Domain Street, Name and History
Name: Domain
Suburb, Palmerston North Central
Henry Jackson's survey plan of 1872 shows a large gravel pit occupying the future Domain Street site, accessed by a branch tram line (see map sections 694-700). The pit was subsequently filled to enable railway extensions.
Scott’s plan in 1881 shows two acres of the railway yards reserved for a domain. Therefore, this street was intended as an access road to a domain which did not eventuate.
Domain Street was surveyed in 1881, D.P.228, sections 322 and 339, and was originally a private street.
The image is a derivative of this Palmerston North Borough map from 1923 by HR Farquar, Civil Engineer and Licensed Surveyor.
History
In August of 1884 at a Palmerston Borough Council meeting, councillor Gatton presented a petition from residents of Domain Street. It requested that the street be taken over by the council as the requirements of the Borough Engineer had been complied with. The petition was discussed at the following meeting. Councillor Hawkins opined that the residents should tidy and repair the street first. Councillor Larcomb confirmed that the street was in disrepair. Others, including councillor West, argued that the residents had been paying rates and should expect the council to maintain their street in return.
In September of 1884 a special meeting was held to pass a resolution that Domain become a public street. However, the matter was once again adjourned. The issue? The street was forty-feet wide and the Municipal Corporations Act, 1876, required public streets to be sixty-six feet wide.
This must have been resolved, as in November of 1884, Domain Street was included in the list of town streets to be metalled and formed. Street lamps, grading, a storm water outlet, sewer connections, and water tables were addressed from 1900 to 1910.
A reoccurring complaint was the state of the footpaths. As an access street directly across from the railway station, it became heavily congested (particularly on show days) and the footpaths suffered. They were regularly treated with tar and sand and received concrete curbing and channelling in 1925. It was also in 1925 that parking restrictions were made; a result of the narrow road. The tar-sealing of the street in April 1934 was welcome.
In 1940, the 28th Māori Battalion trained at the Palmerston North Showgrounds. To learn more about their time in Palmerston North, read this Memory Lane article by Tina White.
On June 21st, 1940, the Manawatū Standard reported on the 28th Māori Battalion leaving the city. Their final farewell parade left the Showgrounds, moved along Cuba Street, and marched up Domain Street to the railway station. Friends, whānau and members of the public accompanied and cheered the men on their way.
At the station hundreds of people had assembled to wish the soldiers well and watch them depart for Wellington to board troopships. The mood was quieter and more emotional. Tiger, the battalion mascot, was led up and down the platform, leaning his front paws on the window ledges of the train for final pets and farewells. You can read more about Tiger in this Back Issues article by Tracey Armstrong.
Early residents included
Mr John Lynch purchased a section allotment in Domain Street in 1883 and a house was in situ the following year. Mr J Lynch was born in County Cork Ireland in 1852 and emigrated to Aotearoa New Zealand in 1876, on the ship Inverness. He is listed as a farm labourer. On arrival he worked as a farm contractor and carpenter.
Mr John Lynch met and married a fellow immigrant, Miss Mary Hyam, in 1876, and in time they settled in the Manawatū district. The couple had eight children; Daniel b.1883, Thomas b.1886, Nora Lena b.1891, Kathleen Agnes b.1892, Mary Magdalene b.1894, John Jeremiah Patrick b.1894, Julia Bridget ‘Dolly’ b.1896, and Emily Theresa b.1898.
Mr Lynch successfully encouraged his brothers Daniel and Jeremiah, to join him in Aotearoa New Zealand. Mr Jeremiah Lynch lived with the family in Domain Street c. 1884 before moving and settling in Pohangina.
In 1887 Mr Lynch had sold the house in Domain Street and purchased a section allotment in Wood Street, at the edge of town. The house on this section was destroyed by fire the following year. By 1894 he purchased six acres of bushland on the corner of Featherston and Wood Streets and there the Lynch family made their home, initially farming in Linton and Tokomaru.
Mr Lynch retired in 1912 and moved into town. He died at 37 Grey Street, on the 3rd of March 1931, aged 79 years.
Mrs Hannah Hansen owned the property at 2 Domain Street from 1899 until her death, September 1923, aged 70 years. Mrs H Hansen was born in Ireland and emigrated to Aotearoa New Zealand, c. 1867. She first lived in Dunedin and was married to Doctor CJ Allen. He died in 1880.
