Picure taken from Ihakara gardens looking east (towards hills).

This cemetery, the oldest used by Europeans in the Manawatu, is one of the few reminders of Te Awahou Village. The graves, marked and unmarked, are those of noteworthy Maoris and Europeans. The gardens are symbolic of the peaceful relations that have existed between Maori and Pakeha in the Manawatu - both races lie buried in ground given to the citizens of Foxton by the Maori people.

This reads:

WHYTE'S HOTEL

Est. 1876.

Rebuilt by F.S. Easton 1919-20.

The Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 14698, 2 September 1918 reported the fire which destroyed Whyte's Hotel, Foxton.

Whyte's Hotel, a wooden building, was totally destroyed by fire on Saturday evening.

The fire spread to the adjoining brick building occupied by Barr, draper, Wanklyn's billiard rooms, Wall's bakery, and the Teviotdale.

This building, with the exception of Wall's bakery, was totally destroyed. Both buildings were owned by F. S. Easton.

There was no insurance on the brick building. The insurance on the hotel was £2000 and on the contents £1340.

Barr's stock was insured for £2100, Wanklyn's for £350, and the Teviotdale £150.

This plaque reads:

PHOTOGRAPH: Main Street c 1922. The Memorial to Fallen Soldiers is in place but the water tower is not. The new Ihakara Gardens fence is still to be built but note there is no sign of the marked burial plots of the 1878 photos.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: The early 1920s saw several changes at the northern end of Main Street. Noticeable in this photo is the Fallen Soldiers' Memorial on the triangle reserve. The fence around the memorial was later replaced by a concrete one which has since been removed.

On the let stands St Andrew's Church which was erected as a result of the fund raising efforts of Rev Duncan. Beyond it are the brick buildings replacing those destroyed in 1912 fire. The first of these is the general store of Barr and Tyer. Behind is the two storied Whytes Hotel.

On the right is the two storied McColl plumbers building and next to it is the home of the Manawatu Herald (now Manawatu Print), which was built 1879. This publication began in 1878, in a building next to All Saints' Church. It served the district well, although not only from this site, until 1996. There is no building next to the Herald as in 1920 the Racing Club office was burnt down and was not replaced until 1922.

The first verandah denotes Bauckhams store. This business was moved in 1924 to a new building on the corner of Clyde and Main Streets, which was built after a fire in that area. Bauckham's store was the forerunner of Foxton New World which was opened accross the street in 2002.

The picket fence in the photo was replaced by the present roughcast one as part of the Beautifying Society's upgrade in 1921-22. The present day plantings in Ihakara Gardens were part of a 1990s clean up by te Historical Society and Keep Foxton Beautiful, using funds from the sale of the Band Hall in Cook Street.

Photograph: The "Old Cemetery" as it was known, became very much neglected and from the early 1900s locals began agitating for it to be cleaned up. This photograph shows how it had been invaded by pine trees. Also in the photograph is the old Court House built in the mid 1860s and replaced in 1929.

Historical background: Before any upgrading could be started the Borough had to approach the Maori owners. Several years of discussion etc. resulted in the land being offered to the Borough as a gift. In the mid 1920s the "Old Cemetery" became the focus of the activities of the Foxton Beautifying Society and they organised the cleaning up of the section, shaping and grassing of the hill, laying of footpaths, construction of the fence and planting of shrubs. Thus the "Old Cemetery" became Ihakara gardens and the town had one of its iconic features.

The oldest marked grave (1850) is that of Dr J. Best a nephew of Capt. F. Robinson whose son is also buried here. Ann, the daughter of one of the district's other early settlers T and K Kebbell, was buried here in 1854. There are certainly others whose graves are no longer marked, buried here, for this urupu of the Te Awahou marae was the only burial ground in the town until 1871. Besides Ihakara, there are six other Maori of his whanau listed on the headstones. Earlier photographs show picket fences around sites where there is now no indication of a burial having taken place. There are twelve people who it is considered would almost certainly have been buried here.

The side view clearly shows the piles of this former wharf shed.

At Foxton, in the Manawatu River, this is one of the two structures nicknamed "The Dolphin", that were designed to deflect logs from the wharf during floods and at times used by ships to help in manoeuvring to point downstream. Only one of these remains today.

From Te Papa:
http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/ObjectDetails.aspx?oid=117473&coltype=Photography®no=B.023290 - Gift of Maud Adkin, 1964.

Foxton dock/boatyard - boats (of various sizes and shapes) on the water, 1 being operated by young boy (in foreground). Building in background

From PapersPast - Manawatu Herald , 13 July 1893, Page 1

This mural depicts the "Kennedy" aground on the Manawatu River bar in November 1928. The Coley Bros. Contractors are unloading the ship at low tide using horses and drays to move the cargo. Once unloaded, vessels usually floated free on the next high tide.

