Highbury Corner

The original heart of Birkenhead was near the southern end of Hinemoa Street, originally known as the Great North Road and later Hauraki Road, where ferries docked from Auckland. At the top of the ridge, where the road to Northcote broke off, sat the private residence of Thomas Forgham. The name ‘Highbury’ was provided by Forgham’s friend and step-son-in-law, William F. Hammond, whose family owned the Highbury House in Highgate, London. When Forgham died in 1882, his property was subdivided into small farms. Soon, the entire area at the top of the ridge became known as Highbury. Into the 1910s, it was still largely farmland with only a few commercial buildings. The small borough council chambers and a few churches marked the area for future development, but the district only began to expand following World War I.

Property developers swarmed Highbury in the 1920s, using the gorgeous views of the Waitematā as one of its chief draws. The homestead of Henry Medland Shepherd and the Taylor farm were subdivided in the late 1920s allowing commercial structures to be built along Roberts Road (now Mokoia Road), Hauraki Road, and Birkenhead Avenue. Meanwhile, large homes lined Onewa and Roberts Roads overlooking the growing town and harbour. The roads were also sealed around this time, making vehicular transport much easier. Over the past century, commercial development has expanded turning this important crossroads into the very heart of Birkenhead. The completion of the Highbury Bypass in the mid-1970s and the opening of the Highbury Shopping Centre in the 1990s did little to reduce the importance of Highbury to the local community.

Turn around to the face the block of buildings.