Mrs CJ Allen later met and married Mr Hansen and the couple came to reside in Palmerston North. Mr Hansen predeceased her by fifteen years. She was a fruiterer with a store in Te Marae o Hine the Square from 1899 and likely resided on premises while owning and letting several properties in the township. The store was located two down from the Bank of Australasia, on the corner of Te Marae o Hine the Square and Broad Street (later Broadway Avenue). In June 1912 the business was taken over by Mrs J Anderson, and Mrs Hansen retired to Domain Street.
Mr Johannes Hansen, also known as John, was resident of 10 Domain Street from 1922. Even though he wasn’t an early resident of the street, he was an early resident of the Manawatū. The Manawatū Standard reported that on 21 Nov 1930, Mr J Hansen attended the ‘Old Identities’ lunch, catering to “pioneers and settlers, city makers and nation builders.”
He died on the 1st of February 1939, in his 95th year, at 15 Domain Road (renumbered from 10) and was interred at the Kelvin Grove Cemetery.
Early business, organisations and clubs included
In 1890, Palmerston North Methodists purchased two sections in Cuba Street and an adjoining section in Domain Street. A cottage on the Cuba Street section was moved to the Domain Street section as a residence for the minister. A small church was built on the corner section and services commenced in 1891. In August of 1910 a kindergarten was built at the rear of the church on Domain Street. The school, designed by AW Corslett, was capable of seating 150 children.
John Black, proprietor, built the Café de Paris Hotel in 1892 and it opened in 1893. He had previously been a railway contractor in the South Island and had worked on the Napier breakwater. It was in Napier that he met his wife, and the couple moved to Palmerston North. The unlicensed 22-bedroom hotel, situated on the corner of Main and Domain Streets, was ideally situated opposite the railway station. As such, it provided accommodation for boarders and travellers and a place to obtain refreshments for the latter.
The dining room, fitted with small tables, was sizable. On just one day of the A&P Show of 1893, over six hundred visitors had their luncheon in the establishment.
1893 proved an eventful year for Mr J Black. In June he was awarded a publican’s licence by the Palmerston Licensing Committee and was applauded by the public in attendance. In August, there was some excitement when a heavily disguised Whanganui Gaol escapee, George Harper, was arrested in the hotel. He had escaped from a hard-labour gang two months prior. When arrested the confidence trickster was in-the-act of trying to defraud Mr Black of money. In December, Mr W Hook of Timaru purchased the Café de Paris from Mr Black.
By February of 1895 the hotel had changed hands and was under the management of Mrs Susan Manson. Mrs Manson added further bedrooms, sitting rooms, billiard rooms and a dining room. The freehold and lease was purchased in April 1900 by the Ward Brewery Company who on-sold to Mr FJ Tasker. While the Café de Paris Hotel was in his hands, he added a billiard table and made alterations. In 1902, Mr Tasker added nine bedrooms and bathroom on the Domain Street frontage, and a balcony the full length of the building. Architect, Mr Ludolph Georg West, designed the plans.
In June of 1904, the Trasker’s sold the hotel to Mr E Woollright. In little over a year Mrs E Kennedy purchased Mr Wollright’s interest and disposed of it to Mrs Rebecca Tabor, who then transferred it to Mrs Mary Moynihan. Mrs Moynihan was licensee of Café de Paris until November 1906 when it was transferred to Mrs James Adams. She treated the hotel to a painting and refresh, with renovations being completed in June of 1908.
In September of 1912 the license was transferred to Mr John Smith Fletcher, who sold it to Mr Mark Dumbleton in January of 1916. Mr M Dumbleton renovated the hotel. Between December of 1920 to Feb of 1921 the hotel changed hands four times, from Mr Dumbleton to Mr Edmund Perkis to Mr Patrick John Purcell, to Mr Thomas Richards. Mr T Richards was well-known in trotting circles in Auckland and New Plymouth. Local newspapers show he was in trouble regularly for trading at Café de Paris outside of licensed hours. In 1923 an extension was built on the Domain Street frontage, with an opening to a courtyard.
In 1927 the license transferred between four owners, Mr Richards to Mr Henry Bodley, to Mr James Condy to Mr and Mrs F Jabez Bebbington. The Bebbington’s managed the Cafe de Paris Hotel for four years. In March of 1931, the new licensee was Mrs Florence Lucilla Mills. By June of 1935, Mrs ST Murphy was licensee, and in May of 1937 Mr William Charles Coldicutt took over the hotel. It continued to change hands throughout the years.
In 1963 the Main Street frontage was replaced.
The building was demolished in August of 2016 after significant fire damage eighteen months prior. Mr Gary Young was the owner. It had become an iconic bar in the 1980s, hosting live music from local and national acts.
Renumbering
The addresses on Domain Street were renumbered in 1939. See p.86 of the Rates Register of Street Numbers - Old and New.