The "Kennedy" was built in Sydney, Australia in 1865. She weighed 220 tons, was 138 feet long, had a beam of 19 feet and draught of 9 feet.
She was built as a three masted schooner-rig steamer but in 1905 was converted from a single to a two-hatch vessel and the passenger accommodation removed. She sailed between Lyttelton, Wellington and Foxton and carried coal, cattle and general cargo for 64 years.
The "Kennedy" was one of the many coastal steamers to use the port of Foxton.

Artists: Michael Barclay, Mike Jull and Des Comyn

Sponsor: Creative New Zealand

Site: North side of Foxton Service Centre, Main Street.

Source: http://www.webdzine.co.nz/foxton/9.html

From PapersPast:

Manawatu Herald. FRIDAY, JANUARY 30, 1880. THE FOXTON RECLAMATION WORKS. CONTRACT SHORTLY TO BE LET.

We are pleased to state that the working drawings for the reclamation works, new railway station, and increased wharfage, are now being prepared, and that in all probability tenders will be called for a part of the work in a few weeks. This will be good news for the whole district. Times have been for a long time very bad, and we have suffered from an overstocked labour market. The expenditure of some £15,000 at Foxton will attract the superfluous labor from other parts of Manawatu, and will thus afford relief to the entire district. For a long time past, the expenditure of General Government money in Manawatu has been very small, and as a consequence settlement has not progressed as it would have done had there teen more money flowing into the district. Expenditure in a district capable of settlement returns to the Colonial exchequer indirectly, by increasing the number of producers, and strengthening the number of actual, permanent colonists. This does not operate in districts where the land is of too poor a character to sustain a large population. Manawatu comes under the former category. The greater the expenditure of public money that takes place, the faster it progresses, because money leads to settlement. We shall have great pleasure in witnessing the turning of the first sod for reclamation purposes, believing that not only Foxton will be benefitted by the work, but also the fertile district of which it is the port.

THE DEVIATION CONTRACT.

From: Manawatu Herald - 23 April 1880

In our last issue we were able to furnish the gratifying intelligence that tenders were, at last called for the new railway station at Foxton, and we find that our presumption was correct that although it is styled in the advertisements the "Foxton Station Contract," the deviation and reclamation are both included as part of the scheme. This matter has been so long before the public, so many requests have been made, and so many promises given, that the delay in proceeding with the work had become almost a proverb; and now, although tenders are called, we are reminded of the old adage,

There's many a slip
Twixt the cup and lip.

It would therefore be wise to restrain our gratitude until the tenders are accepted, and the works actually begun. Governments, like maidens, are proverbially fickle, and as the tenders will not be received until the day before the date fixed for the meeting of Parliament, when the dreaded " financial position " will be fully known, it would not be in the least surprising if the Colonial Treasurer were to put his veto upon the work, and if the Government were to act as they did recently in the matter of the Catlin River railway contract, receive but not accept the tenders. We will hope for the best, however, and as the repairs to the old wharf are a part of the present contract, it will be hard indeed if at the last moment the Government reject all the tenders for the Foxton Station Contract.

In order to lay before our readers a full explanation of the works projected, a representative of this journal attended at the Public Works office, Foxton, on Wednesday last, and was courteously shown the plans by Mr J. T. Stewart. District Engineer, who gave him every information.

THE PLANS are, as might be expected, elaborate to a degree. There are no less than 23 large drawings, all of which are covered with detailed sections of the different works.

THE OLD GOODS SHED, fronting the Main street of Foxton, will remain in its present position, and will be used, we presume, for the storage of Foxton goods. There will be one line of rails running from the wharf to the old goods shed, the turntable being re-erected to lead up to them from the wharf. All the other lines of rails, shunts, &c, at present in the railway yards will be taken up.

THE NEW GOODS SHED will be a large structure 120 feet by 30 feet, and will be built near the present wharf. It will hove a loading platform on the southern side 50 feet by 10 feet.

THE NEW STATION GROUNDS will be very extensive. They will be on a level with the present wharf, and will extend from nearly opposite Mr Liddell’s house to a short distance above the present wharf. When the intervening space between the wharf and bank of the river is reclaimed, this will afford ample, accommodation for the trade likely to exist at Foxton for some years to come.

THE WHARF. The repairing of the old wharf is a part of the present contract. The damaged work is to be removed, and three tiers of piles are to be erected, upon which the usual joists and flooring will be laid. The turntable is to be replaced temporarily in its original position. These repairs are to be effected within eight weeks of the acceptance of the tender, under a forfeit of £20 per week. Nevertheless, they are only temporary, for when the new wharf, stations, &c , are completed, the inside part of the old structure will be removed, and the space between the second tier of piles and the bank reclaimed. The new part of the wharf will be 250 feet in length, and will join on to the present structure at the northern end. The exact direction of the present structure will not be preserved, as the new part will be built on a slight angle towards the west, thus carrying the wharf some distance into the river. It is probable that one effect of this will be to cause the current to strike the point opposite the Rev. Mr Duncan's house, and gradually remove it. At the northern end of the new wharf, boat stairs will be erected, which will be a great convenience to persons using boats.

