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The 1908 City of Auckland Map
The 1908 map is a significant and unique record of Auckland
City's history and early infrastructure. The map portrays an exciting period in
the city's development and documents the progress of a growing city. As such,
it is one of Auckland City Council archives' most treasured and valuable assets;
it is referred to regularly by family and property researchers, local
historians, students, archaeologists and contractors working for council.
The original 1908 City of
Auckland Map consists of a series of 66 plans, plus one index sheet, that show
the location and position of streets, footpaths, tramways, post and telegraph
department fixtures, electricity department fixtures, gas, sewers, water and
buildings throughout Auckland City as it was in 1908. From 1908, annotations by
hand began to be made to a printed copy of the 1908 map. These annotations
depict changes to buildings, streets, street names, etc. up to at least
1918/1919 and even 1923 for some parts of the city. An additional eight sheets
were also drawn to include land reclaimed along the city's waterfront and what
is now Victoria Park. Images of this amended version of the City of Auckland
Map can be searched using the options available on this page.
History of the map
The map was created on the
advice of Walter E. Bush, City Engineer, Surveyor and Building Surveyor of the
City of Auckland. In August 1906, he had been asked by council to prepare and
submit a report on The Scheme of Main Drainage, submitted by R L Mestayer and G
Midgley Taylor, that recommended the preparation of a plan of the city to the
scale of 40 feet to the inch to support the completion of the scheme. Bush
responded with the recommendation of "having a Plan or Map prepared of the City,
on which shall be shown not only all the lines and boundaries of streets, but
also the position of all buildings, boundary fences, etc. as far as can be
ascertained, the exact positions of all existing sewers, gas and water mains1".
Bush advised that somewhere between one and two years would be required to
prepare the map for a cost of £10,000, and that a draughting office was required
along with staff; a surveyor, eight assistant surveyors, ten chainmen and eight
draughtsmen. Council approved preparation of the detailed survey map based on a
1907 standard alignment survey of Auckland City by the Department of Lands and
Survey.
The survey process
Bush in his final report on
the City Survey in December 1909, described how the work for the map was
undertaken. The first work to be done in the field was the traverse of the new
standards that had been fixed by the Lands and Survey Department. This was
followed by a careful survey of the whole of the street frontages. The field
notes made by the surveyors on this work were handed in on loose sheets to the
draughting office every evening, for recording and filing. The traversing was
finished in October 1907 and the frontage survey in February 1908. From the
sheets handed in by the surveyors, the plotting of the map was carried out by
the draughting staff. With this information obtained, it was possible to prepare
tracings of various blocks of the City and these were pinned to boards and
handed to those surveyors who were to fill in the internal work of each block.
This internal detail was measured up and plotted directly on the work, each
party consisting of one surveyor and two chainmen. As each block was completed
by the Surveyor, it was handed in, recorded and filed, and subsequently used by
the draughtsmen in filling up the detail on the sheets of the map2.
The survey was completed in
February of 1909 and draughting work at the end of June that year. Bush
describes that concurrently with the survey work, levelling bench marks were
established on all the principal standard blocks throughout the city and
subsequently levels were taken on the centre of the streets at intervals of 100
feet and these were worked out, checked and plotted on the City Map. The
principal gullies were also traversed and levels taken therein. The maps as
printed show practically everything that appears above the surface of the ground
and this meant an immense amount of detailed work. The underground work such as
sewers, water mains, gas mains, etc. were to be plotted on the council's own
records and all additions and alterations noted thereon. Arrangements were made
to ensure each week any alterations were made on account of additions or
alterations to buildings, to keep an up-to-date record of the growth and
expansion of the city. The actual date of content for the map was as at 31 December
1908.3
On 17 December 1909,
Wilson & Horton's tender for printing 100 sets of the 67 sheets of the map
"using a photolithographic process on to tough pure rag drawing paper", at the
price of £841, was accepted.4
Copies had been pre ordered by the Auckland and Suburban Drainage Board,
Auckland Electric Tramway Company, Auckland Gas Company, the Council of the Fire
Underwriters Association and by the following departments of council - Town
Clerk, City Valuer, Water Works and Electricity.5
The survey team
The staff, as many as 36 at times, included the supervising surveyor, chief
draughtsman, surveying assistants, draughtsmen and chainmen.
