Teed's Building, 56 Devon Street West (1898)

In November 1898 the chemists, Teed & Co, moved into this building on Devon Street West. The two-storey building was designed by Frank Messenger and built by Boon Bros. The sub-contractors were N. Hooker (masonry), Smart (plumbing) and Cleland (painting).

The entry for the building in the 1995 CBD Heritage Study describes it as "a well scaled building, interesting in its detail which includes a notable piece of sculpture in the head on the party wall".

A photograph of the building taken by Fred Butler in 1939 (ARC2013-1426) suggests only eastern half the building was occupied by Teeds, the remainder being used by other businesses.

In the late 1960s Teeds expanded into the western portion of the building by partly demolishing an interior partition. The upper floors were also joined together with the installation of an enclosed ramp. Like many other CBD businesses Teeds was subject to frequent flooding (basement) due to the Mangaotuku Stream overflowing. This was remedied when the Mangaotuku was diverted to an outfall at the foot of Queen Street. 

Neither the Teeds name, nor the chemist business, are now associated with the building.

Related items:

Town Section 647, Taranaki Land Deed Index I1 Page 319 and I1 Page 47. (Archives New Zealand)

Taranaki DP103 Sheet 1 (1883), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)

Taranaki DP 1154 Sheet 1 (1898), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)

Taranaki Lots 3 & 4) DP1256 Sheet 1 (1898), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)

Unseeing eyes, (Taranaki Herald 26 August 1958)

Teeds advertisement, (100 Years in Local Government Centennial 1976)