Up until the 1980s, Gracefield was a bustling hub of industry. Gracefield and neighboring Petone were home to woollen mills, railway workshops, car assembly, and meat processing plants. Imagine the noise, the energy, the smell of industry in the air. This all changed in the mid-1980s. Protective tariffs were lifted and many of these industries closed their doors.
Gracefield may no longer be the industrial powerhouse it once was, but it still holds a special place in Lower Hutt’s history. Did you know that Gracefield is named after a politician? Morgan Grace was a parliamentarian who owned a large estate here in the 19th century. At that time, Gracefield was a peaceful rural area of farms and orchards.
Today, Gracefield is home to Callaghan Innovation. This is New Zealand’s innovation agency. They occupy premises originally developed for the Physics and Engineering Laboratory of the DSIR (The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research). The Gracefield Innovation Quarter is a hub for scientists, technicians and businesses. They work together in laboratories, workshops and offices, striving to make New Zealand businesses more innovative.