Thomas McFarlane was appointed as supervising surveyor and started duty on 1 June 1907. Others named in records
include: Harry Wrigg as chief draughtsmen, Arthur E. Baber as chief survey
assistant, A. Stewart as surveying assistant, J.P. Wright, F. O'Malley, W.
Patten, E. Crow, and R. Jackson as temporary surveying assistants, Lester Hunt,
A. Waters and A. Jarman as temporary draughting assistants, master E.J. Warren
as temporary cadet and office boy, and O. Johansen as office boy.6
Digitisation
In its centennial year, a review of future access to and
use of the map was warranted. This would involve an investigation of
possibilities for improving access to the map though good quality digitisation
and the provision of online access, plus an assessment of the physical condition
of the map with regard to its future preservation. This pilot project was also
intended to inform future digitisation strategies for existing collections
within council's archives.
It was felt that digitisation of the map would open up a
whole range of possibilities that could not be achieved with the original sheets
or existing reproductions. The key objectives of this project were to:
- create a digital surrogate of the 1908 map
- reduce the physical deterioration caused by
research handling of the original 1908 map sheets by creating alternative copies
for research use
- increase accessibility to and awareness of the
1908 map.
Following conservation work to repair any damaged
sheets, digitisation was conducted over a period of two months from June to July
2008. It was decided that outsourcing to an external vendor that specialises in
high-quality image conversion services was the most feasible and timely way to
accomplish the digitisation to the desired standard. Ten maps at a time were
taken offsite to the vendor's facility. Once these had been photographed, they
were returned and another ten maps collected.
The vendor initially photographed the map sheets, using a
Micro Technical 5x4 film plate camera, to produce 5" by 4" transparencies.
These were then drum-scanned using an Imacon Flextight 848 virtual drum scanner
to create high-quality digital representations of the map sheets. Further
derivatives were then taken from these master images to create several different
sets of images that can be used for different purposes.
Search the map
Following on from the digitisation process, digital images
of the map sheets are now available online. Please use the options below to
search and view images of the map sheets.
Search the map by street, building or place
Browse the map
Interpreting the map
The sheets contain very fine detail and colour has been
used to indicate any additions and alterations in the city since the original
1908 map sheets were drawn up. Each map sheet also contains a legend indicating
the meaning of the various icons and codes used on the plan itself. There are
47 individual icons in total.
The table below provides a key to the icons on the map
legend:
Category
|
|
Icon / image
|
Icon
image
|
|
Storeys
|
|
1 Storey
House |
 |
|
|
|
|
2 Storey
House |
|
|
|
|
|
3 Storey
House |
 |
|
|
|
|
3 Storey
House |
 |
|
The storey is followed by:
- W for wood
- B for brick
- GI for galvanised
iron
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Streets, footpaths, etc.
|
|
Unformed |
 |
|
|
|
|
Formed but Unmetalled |
 |
|
|
|
|
Metalled or Gravelled |
 |
|
|
|
|
Asphalted, Tar Paving, or Flagged |
 |
|
|
|
|
Not Kerbed |
 |
|
|
|
|
Kerbed |
 |
|
|
|
|
Kerbed and Channelled |
 |
|
|
|
|
Channel Crossings, Iron |
 |
|
|
|
|
Footway Crossings, Wood or Stone Paved |
 |
|
|
|
|
Gates |
 |
|
|
|
|
Gratings in front of Buildings |
 |
|
|
|
|
Survey Standards |
 |
|
|
|
|
Board Fence or Lattice |
 |
|
|
|
|
Iron Railings |
 |
|
|
|
|
Post and Rail Fence |
 |
|
|
|
|
Wire Fence |
 |
|
|
|
|
Post and Rail and Wire Fence |
 |
|
|
|
|
Picket Fence |
 |
|
|
|
|
Iron Cor. Fence |
 |
|
|
|
|
Stone or Brick Wall |
 |
|
|
|
|
Hedge |
 |
|
|
|
|
Sanitary Boxes |
 |
|
|
|
|
Trees |
 |
|
|
|
|
Trees, fenced |
 |
|
|
|
|
Verandah Posts, Iron; Wood |
 |
|
|
|
|
Levels |
 |
|
Tramways
|
|
Line of Rails |
 |
|
|
|
|
Track Drain |
 |
|
|
|
|
Poles, Iron; Wood |
 |
|
|
|
|
Conduit Pit Cover or Pillar |
 |
|
Post and Telegraph Dept.
