The name Karangahape, grammatically corrected to Karanga-a-hape, has been given to the up-town station on the new City Rail Link – CRL. But history tells us it could have been another name altogether had opponents against the name Karangahape succeeded in their persistent efforts over the decades to change it.
Hape’s Call
The new railway station Karanga-a-hape cements the name to the ridge which has been known as Karangahape since pre-colonial days.
The name writ large! Work on the Beresford Square entrance to the underground station
Its derivation is said to be “the calling place of Maori Chieftain Hape”. When his people left Hawaiki, he was denied a place in the canoe, left behind. After prayer he was granted a guardian and a stingray and, together, they arrived in Aotearoa ahead of the Tainui canoe and his people. Hape held no rancour after being denied passage. He set out to greet the canoe and its occupants so he climbed to the ridge overlooking Auckland Harbour and gave his call, his karanga, welcoming the newly arrived. Karanga-a-hape: the place where Hape gave his karanga.
(There are other versions of how Karangahape got its name, but this is the most widely circulated)
Early Thoroughfares
The ridge from the present Symonds Street towards Surrey Crescent became a popular walking track among Maori heading to the west coast by way of what are known these days as Point Chevalier, Avondale, New Lynn and Titirangi.
Auckland-town from the track along Karangahape ridge c 1850 – McCabes
Two tracks known as Te Ara o Karangahape (The Path of Karangahape) and Te Rae-o-Kawharu (now Great North Road), were pathways to some of the western-most marae on the shores of the Manukau Harbour. The “Map of Some Auckland Pa Sites, 1879”, shows Karangahape Pa of Tao Ngaoho and Uringutu (Cornwallis) and Te Whau Pa of Tao Ngaoho and Uringutu (Laingholm)… and today’s maps continue to show Karangahape Peninsula.
Topomap.nz.co
This land, early-on, was earmarked for European settlement, the location of the failed attempt to create a new city by colonising entrepreneurs, the New Zealand Manukau and Waitemata Land Company, to be named Cornwallis. Prospective colonists arrived in 1841 to find their dream shattered: there was no settlement but a few raupo huts in the bush, arguments ensued with Maori about who, exactly, owned the land. Altogether, the vision was all over by the mid-1850s – an obelisk on Puponga Point on Karangahape Peninsula recalls those early settlers. Laingholm has become an outer dormitory suburb of Auckland.
Karangahape Road
The walking track along the ridge c 1840 – McCabes
Meanwhile the walking track along the ridge became cart tracks, and then a major thoroughfare above Auckland-town. It became known as Karangahape Road even though, being uptown and outside the city, it was not on original maps of the district.
And then it became the boundary. In September 1851 we see the first official use of the words “Karangahape Road” in the Press, published to delineate the boundary of Auckland’s new Wards, part of local government reform.
Karangahape Road, its name inherited from pre-European times, was unique. It was the only thoroughfare in the district to be called a “road”. Auckland’s Surveyor, Felton Mathew, named them all “streets” except a few Crescents, Circles, Quadrants and Places. And, in addition, Karangahape Road was the only maori street name in Auckland. But the long name in te reo proved difficult for many European settlers to pronounce: it was often shortened, without confusion, to merely “The Road”.
The Call for Change 1908
By 1908 Karangahape Road was a major, busy shopping area, acknowledged as second only to Queen Street in Auckland… and without the handicap of inherited warehouses and factories downtown, Karangahape Road burgeoned with frontages of, mostly, retail shops along both sides.
“Karangahape Road, the most progressive throughfare of Auckland City” – Auckland Weekly News, 15th October 1908
It was at its busiest on a Saturday evening according to the N Z Herald’s columnist, Qui Vive, who in 1908 wrote , “… Saturday trade is something indeed to cater for… the streams (of people) pour on till they reach Karangahape Road, a main artery of trade, fed by streets north, south, east, and west, and fed well. Whole families are here, mothers, fathers, children. One of the characteristics of the time and place is this of family life. But if family is one keynote of Karangahape, another is certainly, on the side of the sellers: profusion. The drapers’ shops hold immense stocks, the grocers’ overflow, and the fruiterers boldly shame one into purchasing. Two of them have discarded windows, they have ripped out the shop fronts, and have tipped on to bench and floor, case after case of luscious fruit. The crowd surges by, laughing, talking, but well-ordered and well-dressed”.
At a meeting of uptown shopkeepers in June 1908 to discuss how best they might welcome visiting sailors of the Great American Fleet, local tailor Schneidemann, said “…the present name, Karangahape Road, is a monstrosity and should be changed to something that would be more comprehensible and pronounceable for the visiting tourists”. His comments were published.
This triggered Letters to the Editor, leading articles in newspapers and discussion about the road’s name… “a jawbreaker” one local put it… and what might replace it. The City Council took on board the possibility of change. Fleet Street, someone suggested, would honour the American visitors. King Street would pay homage, while other suggestions were Bridge Street (a continuation of Grafton Bridge) Broadway, Akarana, Central Road and Cheapside (reflecting London’s commercial district), but turned down flat – “we don’t want anything with the word ‘cheap’, thanks very much”.
Cheapside, London, early 1900s: the
name was not wanted in Auckland! – Wikipedia
One wag put up the name Rencourt Road, a play on Rendells and Courts, the major retailers on Karangahape Road at the time. The N Z Herald opined, “…why not make it George Street naming it after the Prince of Wales, our future sovereign?”. The Observer newspaper was much more down to earth, noting the state of the unsealed road in winter “…the name of Karangahape Road is mud!”.
The discussion had been going on for months, but the name remained.
