Ceiling with plaster details on the 2nd floor of the Palmerston North City Library.

Creator:      Azrah Wilkinson
Place:          Palmerston North City Library - 2nd Floor
Date:          September 27, 2026

Photo of Coleman Place in spring, looking from George Street towards the former CM Ross Building on the corner and what was that building complex (before the development of the new City Library on The Square).

Creator:      Isaac Heaphy
Place:          George Street/Coleman Place
Date:          October 2, 2023

A view towards Coleman Place from George Street during spring.

The buildings feature include the Old Hallensteins Building (left), part of Norfolk House (centre), and the former CM Ross building on the corner of Coleman Place and George ...

Creator:      Isaac Heaphy
Place:          George Street/Coleman Place
Date:          October 2, 2023

A view of the Palmerston North City Library from The Square in February 2022, on an overcast day. The building site was formerly connected to commercial enterprises such as the CM Ross department store.

Creator:      Isaac Heaphy
Place:          The Square, Palmerston North
Date:          February 11, 2022

A view of the Palmerston North City Library's main entranceway from The Square. 

The PNCL was formerly known as the CM Ross building, amongst other occupants who used the building for commercial purposes. Previously, the building co...

Creator:      Isaac Heaphy
Place:          Palmerston North City Library
Date:          February 11, 2022

Plaque outlining history of the building. Description reads as follows:

"This building stands on the site of the first general store in Palmerston North, erected in 1871 by George Mathew Snelson. The site was later occupied by t...

Creator:      Isaac Heaphy
Place:          The Square, Palmerston North City Library, Palmerston North
Date:          February 11, 2022

The cover of this booklet reads, "Sir J.M. Barrie's Immortal Peter Pan being the joint presentation by the Palmerston North Operatic Society (Inc.), the Manawatu Repertory Society (Inc.) [and] the Palmerston North Little Theatre Society (Inc.) in ...

Creator:      Simon Printing Co. Ltd.
Place:          Palmerston North
Date:          1955

The C M Ross Building is seen here decorated to celebrate the coronation of King George VI in 1937. The main C M Ross Co building was built in 1927 to replace the ageing buildings used previously. This building has been owned by a variety of entit...

Creator:      Unknown
Place:          4 The Square, Palmerston North
Date:          circa 1937

N.Z. & Empire Industries Week 17th to 22nd November

Free Gift Booklet and Programme of Events No. 4394

From the cover page: "Palmerston North Celebrations to Mark the Rise of Palmerston North to City Status 1930. A Series of Entertaining Events e...

Creator:      Palmerston North City Council
Place:          Palmerston North
Date:          1930

Fourth Floor Plan of the CM Ross Building. In 1927-1928, the new department store was built, replacing the three buildings that comprised C M Ross Co. Ltd on The Square, Palmerston North.

Creator:      A R Allen & H L Hickson, Associated Architects
Date:          January 1, 1928

Skirting & Plans for the CM Ross Building. In 1927-1928 this new department store was built, replacing the three buildings that comprised C M Ross Co. Ltd on The Square, Palmerston North.

Creator:      
Place:          4 The Square, Palmerston North
Date:          January 1, 1928

The building was decorated for the visit of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, when they visited Palmerston North 6-7 January 1954. The Royal Civic dinner was held in the Rosco tearooms on the 2nd floor. C M Ross Co. Ltd ...

Creator:      Unknown
Place:          4 The Square, Palmerston North
Date:          January 1954

Japan surrendered to the allies of World War II on 15 August. Immediately schools and businesses in Palmerston North were closed and celebrations, many informal, began. A thanksgiving service was held that afternoon, followed by a victory parade t...

Creator:      Unknown
Place:          The Square, Palmerston North
Date:          August 16, 1945

Photographed by Mr Shailer from the top of the Clock Tower when it was being constructed in 1956.

Creator:      M Shailer
Place:          The Square, Palmerston North
Date:          1956

The C M Ross department store is seen here at night during its celebrations, which included a Jubilee sale, to mark 50 years of trading 1883-1933. C M Ross began operating as the 'Bon Marche', on this site in The Square in 1883.

Creator:      J E Lewis
Place:          4 The Square, Palmerston North
Date:          1933

There was a week of events to celebrate Palmerston North being granted Borough status in 1877. On Wednesday 19 March there was a depiction of the first train from Wellington arriving at the site of the original station in The Square. Here, the cro...

