Pungarehu Road (Pungarehu)

In 1881, in response to the land disturbances of the time, a military Blockhouse was built, at a cost of £53 and using wood from Inglewood, on a hill overlooking the main road in the Pungarehu district. Before long, the small town of Pungarehu was established on its southern edge.

Pungarehu Road took its name from Pungarehu Pa. It provided access to the Blockhouse and, after the land surveys of 1880, access to the dairy farms being established towards the coast.

Gravel, used to form roads in the area, came from a pit opposite the Blockhouse. In 1905 a post office was built on the other side of the intersection. With the establishment of a nearby flax mill and the increasing number of dairy farms in the area, Pungarehu’s population grew quickly. Soon there were several stores, churches and a school on Cape Road.

In 1885 the blockhouse was handed over to the civilian police. By the 1920s it was used as a teacher’s house and today it is a private dwelling. Starting in the 1960s, houses were built on Pungarehu Road, at the foot of the Blockhouse hill.

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.

Related items:

Taranaki SO574 Sheet 1 (1889), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)

Taranaki ML600 Sheet 1 (1916), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)

Taranaki DP6681 Sheet 1 (1949), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)