue walking along Queen Street. Cross West Street at the crossng.
Seddon Memorial Lamp (2-6 Seddon Street)
The Seddon Memorial Lamp was erected in 1907 by the residents of Pukekohe in honour of Premier Richard Seddon who had died the previous year. It was placed at the middle of the intersection between King and Seddon Streets, a place called Dell’s Corner. Similar memorial lamps dedicated to Seddon still exist throughout New Zealand.In 1912, the three fitting, gas-burning lamp was converted to electricity with the introduction of electric street lighting in Pukekohe. The lamp shifted around the intersection over the years to accommodate traffic, and it was stored in Bledisloe Park for an indeterminate amount of time. In the mid-1960s, it was relocated to Roulston Park near the Pioneer Cottage, but it was later moved back to Dell’s Corner, where it was placed on the site of the former presbyterian church.Pukekohe Presbyterian Church, now located two blocks away at 30 West Street, was the first Christian establishment in the settlement when it was founded in 1863. After the end of the New Zealand Wars, the church was moved to the new town centre. A new structure designed by Robert Watt of Mitchell & Watt was built in 1898 at the corner of King, Queen, and West Streets. The wooden edifice with a bell tower had a vestry and a small hall at the rear. This structure was moved to its current location in January 1958, and the former church site became Seddon Park, in honour of the late premier. In August 1961, a new St James’ Presbyterian Church was built in the modernist style by Arnold Neale. The former church was eventually integrated into another building behind the new building and is today recognisable only by its original windows.Cross Seddon Street at the crossing and then stop and look at the building across King Street.
Perkins & Co Building (1-5 King Street)
Frank Perkins & Co was a successful general store that relocated to Pukekohe in 1908, having purchased the store from Lees and McCowen on the corner of King and Queen Streets. With time, it became a meeting place for locals because of the many facilities and products on offer. The store had a weighbridge, sold various fuels and farm supplies, hardware, seeds and grains, manures, etc. The building hosted a grocery, bake house, and drapery.In 1916, the single-level wooden shop was rebuilt as a two-storey brick building in the free classical style. The upper storey was where the Perkins lived with their seven children. This area has remained virtually unchanged since the building was erected. As one of the oldest commercial buildings in Pukekohe, the structure holds is considered a Significant Historic Heritage Place.Continue walking along King Street. At 50 King Street, stop and look at the building across the road.
Franklin Electric Power Board Building (65 King Street)
The Franklin Electric Power Board (FEPB) was formally established in 1924 after years of searching for a feasible solution to offering consistent electricity to Pukekohe residents. On 1 August 1925, the Board opened a power plant on Neilson Street as well as one in Waiuku. From this time on, electricity was rapidly introduced to homes. The Nelson Street facility, called the Borough Generating Plant, no longer exists and today this site is occupied by Miller Reserve. The year 1925 also saw the establishment of a store, offices, and garages on 99 Manukau Road. The building can still be seen today.In 1927, the FEPB decided to erect a second building on King Street. There were two design proposals, one by John Routly and another by Thomas S Cray. To this day it remains unclear whose design was chosen. The building was finished in 1928 and had an electrical appliance showroom downstairs and offices upstairs. It was the first place to sell electrically-powered products for the home. This building was occupied by the board until 1973, when they moved to Seddon Street.Continue walking along King Street. Stop at 80 King Street and look at the building across the road.
Cooper & Curd Building (89 King Street)
Cooper & Curd was Pukekohe’s best known car sales and garage company. It was founded in 1904-1905 as a partnership between blacksmith Henry Curd and coachbuilder Conrad Cooper under the name Franklin Carriage Factory. They specialised in building wagons and carriages, and eventually expanded to become a funeral directors service Their modest initial premises were initially located around 44 Edinburgh Street, but in 1907 they commissioned the building of a ‘large factory and forge’, undertaken by Faucett and Mee. This building was enlarged in 1915 to accommodate a greater production capacity.It was in 1913 that Cooper and Curd started offering motor vehicles such as Buick, Husand, and Dort, in addition to their coaches, a diversification that ensured their longevity as a business. The firm acquired this property in 1917 and converted it into a petrol station.Cooper & Curd operated in the area for 80 years, a success that made them the second-largest employer in Pukekohe. As a testament to this, the rear of the Pukekohe Town Hall contains a C&C Roll of Honour, showing the names of all Cooper & Curd employees who served during the Second World War.Cross Edinburgh Street at the crossing and continue walking along King Street.