In addition to the extension of the wharf down the river, there will be an additional 50 feet erected up the stream. This will be in reality a cattle wharf, though of course it will be made so that it can be used for ordinary shipping purposes. On the reclaimed land adjoining this part of the wharf, large cattle pens will be erected. From these there will be a "lead " built at the south-western end of the wharf, to facilitate the shipping of cattle into vessels lying at the wharf. At the end of the wharf there will be a movable stage so erected that it will be possible to lift or drop it, according to the height of the vessel or the state of the tide. This should prove a very great convenience. Also, the pens will be so arranged that cattle can be put into or taken out of the trucks with a very small amount of trouble.

THE RECLAMATION. The woodwork part of the wharf will be only 13 feet 4 inches wide. The space between this and the present bank of the river will be filled in, and will thus form the site for the now passenger station, engine sheds, &c.

THE NEW PASSENRER STATION will be a very large affair. It will be built nearly opposite Mr John W. Liddell's private house, on the land to be reclaimed. The street that will be mostly used to reach the station from the township, will be that running at right angles from Main street between the stores Messrs. Liddell and Honore. The building sites on this street will probably acquire a large value, and we fully expect it to become an important business centre. The actual site of the new station will be close to the present slope by the river bank, and when completed it will slightly [t.ench] on the Esplanade, leaving that street some 90 feet in width. The platform of the new railway station will be 250 feet in length, which will give ample accommodation, whilst the bulling will be 80 feet long by about 15 feet wide, divided into ladies' waiting room, public room, ticket office, luggage room, lamp room, besides the usual lavatories, &c.

THE ENGINE AND COAL SHEDS at present in use are to be removed on to the reclaimed land. They will be re-erected on the river side of the passenger station, and will be greatly enlarged.

THE DEVIATION. Included in the contract, as already remarked, is the deviation of the present line of railway. The new line will pass along the land to be reclaimed, and enter the Rev. Mr Duncan's grounds about midway between his house and Mr Liddell's. It will perform a very largo curve, crossing the Lady's Mile, and will pass through the hill at the rear of Mr Chas. Hulke's residence, and join the present line about 1¼ miles from Foxton.

TIME FOR COMPLETION. The time for completion of the whole contract is 15 months. The repairs to the old wharf are to be completed in 8 weeks under a penalty of £20 per week. After these are finished, the contractor will have to devote his whole to the construction of the works on the north side of the wharf, including the reclamation, new stations &c. ; these works are to be completed in eleven months from date of signing the contract. When the new wharf is ready for use, the contractor will be required to take up so much of the old wharf as is necessary, fill in the vacant space, and finish: the remainder of the contract in the four months.

CONCLUSION. The above is a brief outline of the work's included in the long-talked of scheme. The works comprised are, it will be seen, of considerable magnitude. The immediate results of the contract, if the works are carried out, will be to give about eighteen months' employment to a large body of men, and to bring into circulation about fifteen thousand pounds of ready money. The remote results will probably be of an even better character. With largely improved facilities for shipping, extended wharf accommodation, and increased railway appliances, we may reasonably expect that the trade of the port of Foxton, which has been steadily growing for years past, will extend rapidly. As the shipping port of a large and increasingly wealthy district, there must of necessity lie a good future before Foxton, always provided the residents display the enterprise, energy, and unity which are at all times characteristic of prosperous communities.

From Google Maps.

On 28 February 2010 I collected a pamphlet from the Foxton Museum (open Sundays 2-4pm) and walked through historic Foxton stopping to look at the plaques (the text of some is included in this topic).

This photograph shows the building (now demolished) which stood on the land beside Ihakara Gardens. It was built as the Secondary Department of Foxton District High School and opened in 1927. As well as classrooms it contained woodwork and cooking rooms. A few years earlier the site had been considered as a possible site for school baths.

In a town of wooden buildings fires were common and the first fires were fought by bucket brigades. In 1881 a fire tower with a bell was built next to the Court House so that the brigade could be assembled faster. In 1920 a Volunteer Fire Brigade was established, but with no town water supply its appliance was an old hand drawn chemical unit. When the water supply arrived in 1923, a Ford Model T Fire Engine became the Brigade's pride and joy. This did not mean the end of fires but their effects were certainly reduced.

Whytes Hotel was established in 1876. He had earlier been licensee at what is now the Manawatu Hotel. Although Whytes escaped the 1912 fire it was destroyed by another in 1919 [actually 1918], along with some of the rebuilt Moutoa Buildings next to it. During the hotel's rebuilding the owner renamed it Easton's Hotel and included that on the front wall. But locals did not take to this and the facade that is left is still referred to as that of Whyte's Hotel.

One outcome of the many fires in the commercial area was the passing of a bylaw that delineated the central part of the town as a brick building precinct. This explains why so few wooden buildings exist in the Main Street business area.