Carterton District Historical Society
Discover, understand, respect, value and share in our community’s yesterdays.
Carterton Watering Holes
Originally known as the Hurunui-o-Rangi Hotel, in 1880 it was advertised as a favourite resort for anglers, having some of the best trout fishing in the North Island.
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The Hurunui-o-Rangi ferry service was established in early 1870 by Wairarapa east-country travellers. On the Carterton side they would ring a bell for the ferryman to row them across. When the ferry ceased operation, a small, foot swing-bridge was used until the first Ruamahunga bridge was constructed.
The hotel, which soon became known as the Gladstone Hotel was reported to be one of the oldest in the Wairarapa. The hotel was burnt to the ground in 1934. Helpers found it difficult to combat the fire as the heat, from the burning heart totara the hotel was built of, made it too difficult to get close. A new single storey hotel was built in 1935.
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Gladstone Hotel
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Gladstone Hotel
Temperance Hotel
Previously the Pioneer Hotel, it was established by at least 1858, in a two storey building built by James Challis. In 1868 Robert Kemble took over. Mrs Henriette Kemble was burned to death in the old kitchen in 1871.
By 1874 no liquor licence was issued, and on 19 June 1875 Carterton’s first court was held in the building with H S Wardell & George Beethan on the bench.
Shortly after it became the Temperance Hotel, with no liquor licence. The building in the photograph appears to have been ‘re-faced’ at some time after the architect Toxward (c1875) came to the Wairarapa as the rusticated boards on the front of the building were a feature of his designs.
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Temperance Hotel
Sources: To be supplied​
The Club Hotel
In October 1880 the White Hart Hotel was built with 39 rooms fitted with the latest improvements, including fire escapes. Several sitting rooms, an office, a large dining room and a commercial room are on the ground floor. The first floor contains a sitting room, bedrooms and a bathroom. Stables and yarding accommodation were connected.
It burnt down in 1898 and its replacement, in 1900, was a reproduction of the original with the balconies removed and the walls extended to the outer wall.
In 1910 it was known as Redmond’s Club Hotel. The hotel closed after 125 years and was badly damaged by fire in January 2009.
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The Club Hotel
Sources: To be supplied​
Taratahi Hotel
Originally known as the Cottage of Content, the Taratahi Hotel remained in the Ray family from 1858 to 1915. In early days the Cottage of Content was a coach stop for the trip to Wellington. In its first year of operation the hotel was the venue of a banquet held to celebrate the naming of Carterton. In the 1880’s you could have a 3-course meal for 1/- , 10c in today’s money.
In 2007 Richard Skelley subleased part of the hotel for Wairarapa’s first brothel, for 6 months. It was then called the ‘House of Content’. From 2007-2008 it was subleased to a children’s playground and café, and 2008 saw it converted back to an hotel. It is now available for accommodation.
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Taratahi Hotel
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Marquis of Normanby Hotel
Thomas Hooker purchased a farm and built a ‘block of hope’, opening a chemist and druggist shop, plus a hairdresser and tobacconist. He then built the Marquis of Normanby Hotel in 1875, a name which he procured by special licence from the Marquis of Normanby, the then New Zealand Governor (1875-79), with the understanding that no other hotels were to use that name. Wastewater and sewage ran into space under the floor.
In June 1899, the Marquis of Normanby hotel had a narrow escape when one of the chimneys caught fire and ignited the roof. It was noticed in time and extinguished.
It was destroyed by fire in early 1900’s, and replaced in 1924 by a concrete building, designed for a third floor to be added later.
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Marquis of Normanby Hotel
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Royal Oak Hotel
The Royal Oak Hotel was established in 1865, by William Cadwallader.
During World War II when the showgrounds were used by the army, the proprietor, William Steel, provided a rugby ground behind the hotel and changing rooms for the teams.
The original weatherboards are stucco-covered. Accommodation closed in 1976 and the name changed to The Royal Oak Tavern.
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Click to read the full history of this significant building.
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Royal Oak Hotel
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