Almost all 19th-century towns were laid out on a grid plan, in which land was divided into rectangular sections or allotments. This 1892 map of Te Aro in Wellington shows how houses and other buildings were sited at the front of sections, facing the street, to maximise backyard space. One of the advantages of the grid was that it was easy to subdivide. The map shows the original town-acre blocks in Wellington, some of which (such as numbers 127 and 151) have been intensively subdivided. Others (such as 155 and 156) have not – their owners were waiting for land values to increase before doing so. The map also details the construction materials of individual buildings and the number of storeys and rooms.
Using this item
Wellington City Archives
Reference:
00500:4:9; Thomas Ward survey map of Wellington City, sheet 48, 1892
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