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Story: Wairarapa places

Queen Street

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Queen Street

This is Masterton’s main street in 1864, a decade after the town was founded. The street's straightness emphasises how order has been imposed on the landscape, but stands of native trees suggest the wilderness has not been completely tamed. The road was originally known as Main Street, then Bridge Street, as it crossed a series of bridges over creeks. Later it was renamed Queen Street after Queen Victoria.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: 1/2-002905;G

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

Ben Schrader, Wairarapa places – Masterton, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/11986/queen-street (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Ben Schrader, published 2 March 2009, updated 11 June 2015.