Union Street

Union Street in Merrilands was a very practical name. According to The Taranaki Daily News in September 1951, it was called that for no other reason than it was “the new street connecting Lismore Street and Mangorei Road.”

Town planners’ intentions were clear much earlier on though. An unformed roadway had been noted on survey plans as far back as the early 1900s. Back then, Turehu Street was known as Nobs Line and the future Union Street was marked on plans by a post and wire fence which continued through to Lismore Street. Progress was slow and for many years it was never more than a possible route for a new street.

In the early 1950s, in the midst of an improving economy, New Zealand experienced a housing boom. Merrilands was one of the first areas of New Plymouth to expand. A formal survey of what would become Union Street was completed in 1950 and it was named in 1951. However it wasn’t until 1953 that housing lots were sub-divided. Soon afterwards, the street was sealed and building work commenced.

Most of the original sections in the street have been sub-divided again as more intensive housing has gained favour.

The original Nobs Line never did extend further inland. However, Union Street did eventually connect Mangorei Road and Lismore streets.

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.