Castor Bay

Castor Bay in 1916. Rahopara Point headland was used as a defensive pā by Te Kawerau ā Maki

Māori settlement of the Auckland Region began around the 13th or 14th centuries.[11][12] The North Shore was settled by Tāmaki Māori, including people descended from the Tainui migratory canoe and ancestors of figures such as Taikehu and Peretū.[13] Many of the Tāmaki Māori people of the North Shore identified as Ngā Oho.[14] While the poor soils in the area hindered dense settlement,[8] traditional resources in the area included fish, shellfish and marine birds.[15]

The warrior Maki migrated from the Kāwhia Harbour to his ancestral home in the Auckland Region, likely sometime in the 17th century. Maki conquered and unified many the Tāmaki Māori tribes as Te Kawerau ā Maki, including those of the North Shore.[16][17] After Maki's death, his sons settled different areas of his lands, creating new hapū. His younger son Maraeariki settled the North Shore and Hibiscus Coast, who based himself at the head of the Ōrewa River. Maraeariki's daughter Kahu succeeded him, and she is the namesake of the North Shore, Te Whenua Roa o Kahu ("The Greater Lands of Kahu").[18][19] Many of the iwi of the North Shore, including Ngāti Manuhiri, Ngāti Maraeariki, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Poataniwha, Ngāi Tai Ki Tāmaki and Ngāti Whātua, can trace their lineage to Kahu.[19][20]

The northern headland of Castor Bay is the site of an old Maori pā, Rahopara, also known as Te Rahopara o Peretū.[21] Archaeological studies have dated an earth oven at the site to between the mid-15th and mid-16th centuries,[22] and generations of Tāmaki Māori adapted the defenses of the pā over time.[21] The name of the pā is associated with Peretū,[21] an ancestor of the Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki people,[23] and the pā was known as a defensive stronghold of Te Kawerau ā Maki.[24] Traditional histories recount Te Patukirikiri ancestor Kapetaua sacking the pā in the 17th century, as revenge for being marooned at Te Toka-o-Kapetaua (Bean Rock).[21][25] A second pā known as Wairoa Pā was located further south, at the headland overlooking the mouth of the Wairau Creek.[26]

By the 18th century, the Marutūāhu iwi Ngāti Paoa had expanded their influence to include the islands of the Hauraki Gulf and the North Shore.[27] After periods of conflict, peace had been reached by the 1790s.[28] The earliest contact with Europeans began in the late 18th century, which caused many Tāmaki Māori to die of rewharewha, respiratory diseases.[29] During the early 1820s, most Māori of the North Shore fled for the Waikato or Northland due to the threat of war parties during the Musket Wars. Most people had returned by the late 1820s and 1830s.[12][27][30]

A World War II gun emplacement at J F Kennedy Memorial Park

New suburban shops in Castor Bay in the 1960s

In 1841, the Crown purchased the Mahurangi and Omaha blocks; an area that spanned from Takapuna to Te Arai. The purchase involved some iwi with customary interests in the area, such as Ngāti Paoa, other Marutūāhu iwi and Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, but not others, such as Te Kawerau ā Maki or Ngāti Rango.[31][32][20][33] The Crown spent until 1873 rectifying this sale, by making further deals with stakeholders.[32][33]

Castor Bay was originally known as Castor Oil Bay, after an early settler planted castor bean trees on the hillsides of the area.[34][35] The name Castor Bay started to be used from the 1910s, and from the mid-1910s the area was subdivided by the Castor Oil Bay Land Company.[36] By the early 20th century, the bay had become a popular destination for daytrippers and holiday makers, and holiday baches were constructed here.[37][34] In the 1920s, the bay became a popular with New Zealand literary figures, after resident Jane Stronach made her bach available to people including poet D'Arcy Cresswell, novelist Jane Mander and poet R. A. K. Mason.[34]

During World War II, the Castor Bay Battery and Camp was built during World War II, to protect the Rangitoto Channel.[21] The site was originally purchased by the Army in 1934,[38] and the military buildings were disguised as a state housing project.[34] The site was decommissioned in 1957, and given to the Takapuna City Council in 1966, becoming the JF Kennedy Memorial Park.[38]

After the construction of the Auckland Harbour Bridge in 1959, the area developed further, and the first convenience stores opened in Castor Bay.[34] The Rahopara pā archaeological site was almost destroyed in 1965, as the earthworks were planned to be excavated and used as fill for a marina. Plans for this were cancelled after lobbying by archaeologists and local residents.[21]