Upper Hutt City Centre: a virtual Heritage Tour

The street layout of the area between the railway station and Main Street is now substantially different from what it once was. Up until the 1960s, the main thoroughfare between the two used to be Station Street, a section of which now remains as part of dog-legged Geange Street; the rest ended up absorbed in the late 1960s by the construction of Fergusson Drive and by carparking for Woolworths (now Countdown), Upper Hutt’s first supermarket (opened 1966). In its heyday, Station Street was the site of Upper Hutt’s police station, courthouse, and Post Office, as well as several shops.   

The intersection of Main Street and what was then Station Street was an important early hub of Upper Hutt’s CBD. At its centre was the Provincial Hotel, for many decades a local landmark and Upper Hutt’s main “watering hole”. Originally established in 1876, it later burnt down before being rebuilt in 1890. This structure lasted (with modifications) until 1972, when it was demolished and replaced by a new Provincial Tavern building, before finally closing for good in 1991.

Main Street’s first store was established directly across from where the Provincial came to be, on the upper end of the Station Street corner. Originally Davis’s General Store (relocated from Fortune Lane), and later Jensen’s, this building was subsequently moved one section up Main Street. Its former site eventually became home, in 1929, to the architecturally impressive Bank of Australasia (later ANZ) building, which was demolished in 1978.

On the corner opposite stood another grand building, Upper Hutt’s fondly remembered main Post Office. Opened in 1909 and a core part of the local community for many years it too was eventually pulled down and replaced by a newer building in 1971. (This still stands, although it no longer serves as a Post Office.) Alongside it stood the Town Hall, a privately operated community space opened in 1902 for holding meetings, socials, film screenings, etc. It later became the Mayfair, one of Upper Hutt’s two cinemas. Remnants of this cinema still stand as part of the Mayfair Cafe (although it has now been incorporated behind the facade of the larger Mayfair Buildings). Next door, for most of the first half of the 20th century, was the Geange Carrying Company, Upper Hutt’s main transport firm. (This building was demolished in 1960.) These three buildings (the Post Office, the Town Hall, and Geange’s) are a recognisable feature of many early 20th century photos of Main Street.      

Hazelwoods was Upper Hutt’s premier retail establishment throughout most of the 20th century and played a major role in local community life. Originally established as a grocery by J.A. (Jimmy) Hazelwoods in 1893, it moved into a two-storey wooden building besides The Provincial in 1898. As business grew, it shifted again into a new brick building one section further up Main Street, adding another building besides this soon after. Further additions and expansions were added throughout the century, creating a substantial shopping space selling a wide range of items, including groceries, clothing, footwear, baked goods, furniture, hardware, etc. By the 1960s it had become a major department store, incorporating a tea rooms and a travel agency, and with a new distinctive exterior facade. Hazelwoods hosted numerous promotional events and its annual Christmas Parade became an Upper Hutt institution. The business finally closed in 2009. The building still stands and some of the early structure remain, most notably the distinctive facade of the building which still can be seen from the street.

After Hazelwoods vacated its second premises (the wooden two-storey building adjacent to The Provincial) in 1906, these were taken over by another general store, Benge and Pratt’s. Late in the evening on 28 March 1914 a fire broke out in this shop. Townfolk rushed in to fight the flames and rescue the goods. However, just after midnight, the building unexpectedly exploded, killing eight people, including the local constable and postmaster. (The cause of the explosion was later found to be illegally stored gelignite.) It was arguably Upper Hutt’s worst ever disaster, surpassed in terms of loss of life only be an 1858 flood in the Silverstream area that killed thirteen.

In 1974, the section of Main Street directly in front of Hazelwoods, between Russell and Geange Streets, was closed to cars and turned into a pedestrian precinct. In 1991 Council reversed this decision and opened the area to traffic again, demolishing the benches, planters and covered shelters that had stood there for over a decade-and-a-half.       

In 1846 James and Mary Brown and their children became the first European family to settle in what was to become Upper Hutt township. (The Barton family had established themselves in Trentham a few years previously.) A plaque on Main Street near the Russell Street intersection marks the site of their first homestead. Nearby lies another plaque indicating where, in 1849, James Brown set up Upper Hutt’s first business, a hotel called the Halfway House – subsequently known as The Shepherd and then, most long-lastingly, the Criterion. The building (under new ownership) ceased to operate as a hotel in the 1880s, being converted instead into shops and a dance hall, before finally being demolished in 1903.

In 1915, this spot became the site of Upper Hutt’s first motor vehicle garage, Harper’s Garage (which later became Baigent’s Motors). Directly besides it on the corner was the Benge Building, built during the 1920s. For many years this was home to the popular Red Robin Tearooms. Between 1952 and 1956 it also housed Upper Hutt’s first Public Library in its upstairs rooms. This building still stands, substantially unaltered in appearance.

On the corner opposite was the Upper Hutt Borough Council Chambers (formerly the Town Board), opened in 1912. Local politics was a lively affair during these years and the Chambers were the site of many acrimonious disputes. This was particularly the case in the late 1940s when tensions rose as Upper Hutt began to transform from a rural township into a suburban, industrial one. Angry clashes between farmers and Council over the closure of the local saleyards and the dismissal of a Town Clerk made national news and led at one stage to the Chambers being stormed and windows broken. Council moved to new offices further down Main Street in 1956 and the building was leased to the Bank of New South Wales before being eventually demolished.

