Story: Country towns

Rongotea general store, 1890s

In a small country township like Rongotea in the Manawatū, the general store was an important social as well as economic institution. As the advertisements on the roof suggest, it stocked imported goods, clothing and fabrics, as well as general daily supplies. It was also a bakery, probably a post office, and a meeting place for people from the surrounding farms.

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Palmerston North City Library
Reference: 2007P_Rng97_RTL_0885

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How to cite this page:

Jock Phillips, 'Country towns - Towns and the farm economy, 1870–1920', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/zoomify/19399/rongotea-general-store-1890s (accessed 25 April 2024)

Story by Jock Phillips, published 24 Nov 2008