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Story: City public spaces

Napier land office

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Napier land office

Public buildings were among the first to be erected in new towns. This painting shows buildings along Napier’s Tennyson Street in 1860, six years after the settlement was founded. The government land office (far right) controlled land sales. Bluff Hill is in the background

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: B-156-008

by James C. Collins

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Geoffrey Rice, City public spaces – Public spaces and public buildings, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/22896/napier-land-office (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Geoffrey Rice, published 6 April 2010.