Northcote, Auckland
Northcote (/ˈnɔːrθkoʊt/ NORTH-koat or /ˈnɔːrθkət/ NORTH-kət) (Māori: Te Onewa)[3] is a suburb of Auckland in northern New Zealand. It is situated on the North Shore, on the northern shores of Waitematā Harbour, 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) northwest of the Auckland City Centre. The suburb includes the peninsula of Northcote Point where the northern approaches to the Auckland Harbour Bridge are located, and Northcote Central, the commercial centre of Northcote. Northcote features two volcanic maars.
This article is about the Auckland suburb. For the electorate, see Northcote (New Zealand electorate). For the Christchurch suburb, see Northcote, Christchurch.
Northcote was settled by Tāmaki Māori in the 13th and 14th centuries, and Te Onewa Pā was constructed as a headland pā to protect the wider communities. Europeans settled Northcote in the 1840s, and a community developed around the ferry terminal. Early industries included the brickworks, sulfur works and orchards, and by the 1880s Northcote beaches had become local attractions. By 1908, the area had grown enough that Northcote became a borough. After the Auckland Harbour Bridge opened in 1959, Northcote Central rapidly developed, while Northcote Point became isolated.
Northcote Borough was merged into the North Shore City in 1989, which in turn merged into the Auckland "super city" in 2010. In the late 2010s and 2020s, Northcote began an urban regeneration and housing intensification project.
Etymology[edit]
Northcote is named after British Conservative politician Stafford Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh, an idea put forward by resident Major Benton.[4][5] The name that dates from 1880 when the post office and school committee decided to use the name.[6][7] The first name used for the peninsula on European maps was Rough Point, named after Captain David Rough, first harbourmaster of Auckland, in 1841.[8][4][9] In 1848 it was renamed Stokes Point, after Captain John Lort Stokes of the survey vessel HMS Acheron,[8] who named the peninsula after himself due to another location named Rough Rock near Rangitoto Island.[4] Stokes Point was the common name for the suburb until it was renamed in 1880. The name Stokes Point remains in use for the southern headland of the peninsula.[5]
Geography[edit]
Northcote is composed of two suburban areas: Northcote (aka Northcote Central) to the north,[5][16] and Northcote Point, the peninsula south of Onewa Road.[17][18] The suburb is bound by Ocean View Road and Northcote Road in the northwest, the Auckland Northern Motorway in the northeast, and Shoal Bay in the east.[5][17]
The highest point in the suburb is an 88 metres (289 ft) hill to the west on Pupuke Road,[5] referred informally by residents in the early 20th century as Clay Hill.[19] The hill is the location of the Pupuke Road Reservoir and Pump Station.[20] The southern headland of the Northcote Point peninsula is called Stokes Point.[21]
Onepoto Stream flows east through the suburb from Birkenhead, entering Shoal Bay south of Onewa Road.[22][23] Hillcrest Creek flows east through the north of Northcote, entering the Waitematā Harbour at Shoal Bay, east of the Auckland Northern Motorway.[24] Until the 1970s, the upper reaches of the creek were primarily swampland.[25] A traditional recorded name for Hillcrest Creek is Wakatatere "The Drifting Canoe", a name which recalls an incident where a tapu waka drifted into the stream at high tide.[26][27] A tributary of Hillcrest Stream, Awataha Stream, flowed through Northcote Central until the 1950s, when the stream was undergrounded. In 2019, work began to daylight the stream.[28]
Two beaches were formerly located in Northcote along the western shores of Shoal Bay: the City of Cork Beach and Sulphur Beach.[29][30] These locations were reclaimed in the 1950s, and are now located beneath the Auckland Northern Motorway.[9]
Little Shoal Bay is found to the west of Northcote Point,[31] which is the location of Halls Beach.[32]
Sport and recreation[edit]
The suburb is also home to the Northcote Tigers rugby league club, which was founded in 1910.[125] The Northcote and Birkenhead Rugby Union Club was founded 1929.[126]
Transport[edit]
Northcote is adjacent to the Auckland Northern Motorway, which runs along the east of the suburb. Auckland ferry services run by Fullers Group stop at Northcote Point, near the northern end of the Auckland Harbour Bridge.
In the year 2000, a Northern Busway station was proposed for Northcote, located on Stafford Road. This proposed station was cancelled in December 2000, after lobbying by residents, who were concerned about increased traffic and public transport in the area.[127]