More Info →Awapuni Metal Pit

This gravel pit was situated in Maxwell's Line between the Awapuni Hospital and Racecourse Road. The area was vested in the Palmerston North Road Board by NZ Gazette of 24/12/1884 (p 1742) 'in trust as a gravel pit'. Ownership transferred to the newly formed Kairanga County Council in 1901. In 1911, the Kairanga County Council granted 10 of the original 33 acres to the Palmerston North Hospital Board for the purpose of erecting a hospital. The land was taken into the city by boundary changes recorded in the NZ Gazette 1/4/71 (p 584). Three of the men are identified: Far left, Mr Jack Findlay, the driver of the traction engine; Third from right, sitting, Mr J N Christensen (donor's father); Far right, sitting on elevator frame, Mr Charlie Berquist.