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St Paul's Methodist church Broadway

Object type

Image

Description: Methodist services began in Palmerston North in 1872, and by the 1890s worshippers met in both Broadway and Cuba Street. This St Pauls Methodist Church, designed by James Bennie and built in brick, was the third on the site when it was built in 1911. In 1989 the two Methodist Churches decided to unite on the Broadway site, and soon after the Methodist Worship Centre was attached to the building. it is now known as the Wesley Broadway Church. The building was demolished in 2020 because it no longer met earthquake safety standards.

Argosy Studio (Argos Industrial Photos) was a photography business owned and operated between 1950 and 1980 by Joe Greening (formerly employed by Elmar Studios). Originally located in Broadway, Argosy later moved to Cuba Street on the corner with Lombard Street.

As well as commissioned work (such as photographing the old railyards or aerial shots for the Council) Greening was known to operate as a street photographer, capturing the likenesses of passersby, offering his card with the negative number so they could buy the image if they wished. Many of these images will be in family photo albums.

A fire in 1965 destroyed many negatives in Argosy's collection but this image was one of the 400 or so survivors. Greening donated many of these surviving images to the Ian Matheson City Archives in 1989 before retiring to Kaitaia. He died in 2001.