What if I told you that the suburb beneath our feet was once earmarked for farming. That is Grey Lynn. It is now a vibrant hub. Let’s uncover some fascinating layers of Grey Lynn together.
Grey Lynn is an inner suburb of Auckland. It sits just a few kilometers west of the city center. Originally, Grey Lynn was its own borough. It joined Auckland City in 1914.
Before Europeans arrived, this area was a popular transit point. Grey Lynn had abundant food and fresh water. Maori grew kumara on the hillsides. These hills overlooked Opoutukeha, also known as Coxs Creek.
In the late 17th or early 18th century, Kawharu led raids here. He was from the Tainui iwi. These raids were known as Raupatu Tihore. Kawharu rested his head on a ridge. That ridge is now Surrey Crescent. It became known as Te Rae o Kawharu meaning Kawharu’s brow. This name was later used for Grey Lynn School.
In 1840, Ngati Whatua Orakei gifted the first 3000-acre block of land. Grey Lynn was part of this gift. The area was first called Newton. It was renamed Grey Lynn in August 1899.
In the 1840s, land was auctioned off. John Monteforte bought Surrey Hills. This area stretched from Ponsonby to Richmond Roads. It totaled 198 acres. Thomas Crummer and James Williamson later bought Surrey Hills. They owned all the land between Ponsonby, Great North and Richmond Roads.
Surrey Hills was leased as a farm and sheep run. In 1871, Frank Lawry created a dairy farm there. Williamson eventually bought Crummer’s children’s share of Surrey Hills. When Williamson had financial problems, the Auckland Agricultural Company bought Surrey Hills.
Grey Lynn had several brickyards along Great North Road. In 1871, Thomas Faulder became Auckland’s night soil contractor. He used his land between Surrey Crescent and Tuarangi Road for waste disposal. This caused many complaints. The depot moved to Avondale in 1875. In 1906, James Tattersfield started a mattress factory. It was at the corner of Sackville and Richmond Road. The factory later made carpets.
In 1883, the Surrey Hills Estate was subdivided for housing. This covered 127 hectares. It was the largest subdivision at the time. An economic depression slowed building in 1885. Building picked up again in the late 1890s. By 1903, there were 1040 homes. Tramlines extended to West Lynn in 1910. This led to more subdivisions. Shops developed on Great North Road, Williamson Avenue and Tuarangi Road.
In 1902, Grey Lynn voted to be dry. This lasted until 1937. Because of this, non-alcoholic beverage companies opened here. In 1925, Dominion Compressed Yeast Company built a factory. In 1929, Auckland Laundry Company moved to Surrey Crescent. In 1938, the Grey Lynn Post Office and ASB Bank replaced storefronts on Williamson Avenue.
In the 1920s, Auckland City Council built worker housing. Sixty houses were built on Old Mill and West View Roads. The Great Depression in the 1930s decreased the demand for workers. In the 1940s, state units for pensioners were built on Great North Road. They were also built at Surrey Crescent and Gilbert Avenue. After World War Two, manufacturing boomed. Factories expanded and new ones opened. There was high demand for housing. Grey Lynn remained working-class until the 1970s.
The 1970s brought renewed interest in Victorian homes. Young professionals began renovating kauri villas. Gentrification changed the area from the early 1980s. House prices and rents increased. More people began renting in Grey Lynn.
Creative businesses developed in the 1980s and 1990s. This included the Gow Langsford Gallery and Mai FM. Recorded Music New Zealand’s offices are still on Hakanoa Street. Other businesses moved out. New housing and shops replaced them. These changes reflected the area’s gentrification.
The Grey Lynn community requested a community center in 1972. It opened in 1975. It was redeveloped in 2000.
Grey Lynn Park is central to the suburb. It wasn’t part of the original 1883 subdivision. The land was too steep and wet. In 1915, it was drained and leveled for playing fields. The Grey Lynn Park Festival occurs annually. It attracts around 100,000 visitors.
Grey Lynn has transformed. It changed from kumara plantations and farmland to a working-class suburb. Now, Grey Lynn is a vibrant, gentrified community.