|
|
Poles, Iron; Wood |
 |
|
|
|
|
Letter Boxes |
 |
|
|
|
|
Fire Alarm |
 |
|
Gas
|
|
Boxes |
 |
|
|
|
|
Lamps |
 |
|
Electricity Dept.
|
|
Line Poles |
 |
|
|
|
|
Network Box |
 |
|
Sewers
|
|
Cesspits or Gully Traps |
 |
|
|
|
|
Manhole |
 |
|
|
|
|
Ventilations |
 |
|
Water
|
|
Fire Plug or Ball Hydrant |
 |
|
|
|
|
Valve on Main |
 |
|
|
|
|
Service Pipe Boxes |
 |
Purchasing map images
Wish to own your own copy of an image from the map?
Images of the map sheets can be purchased directly from
Auckland City Council archives. Images are available in the following sizes:
Printed images
Print-outs of individual sheets are available in the following sizes:
- A4 sheet on office paper at $3
- A3 sheet on office paper at $7
Digital images
Digital images are available in the following sizes:
Image type
|
Specification of image
|
|
Price for individual image
|
|
Price for full set of 75 images
|
|
|
Access copy: Suitable for displaying on a computer screen.
Twice the size of the large web image. |
- Jpeg format
- Resolution: 150ppi
- RGB Colour
- Approx 6200 pixels (164cm) wide
- Approx 4500 pixels (119cm) high
- File size on disk: approx 4.6mb per image
|
|
$40 |
|
$3,000 |
|
|
Large web image (as seen online) Suitable for displaying on a computer screen |
- Jpeg format
- Resolution: 150ppi
- RGB Colour
- Approx 3100 pixels (82cm) wide
- Approx 2200 pixels (58cm) high
- File size on disk: approx 1.3mb per image
|
|
$15 |
|
$1,125 |
|
|
Small web image (as seen online) Suitable for displaying on a computer screen |
- Jpeg format
- Resolution: 150ppi
- RGB Colour
- Approx 700 pixels (18.5cm) wide
- Approx 500 pixels (13cm) high
- File size on disk: approx 149kb per image
|
|
$7 |
|
$525 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Images will be delivered on DVD within a unique collector's
edition case. Full details on the content (streets, buildings, places) of each
of the images will also be provided.
All prices include GST.
Please note that you will be required to sign a licence agreement that
governs how the images can be used.
To purchase images or for further information, please
contact Auckland City Council archives.
1
Letter from City Engineer's Office to Town Clerk, 1 August 1906, Record Files
- Standard Survey 1906-1907 Auckland City Council archives reference ACC 275 223
Box 43
2
Report from Walter Bush City Engineer to Council 2 December 1909
Record Files City Engineer A, B, C 1909 Auckland City Council archives ACC 285
141 Box 41
3
Report from Walter Bush City Engineer to Council 2 December 1909
Record Files City Engineer A, B, C 1909 Auckland City Council archives ACC 285
141 Box 41
4
Letter from Town Clerk to Wilson & Horton, 17 December 1908, Auckland City
Council archives ACC 285 223 Box 43
5
Report from Walter Bush City Engineer to Council 2 December 1909
Record Files City Engineer A, B, C 1909 Auckland City Council archives ACC 285
141 Box 41
6
Town Clerks Office Record Files Auckland City Council archives ACC 285 223 Box
43
Updated March 2009
