Story: Hawke’s Bay region

Hastings town centre, 1930s

Hastings town centre, 1930s

Hastings had become the main shopping centre of the region by the 1920s because it was at the heart of the fertile Heretaunga plain and close to prosperous Central Hawke’s Bay. This busy scene shows the intersection of Heretaunga and Russell streets in the central business district. The Westerman’s Building, a drapery store, was built in 1932 after the previous store was destroyed by the 1931 earthquake. It remained a prominent Hastings landmark in the 2000s.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, H. N. Whitehead Collection (PAColl-3068)
Reference: G- 4620-1/1
Photograph by Henry Norford Whitehead

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:

Kerryn Pollock, 'Hawke’s Bay region - 20th-century developments', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/23942/hastings-town-centre-1930s (accessed 24 April 2024)

Story by Kerryn Pollock, updated 1 Jul 2015