Mount Albert Methodist Church (831 New North Road)

The plot for Mount Albert Methodist Church, originally built in the Gothic style in 1866, was donated by major local landowner Allan Kerr Taylor. In 1881, the first building was replaced and shifted to the rear for use by the Sunday School. On the other side of the road, 4 Alexis Avenue was formerly an orphanage run by the Methodists.

One of the more prominent members of the church’s congregation was Andrew Caughey, co-founder of Smith & Caughey’s department store in the city. Another was Annie Schnackenberg, a founding member of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. The WCTU campaigned to restrict the sale of alcohol and to give women the vote, the latter of which was achieved in 1893, when Schnackenberg was president of the organisation. In Mount Albert, local referendums were held every three years to keep the area ‘dry’. No liquor licenses could be granted until the electorate permitted them in 1999.

Cross New North Road at the crossing just north of Alexis Avenue. Enter the long entry drive for Ferndale House.