More Call for Change 1913
The subject next came again in 1913 when the Council added a second Maori street name to the Auckland directory when it declared a road off Cook Street would be Puriri Street. Critics said that this name, like Karangahape, was difficult to pronounce by locals and visitors alike. The City Council quelled further discussion when in November 1913 it confirmed Puriri Street – and declared the name Karangahape would continue.
And Again in 1917
But the Council itself unwittingly prompted another flurry about the name in 1917 when it was forced to review dozens of street names throughout the city and suburbs to avoid duplication. “Add the difficult name Karangahape to the list, and change it!”, advocates said, followed by the inevitable string of suggestions. N Z Herald columnist “Tohunga” countered by imploring townspeople to “get the maori phonetics right for the age-old name Karangahape, and for other maori place names in our city”.
By this time 95 per cent of businessmen along Karangahape Road agreed to retain the name saying they had invested a lot in their stationery, advertising and identity: all of this – and the road’s undoubted distinctiveness – would be lost if the name was changed.
The N Z Herald had already made up its mind when it remarked with a superlative in 1910, saying “Karangahape Road is, perhaps, the greatest retail business street in the Dominion”.
Changing Face and K Road
Karangahape Road gradually changed over the decades, probably accelerating in the 1960s. The major uptown shopping centre with its own banks, post office, cinemas, hotels, auction marts, public halls and churches began to change, first to a service centre, and then with the accent on coffee bars, restaurants, places of entertainment and bespoke retail. Strip-tease “clubs” like “Las Vegas”, “Windmill Follies” and “Pink Pussy Cat” established themselves on Karangahape Road, the foundations for a centre of future entertainment, events and of the Rainbow Set. Houses in nearby streets gave way to factories, warehouses and service industries. Residents were on the move, some were pushed out by the massive motorway project when land was required for construction of the so-called Spaghetti Junction. The popularity of suburban malls also had something to do with declining popularity, despite Karangahape Road retaining Thursday night as late-closing (as opposed to Queen Street and Newmarket which remained open on Friday nights). And then 7 days trading changed retail patterns again.
It was in this era the name of the road was shortened to “K Road”. That’s been a popular change: widely used, instantly recognisable. And ironically, of all the alternative names suggested over the decades when change was being considered, “K Road” was never once publicly mentioned!
Today the iconic K Road is described by the local business association as “… Auckland’s creative hub for alternative arts and events, unique hospitality and independent retailers, it’s the only New Zealand street than never sleeps”.
Despite numerous and passionate attempts to change it over may years, the name of the road officially remains Karangahape, now appropriately joined by Karanga-a-hape, the railway station.
Both recall Te Aro o Karangahape, the ancient walking-track along the ridge to and from the West. Road traffic of all kinds continues to travel the route today, a vital corridor, while Karanga-a-hape, deep beneath the famous road, provides new cross-town connections.
(The Central Rail Link was officially opened on September 11, 2016 with first trains travelling through Karanga-a-hape, Waihorotiu and Waitemata underground stations on September 13 2016).
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Other points of interest about Karangahape Road which surfaced while researching this item:
# In 1908 part of the land at the corner of Symonds Street and Karangahape Road, designated as Jewish Cemetery, became “surplus to requirements” and was gifted to, and vested in, the City Council.
Pigeon Park, bequeathed by the Jewish Community
The “spare” land, now known as Pigeon Park, was defined “public reserve” by Act of Parliament and for years the Council talked of constructing public baths on the site, while the St John Ambulance Association thought it was an ideal spot for its headquarters’ building. The Fire Brigade also eyed the land as suitable for a Central Fire Station. Nothing eventuated… today it remains a green reserve featuring the Greer Twiss sculpture “Karangahape Rocks”.
# About the same time there was talk of lowering the level of Queen Street as it approached Karangahape Road, thus reducing the steep climb: there would be a bridge built to take Karangahape Road traffic over Queen Street. Abandoned.
# 1910: Karangahape Road was the first to have electric street lighting, even before Queen Street and other downtown thoroughfares were converted from gaslight.
One of the huge pendulous arc lamps installed next to the church in 1910 – Winkelmann, Auckland Libraries
# 1910 new Grafton Bridge opened, the present ferro-concrete arch, providing a crossing for vehicles and pedestrians. Said at the time to open up access to Karangahape Road from eastern suburbs, adding to the Road’s success as a centre of business.
Grafton Bridge, from a poster celebrating the opening, 28th April 1910 – NZ Graphic & Ladies Journal, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collection
# 1910 – Public conveniences at the corner of Symonds Street, Grafton Bridge and Karangahape Road opened about the same time as the bridge. They were the first in the city providing for women as well as men. The building survives, recently renovated and strengthened to meet earthquake codes.
Symonds Street Shelter and Toilets, 2017
– Ulrich Lange, Wikimedia, Heritage Trust
# 1916: Electric trams up Queen Street connected directly with Karangahape Road via the Town Hall from Wellesley Street. Earlier uptown routes were via the lesser gradients of Hobson and Pitt Streets or Symonds Street into Karangahape Road, where first tracks were put down in 1902.
Installing tram tracks, Karangahape Road 1902-
Auckland Weekly News, Auckland Libraries Collection
# Karangahape Road’s surface was unsealed (dust in summer, mud in winter) until late 1913 when Jarrah hardwood blocks imported from Australia were set in tar on a compacted base.
Block-laying at Karangahape Road/Liverpool Street intersection – New Zealand Graphic
The blocks lasted more than 70 years when they were torn up and replaced with an asphalt mix.
RCC September 2025, September 13, 2026
Sources
Papers Past National Library of New Zealand, website
Karangahape Road Business Association website
Heritage Trust website
Wikipedia
Statutes of New Zealand: Cemeteries Act 1882, Auckland (Symonds Street) Cemeteries Act 1908
