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A RISING DISTRICT - THE HILLSIDE SUB-DIVISION – Later known as Puketaha

The Breakup of the Woodlands Estate

Regardless of their hard work and enterprise, the big landowners faced bankruptcy by the 1890s. Their huge loans, the cost of development, coupled with low returns for their produce, saw the Bank of New Zealand foreclose on hundreds of thousands of acres of agricultural land which lay in various stages of development. By 1898 an amendment to the Lands for Settlement Act had been passed to break up the large estates of the Waikato into smaller blocks.

Gordonton Village

The land provided an abundance of food for local Māori, of the Ngati Wairere iwi, who grew and traded kumara, and flax.  The village was surveyed to create accommodations for workers from Woodlands Estate who wished to live in their own homes. 

Community Hall    The first community hall was opened in 1884 on land gifted by Woodlands Estate. Due to fires and poor building materials, two more have followed 

Gordonton School

The first school, spearheaded by the Hopa and Puke families, opened in the adjacent hall in 1891 and a classroom was built in 1893 on land originally surveyed in 1883.  This is now Hukanui Park.  Other schools in outlying areas have been amalgamated, with some of their buildings being relocated to Gordonton.

Woodlands Estate

Established in 1872, Woodlands was originally a 98,000-acre property surveyed after the Waikato land wars. It was purchased by the Piako Swamp Company with the understanding they would improve and drain the peat land and develop roads.  Surveyed land was also designated to Maori in the area.  Woodlands became a self-sufficient enterprise – the Homestead was surrounded by a village of farm buildings, including stables, woolshed, bakery, blacksmith, waterwheel and joinery shop, butchery and stock yards.  It became the centre of local social activities.

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