Eltham buildings Just 20 km north of Hāwera, Eltham has a fascinating history and the intrigue of the pioneer buildings and vibrant murals make you stop in your tracks. The buildings are significant for their architecture and importance to Eltham’s social and economic history. Eleven of the buildings are registered as significant buildings with the NZ Historic Places Trust.
Eltham was proclaimed a town district in 1884 and on 10 October 1901 was constituted a borough, with the town hall being built in 1911. Historically, Eltham has been the most highly industrialised town (per capita) in New Zealand, this rural town being where the New Zealand dairy industry first went global.
Chinese businessman Chew Chong exported the country’s first butter from Eltham to England in 1884. He also built the first dairy factory in 1887. Today, cheese is the town’s main claim to fame with the main employer being the cheese factory. Make sure to buy something delicious for your picnic basket before heading to the lake. Eltham Municipal Building. Built in 1911, this two storeyed building houses the Eltham Borough Council with the Public Library and Reading Rooms on the upper floor. The building was designed by Architects, Rough and Duffill, and is constructed of reinforced concrete. Did you know that the basement of the present Municipal Building was used as a morgue during the 1918 influenza epidemic? Today the lower floor houses the Eltham Service Centre of the South Taranaki District Council.
The Eltham Argus came into existence in December 1897 as a biweekly paper, and in the year 1902 appeared as a daily evening paper.
Hallenstein Brothers, or ‘HB’, as almost everyone called the firm, began in 1873 when German-born merchant Bendix Hallenstein (1835-1905) established the New Zealand Clothing Factory in Dunedin to supply his stores. Most cities and towns had at least one Hallensteins shop.
Eltham’s former neoclassical-style bank, resplendent with Corinthian columns, was originally designed by Wellington architects Crichton & McKay. The old BNZ closed for business in 1998 and after a facelift has now transformed into a cool and quirky home.
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