Dilworth’s General Store (150-156 King Street)
Central Pukekohe experienced significant architectural change during the early part of the twentieth century as wooden buildings disappeared and were replaced with larger brick and concrete structures. The former Dilworth’s General Store is one of only two surviving wooden buildings in the town centre (the other being the Dell’s Saddlery building).This building was historically known as the Unity Building. James Dilworth, an Irish migrant who arrived on the Ganges, acquired the property in October 1879 and owned it until 1882. Although it passed through many other hands afterwards, his name remained attached to the structure. Over the years, it has hosted a tea shop, butchery, Farmers, and a men’s clothing store. When it functioned in the latter capacity, a clothing manufactory was established upstairs with clothes tailored to size downstairs.After selling the property, Dilworth moved to Mauku and farmed for a period of four years before returning to Pukekohe and acquiring another corner shop (later Brosnahan’s pharmacy). After two decades spent in Pukekohe, he lived some twenty years in Te Aroha and moved back to Franklin after the death of his wife. He died in 1929.Cross King Street at the crossing and enter the Pukekohe Town Centre.
Pukekohe Town Square
With the rapid growth of Pukekohe over the past fifty years and its projected population of 50,000 by 2040, it was felt by city planners that the town needed a central civic plaza. They hoped that this space would provide a venue for social activations including seasonal events, children’s activities, and public outdoor eating and sitting areas.The final result, opened in 2016, saw the northern end of Roulston Street converted into a pedestrian mall with large trees providing shade, benches and tables for eating and socialising, a playground for children, and water features. The space also includes a fence with PUKEKOHE emblazoned along its thin pipes. Eke Panuku has now begun an expansion of the project that will see further development of the remainder of Roulston Street, as well as at the adjacent Market Hall and along Graham Street.At its southern entrance, the town centre features a sign discussing Ngaati Te Ata’s relationship to the town of Pukekohe. The sign explains the Māori history of the area, early relations with Pākehā settlers, and Ngaati Te Ata’s continued claims over the land now occupied by Pukekohe.Walk to the southern end of the Pukekohe Town Centre and look at the building across Roulston Street.
Franklin Times Building (1 Roulston Street)
The first newspaper in Franklin dates to 1912, started by Richard Earnes and William Cargill. Printing was done manually and the available equipment could not satisfy the high demand. The Pukekohe and Waiuku Times ran from 1912 to 1919, changing its name to Franklin and Pukekohe Times, and then finally the Franklin Times. This name was kept until the end of publication in 1971, when it came under the South Auckland Courier.The Franklin Printing Company was founded in 1914. Next year, it purchased a site on Hall (now Roulston) Street and hired L.C.A. Potter to design the current structure. Potter had previously designed the nearby Franklin County Council building. The publishing house has a classical frontage and very elongated shape, most of it built in brick. The front part of the building with the protruding chimney is original, while the long extension behind was added later.In 1981, the building became the Pukekohe Youth Centre and continues to serve in that capacity. The building was damaged by a fire in the 1990s, but has since been restored to its original state.Return to King Street and turn right.
McClintock's Buildings (170 King Street)
In December 1921, cabinetmaker and joiner W.F. McClintock hired local architect and Pukekohe mayor John Routly to build a new store for him on King Street. The completed structure was a two-story brick building located near the intersection of Edinburgh Street. In 1925, it was adjoined to the Lodges Building. McClintock sold the business in 1931 to an apprentice and subdivided the undeveloped land around the store.The upstairs of the McClintock’s Buildings remains largely unchanged from their original configuration. It consists of three symmetrically placed double hung sash windows, with the two outer windows featuring an arched detailing with a keystone in the centre above the window. The central window is framed by a triangular pediment. Each of the three sets of windows are matching and consist of three small upper panes with three larges panes beneath.Continue walking along King Street.
