Signposts - a blog about Te Ara the Encyclopedia of New Zealand

On Monday night (16 June) more than 150 citizens of the Wanganui district came along to help us celebrate the launch of our latest Places entry: Wanganui.

It was a record turnout for one of our regional launches – larger than Auckland or Canterbury, and even larger than Timaru, where the locals also did us proud. The next morning Te Ara made the front page of the Wanganui Chronicle and the local radio discussed the entry.

So why did Wanganui respond so magnificently? There are some practical explanations.

• The author, Diana Beaglehole, was born in the Wanganui region and, despite not having lived there since 1959, she has many friends and supporters who came along to see her present the entry.
• We’ve got better at organising these events.
• It was a beautiful night in Wanganui, calm and clear with the fresh snow of Mt Ruapehu glistening on the horizon – no rain or cold to dissuade people from venturing out.

But the reason may be deeper – Wanganui is a region with a very long and dramatic history.

The river that defines the region was the main highway of Māori society. It’s lined with pa sites, and there are some amazing historic places such as Tamatea’s cave, where generations of Māori have slept as they paddled up or down the river.

Later, the port attracted the Wakefield settlers, but it was a precarious existence. For some 30 years after 1840 the town was the frontier of Māori–Pākehā conflict. The memorial at Pākaitore or Moutoa Gardens to the Battle of Moutoa in 1864, which was fought dramatically on an island in the centre of the river, was New Zealand’s first war memorial.

In the late 19th century, as farming expanded, Wanganui city prospered. The city is dotted with very handsome buildings such as the exquisite Opera House; and it was, until 1936, New Zealand’s fifth-largest city, after the four main centres. Then growth slowed, and in the 1980s and 1990s Wanganui city and district suffered from closures and loss of jobs.

But today there has been a revival – based in part on presenting Wanganui as a region of history and tradition. Our launch was held in the War Memorial Hall, which, as our interactive shows, is one of an impressive centre of heritage buildings and institutions – the museum, the Sarjeant art gallery, the Alexandra Heritage and Research Library.

People turned out on Monday because they treasure their history and their region. They know that understanding their past and telling the stories of Wanganui’s history is central to the region’s future.

Michael Laws, the mayor of Wanganui, was effusive in welcoming the Wanganui entry. We share his hopes that these entries, presented by Diana Beaglehole with a real affection for the district, will awaken other New Zealanders to the richness of Wanganui’s past.