Helensville
| Helensville | ||
| Geographical location | ||
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| Coordinates | 36 ° 41 ′ S , 174 ° 27 ′ E | |
| Region ISO | NZ-AUK | |
| Country |
 New Zealand
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| region | Auckland | |
| District | Auckland Council | |
| Ward | Rodney Ward | |
| Local foundation | 1862 | |
| Residents | 3 207 (2013) | |
| height | 10 m | |
| Post Code | 0800 | |
| Telephone code | +64 (0) 9 | |
| website | www.helensville.co.nz | |
| Photography of the place | ||
 Commercial Road (main street) in Helensville |
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| Remarks | ||
| Helensville was part of the Rodney District until October 2010 | ||
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Helensville is a small rural town in the former Rodney District on the North Island of New Zealand . Since November 2010 the city belongs to the Rodney Ward of the Auckland Council .
Origin of name
The first European settler in the area was the Scottish lumberjack John McLeod , who built his house called Helen's Villa in memory of his wife. The name was then transferred to the settlement around this building.
geography
Helensville is located around 33 km northwest of downtown Auckland , on the Kaipara River , which passes the city to the west. Helensville has access to Kaipara Harbor via the river . It is 10 km to the west coast.
history
Until the middle of the nineteenth century, the area around Helensville was characterized by an almost complete Kauri forest area. The Māori referred to the area as Te Awaroa , which means something like "The Long Path" or "The Long River Valley". Some early Māori settlements are believed to have existed in the region around Helensville .
The reason Helensville developed as a city was the emergence of the Kauri wood industry in the mid-19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century, the dairy industry became increasingly important, as fertile pastures were created on the cleared forest areas. During this time, the place also became attractive for tourists thanks to the thermal springs discovered three kilometers west of the city near Parakai .
During the boom in the wood industry, over 10,000 people lived in the city, who were busy with logging, transporting them by horse-drawn carts and forest railways, and processing the wood in sawmills. At the nearby foothills of Kaipara Harbor there was a port that was used for the delivery of goods and the removal of products from the region until the 1950s. After several ships stranded in the narrow approach to the natural harbor of the Tasman Sea , commercial use of the harbor was given up.
population
For the 2013 census, the town had 3,207 inhabitants spread over 1,194 households.
economy
Helensville is no longer a forest and dairy center, but a service center for the region around the southern part of Kaipara Harbor . The thermal springs of Parakai and the Aerodrome of Parakai are among other things attractive to visitors to the region.
Part of the population commutes regularly to work in the greater Auckland area .
Infrastructure
Road traffic
The New Zealand State Highway 16 runs through Helensville , connecting the city with parts of Auckland in the south and north to Wellsford , where it joins the New Zealand State Highway 1 .
Rail transport
Helensville is a station on the North Auckland Line that runs right through the city. The station has three tracks. Wood was still regularly loaded on one of them until 2004. There is also a locomotive shed on the site, where a shunting locomotive can be parked.
Passenger traffic from Auckland to Helensville on the line was discontinued on August 18, 1980. Since then, the route has only been used for freight traffic and occasionally for special trips. There are recent plans to extend the suburban traffic from Auckland through Veolia on the line to Waitakere to Helensville .
Shipping
The moorings on the river in the western part of the city are used for pleasure boats and smaller sailing yachts.
Education
The city is home to the Helensville Primary School , a secondary school and Kaipara College with around 700 students.
Sightseeing
Helensville Station still has its original wooden station building, which dates back to 1881, the year the line opened. The building is no longer used as a train station. Today the Ginger Crunch Station Cafe and an exhibition of historical photos about the railways in the region are located in the premises.
An original D Class No 170 steam locomotive from 1880, built by Neilson & Son , Glasgow , Scotland , has been installed next to the station building . a. to remind of the history of the railway of the place. A locomotive of the same design is in the museum in Auckland .
literature
- Geoffrey B. Churchman, Tony Hurst : The Railways Of New Zealand - A Journey Through History . 2nd Edition. HarperCollins Publishers , Wellington 2000, ISBN 0-908876-20-3 (English).
- Helensville Information Center (Ed.): Helensville . Helensville 2011 (English, online [PDF; 6.5 MB ] information brochure).
Web links
- Homepage . Helensville Information Center,accessed June 9, 2017.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b 2013 Census QuickStats about a place: Rodney Local Board Area . Statistics New Zealand , accessed on June 9, 2017 (English, StatsMap: Meshblock evaluation of the interactive map of the districts of Helensville and Helensville South ).
- ^ Helensville History . Helensville Information Center , accessed June 9, 2017 .
- ↑ Topo250 maps . Land Information New Zealand , accessed June 9, 2017 .