Possum Bourne Memorial Statue (Massey Lane)
Peter “Possum” Bourne was a widely celebrated Pukekohe-born rally car driver who won the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship three times and the Australian Rally Championship seven consecutive times. He earned his nickname after he crashed his mother’s car while trying to avoid a possum. Bourne died on 30 April 2003 outside Wanaka while testing a new racetrack.This life-sized bronze statue of Bourne was created by Queenstown sculptor Minhal Al Halabi in 2004 and placed above the Race to the Sky track, upon which Bourne had died. The last race was held in 2007 and by 2012 there were concerns that the statue was not receiving sufficient exposure. The decision was made to relocate it to Pukekohe, Bourne’s hometown. It was installed in April 2013 at the northern end of Massey Lane. The former plinth for the statue still stands above Cardrona Valley, with a new plate noting that the statue has been moved.The short walkway between King Street and Roulston Lane has been a small greenspace in Pukekohe for several decades, with a brick path passing between well-kept trees and shrubbery. In 2020, local artists Charles and Janine Williams painted a mural of two tuī on the west wall of the walkway, giving Massey Lane a renewed vibrancy.Cross King Street at the crosswalk and turn right. Continue walking along King Street and then turn left and continue along Stadium Drive. Cross Stadium Drive at the protected crossing near Fruit World and then proceed into the park.
Pukekohe's Pioneer Cottage (9 Stadium Drive)
This mid-sized colonial-style cottage was originally built by John Martyn near the Great South Road at Ramarama in 1859. It features four rooms connected together via a long central hallway. The rooms include a kitchen, sitting room, and two bedrooms. The inside of the cottage is furnished with many original and replica items depicting early life of a European settler in Pukekohe.The cottage was removed to Roulston Park in the 1960s and opened in October 1965. It is open to the public every first and third Sunday of the month from 11 am to 3 pm, with a donation as the entry fee. The building is maintained by the Franklin Historical Society. A time capsule was installed by the historical society on 5 May 2002 and encased within a large rock situated near the cottage. This will be opened in 2052.Return to Stadium Drive and turn left. Carefully make your way across East Street at the traffic island and then walk back along Stadium Drive.
Pukekohe Train Station
The railway station at Pukekohe serves as the southern terminus of Auckland’s Southern Line passenger rail network. Beyond the station, the North Island Main Trunk line continues south to Wellington, where it serves goods trains, commuter trains to Hamilton, and the Northern Explorer excursion train. The track between Papakura and Pukekohe is currently the only section of the Southern Line not electrified, so a diesel train service shuttles passengers between the two points.The main railway line from Ōtāhuhu arrived in the Pukekohe area in 1873, but the present station only opened on 20 May 1875, at which time it exclusively serviced passengers. The arrival of the railway began a gradual transition of the town’s centre to the vicinity of the station. Pukekohe Station has been upgraded continuously throughout its long life. In the 1870s and 1880s, goods service was added and access to the station from King Street was improved. By 1902, the facility included public waiting areas with restrooms, a post office, loading bays, cattle yards, and several goods storage sheds. The station also featured several sidings and where boxcars and cattle cars could be loaded safely.Following several decades of decline, Pukekohe Station was revitalised beginning in 2014. A park and ride facility and bus interchange were added and the platforms and footbridges were replaced. During these upgrades, the 1913 railway depot was relocated to Matangi for preservation. On 13 August 2022, KiwiRail temporarily closed the station to extend the electrical infrastructure from Papakura and also upgrade various facilities. When the station reopens in late 2024, it will mean that the Southern Line’s electrical network will extend to the southernmost station of the supercity.Continue walking along Stadium Drive. Cross Manukau Road at the protected crossing and continue along Massey Avenue. Stop before crossing Roulston Street and look diagonal across Massey Avenue.
Franklin County Council Chambers (13 Massey Avenue)
Franklin County Council was established 1912, in the same year as the Parish of Pukekohe. The new council required chambers, so it purchased two adjacent lots from Mr Roulston and hired L.C.A. Potter to erect the new building. Potter settled on a neoclassical façade for the structure, which was completed in February 1914 at the corner of today’s Roulston Street and Roulston Avenue.Around 1940, the building was extended towards in the rear. The alterations were made to match the original style of the building and provided more office space, storage, and toilets. By this time, the council also had an overflow office building across Roulston Street. In 1958, a purpose-built two-storey structure was erected in its place, to which another floor was later added.In 1972, the council chambers were sold and became the seat of the accountancy firm Cooper White & Associates (now Campbell Tyson). Today, it is home to the real estate developers Signature Homes. The building across the road served as the offices of the council until its abolition in 1989. It currently offers office space to an architectural firm and insurance brokers, as well as the headquarters of the Franklin Masonic Centre.Cross Roulston Street at the protected crossing and then continue walking along Massey Avenue until returning to Franklin: The Centre.
