Avondale Public Hall (18 St Georges Road)

The Public Hall was built in 1867 by local resident William Forsyth, funded from proceeds of special concerts staged by the Whau Minstrels (a group of workers from the Gittos tannery). It was designed by another local, Mr. Holloway. In 1868, the first district library was set up in the hall. It also served as the second location for the district school until 1882. And it hosted many soirees, town meetings, and Highway District Board meetings. Throughout the 1870s, the cost of hiring the hall for the night was one-pound sterling (about $180 today).

The hall was the place of an event that changed the history of Avondale, West Auckland, and the Kaipara District when a meeting of around 50 people, including John Bollard, John Buchanan (Whau District), John Lamb (Riverhead), John McLeod (Henderson’s Mill), Phillip McLeod (Helensville), and Joseph McMullen Dargaville (Provincial Council member) submitted a petition to the Government to direct the planned North Auckland Railway through Avondale.

On 27 June 1931, the Avondale Public Library was opened as a branch of Auckland City Libraries in the hall. It remained there until 1973. The hall has also served as a Citizens Advice Bureau and traffic department office.

Continue along St Georges Road.