The first Upper Hutt Volunteer Fire Brigade Station was located behind the Council Chambers on Russell Street.     

Wakefield Street was originally known as Rosenberg Street, after an associate of the Brown family. However its name was changed during the Second World War when the RSA, whose clubrooms were located there, objected to a possible association with Alfred Rosenberg, one of Hitler’s advisors. The Clouston Corner building, which still stands on the lower end of the intersection with Main Street, was built in 1953 on a site that had earlier been a blacksmiths. Named after Arthur Clouston, a sawmiller and well-known local personality, the building was originally a service station and workshop with an upstairs billiards saloon. It was later converted to retail premises and during the 1980s and early ‘90s, was a Farmers department store.

On the other side of Wakefield Street was St Hilda’s Anglican Church. Opened in 1910 it was originally on the outskirts of the town centre but by the 1970s Main Street had expanded to surround it with shops and other businesses, rendering it something of an anomaly. In 1979 it was relocated to a new site on Cruickshank Road and a McDonalds was constructed at this location instead.

The upper end of Main Street and the King Street area were still largely residential in character when plans were announced in 1972 for the construction of Maidstone Mall. It opened in 1974 with space for 30 to 40 shops and James Smith department store as one of its anchor tenants. In subsequent years the mall underwent several refurbishments and rebrandings, changing its name to Logan Plaza and, later, The Mall.

Even though the Main Street shops and businesses backed on to it, Queen Street was not itself part of the CBD until the late 20th century, remaining instead largely residential. From 1942, though, it was also home to a building used by the Reserve Bank for recording and destroying used banknotes (in at large furnaces at its rear). The building was later used for other Government purposes before being demolished in 1997.

For much of its existence Queen Street’s most notable feature was the saleyards situated behind the Provincial Hotel. These were regularly used by local farmers to sell their stock. However, by the mid-20th century, the yards were being regarded by the Borough Council as a health hazard and no longer appropriate for the urban suburb that Upper Hutt was transforming into. Matters came to a head in 1948 in what became known as the Battle of the Saleyards when, defying a closure notice, angry farmers drove their cattle past Council barricades to hold an illegal sale. It was, however, a last gesture of resistance to changing times, with the yards later abandond and eventually becoming a car park.

Across the road from the saleyards was Savage Crescent, which became the site of Upper Hutt’s first state houses in the 1940s. Nearby was the Dawn Garments clothing factory, an important local business during the 1960s and a significant employer of local women. Both the Dawn Garments factory and most of the Savage Crescent homes were later demolished and their land used for the Countdown supermarket opened in 2000.

Historically, the most noteworthy feature of Pine Avenue has been St Joseph’s Catholic Church, established 1863. The original church was a picturesque local landmark until pulled down in 1961 and replaced by a much larger building. The former Catholic Presbytery, in nearby Lyster Lane, was built in the early 20 ^th  century in a distinctive Neo-Georgian style and is now home to the Upper Hutt Club.

Pine Avenue was originally called Slaughterhouse Road after an abattoir located there. It took its more appealing new name from the rows of pine trees that used to line its length. Almost all of these were chopped down in the early 20 ^th  century when the street was widened. However three large redwoods survived until the late fifties when, amidst much controversy Council made the the decision to fell one of them to enable extension of the footpath. Protests to save the tree made national news but ultimately proved unsuccessful and it was eventually chopped down in front of a large crowd in July1957. One surviving tree still stands and is now around 140 years old.

The area around Gibbons and Royal Streets remained rural in character until the second half of the 20 ^th  century. A home built in the 1920s on the corner of Royal Street and what was then Main Road later served for many years as the Upper Hutt Police Station. Gibbons Street was named after a horticulturalist who once farmed most of this land down to the river. During the First World War his property was used by the Government as a Remount Depot where horses purchased from throughout the country were processed before being sent to serve overseas.  

Established in 1928, Upper Hutt Petrol Supplies stood on the corner of Main Street and Princes Street until 1967. (The site is now occupied by a cafe.) Along from this were Hercocks’ two adjacent stores selling groceries and general goods. Opened in 1940 these were later demolished in the seventies to make way for Upper Hutt’s first multi-storey office block, Astral Towers (now CBD Towers). A new courthouse for Upper Hutt was built alongside here in the 1930s before being replaced by a newer building (now closed) a few decades later. On the other side of the road, between the Princes Street and Pine Avenue intersections, a variety of other shops and businesses operated from the early decades of the 20th century, including shoe, clothing, furniture and grocery stores, a fish and chips shop and a bakery. Several of these were captured by Leo Morel in his famous 1948 streetscape when he systematically photographed down each side of Main Street.

In 1955, newly built offices for the Upper Hutt Borough Council and a new Public Library were opened at the bottom end of Main Street, on the corner with Blenheim Street. By the 1970s both the Council and the Library had moved again to the new Civic Precinct and these red-bricked buildings were taken over by the Hutt Valley Electric and Power Board, later becoming restaurants, bars and offices.