Creator:      Bruce Watt
Place:          The Square, Palmerston North
Date:          March 19, 1952

Taken on the same occasion as 2007n_a20_war_0003, this photograph shows the Manawatu Mounted Rifles (6th Mounted Rifles) marching through The Square. The unit has turned right from Coleman Place into The Square and is riding past the premises of C...

Creator:      Charles Allen
Place:          The Square, Palmerston North
Date:          circa 1915

This panorama shows all four quadrants of The Square and the central gardens running along the railway line. It looks west to the surrounding buildings - from the Fitzherbert Street corner around to Main Street West, to just beyond the Rangitikei ...

Creator:      Unknown
Place:          The Square, Palmerston North
Date:          circa 1940 to circa 1949

This aerial photograph shows Broadway and The Square. Note the scaffolding on the top of the T&G Building. This building was completed in 1937. The building to the left of the zebra crossing at the bottom of the frame is the Regent Theatre. The fa...

Creator:      The Dominion
Place:          Broadway Avenue, King Street and the Square, Palmerston North
Date:          circa 1937

This photograph, looking west towards Featherston Street from Rangitikei Street. On the left of the photo is a two-storey brick building erected by Bett and Bayly in 1915 and occupied in 1927 by Selwyn Motors (part of section 263). On the adjoinin...

Creator:      Unknown
Place:          Rangitikei Street, Palmerston North
Date:          1925

This image is from a series taken around 1957 that shows a view of The Square from the top of the Hopwood Clock Tower. This one looks toward the corner of Coleman Place and The Square, including the Coronation Monument. This feature was later move...

Creator:      C H James
Place:          The Square, Palmerston North
Date:          1957

This photograph looks from the top of the Australasian Temperance and General Mutual Life Assurance Society Ltd (T&G) building westwards towards Coleman Place (now Coleman Mall). Roscos Department Store is on the left and next to that is the Union...

Creator:      Unknown
Place:          Broadway Avenue, Palmerston North
Date:          1940

The Australasian Temperance and General Mutual Life Assurance Society Ltd (T&G) building in Palmerston North was designed by A and K Henderson in the distinctive 'house' style developed by the firm and constructed in 1938.

Creator:      Unknown
Place:          Broadway Avenue, Palmerston North
Date:          193X

The main C M Ross Co building was built in 1927 to replace the ageing buildings used previously. This building was subsequently owned and operated as a department store by Choyces, DIC and Arthur Barnetts. It now operates as the City Library and C...

Creator:      Unknown
Place:          4 The Square, Palmerston North
Date:          circa 1935

This photograph shows the C M Ross Co building with Christmas decorations. C M Ross, or Roscos, was one of the foremost department stores in Palmerston North. This building was constructed in 1927-1928 to replace a number of buildings on The Squar...

Creator:      Unknown
Place:          4 The Square, Palmerston North
Date:          circa 1930

C M Ross established a business in Palmerston North in 1883. A new three-storied C M Ross department store (pictured) was constucted 1927-1928, featuring large display windows on the ground floor, extensive departments, a tearooms on the 2nd floor...

Creator:      Unknown
Date:          194X

This image comes from a series of slides taken around Palmerston North in the late 1950s. Many show scenes in The Victoria Esplanade Gardens, but other areas and events around the city are also represented.

Creator:      S. A. Free
Place:          The Square, Palmerston North
Date:          195X

This photograph shoes a fine view of the display windows within the C M Ross Department Store (Rosco's). These double display windows, with arcade between were a feature of the new C M Ross store that was built in 1927-1928.

Creator:      Unknown
Place:          Palmerston North
Date:          circa 1930 to circa 1939

Looking into Coleman Place with Rosco's store and the Union Bank of Australia of the left. The Mayfair Theatre is directly ahead in George Street. Hallenstein Brothers is on the right. When widening Coleman Place, the owners of this store tried to...

Creator:      Unknown
Place:          The Square, Palmerston North
Date:          1950

This photograph looks across The Square gardens past the marble Statue of Te Awe Awe and the Band Rotunda to the west side of The Square. In the background on the left is the Commercial Hotel (1935) and on the right is Roscos Department Store (bui...

Creator:      Petch [?]
Place:          The Square, Palmerston North
Date:          1950