Pioneer Road

Pioneer Road is located on the south side of the city, near Blagdon.

It extends from South Road down to Breakwater Road, near the cool stores, and this is where the city's founding vessels are said to have landed. With no harbour in which to berth, the vessels anchored offshore and surfboats were used to disembark passengers and cargo.

The passengers of the William Bryan had an idyllic arrival to their new Pacific paradise and were brought ashore using the surfboats and were safely disembarked before sunset. However, this idyllic image is shattered with the next two arrivals.

It took 42 days for passengers and belongings from the Amelia Thompson to be brought ashore. The vessel accompanying the Amelia Thompson with extra supplies, the Regina, was wrecked on the reef near to what is now Queen St. So whether the bottom of Pioneer Rd is the exact location of the first steps of our founding pioneers is not certain.

However, there is a monument on the left side of road, heading towards the sea, naming the vessels and commemorating the event.

Among the new arrivals was chief surveyor F. A. Carrington, who arrived on the Brougham, 12 February 1841. One can only wonder what his thoughts were when he first set his eyes upon the settlement which he would soon transform. In keeping with the town planning trends of the day, streets were laid out in a grid pattern. However, his early plans for the town, like the arrival of the founders, was not straightforward and Carrington was questioned over his selection of the site and there was talk of relocation of the settlement.

Nevertheless, the site was retained and the pioneer settlers took it upon themselves to develop their new home into a thriving township.

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.