Avondale, Auckland

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Avondale
Local Authority	Auckland City
Characteristics:
Established	1850s (Approx.)
Population	8,451 ^{(data: 2001)}
Surrounded by:
North	Waterview
East	Owairaka
South-east	Blockhouse Bay
South-west	Green Bay
West	New Lynn
North-west	Rosebank
Location of Avondale in Auckland.

Avondale is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand, located at the western edge of Auckland City, adjacent to Waitakere City. It was originally called "Te Whau", which is the common name, of Māori origin, for Entelea arborescens, a native tree.

[edit] History

The first European settler in the area was John Sheddon Adam in 1843, but settlement did not occur in larger numbers until the late 1850s, with the completion of Great North Road. Expansion was rapid, with churches, stores and a public hall built by 1867. With a railway connection to the settlement in 1880, the rate of settlement increased further. The Whau became Avondale District on June 5, 1882, although the old name survives in the Whau River, an estuarial arm of the Waitemata Harbour, which runs along the western edge of the suburb.

Early industries included brickyards, tanneries, mills and pottery works. Avondale also had numerous market gardens, especially on the Rosebank Peninsula. It was here that the "Hayward" cultivar of the Chinese gooseberry, later known as the kiwifruit, was developed by Hayward Wright.

From the mid 1920s Avondale became increasingly suburban. In 1927 the Avondale Borough Council was absorbed into the Auckland City Council.

The so-called Avondale spider (Delena cancerides), an introduced species of a spectacular but harmless huntsman spider, was for decades only found in the area surrounding Avondale and thus received its New Zealand name. However, the species has now spread throughout much of West Auckland.

Avondale is home to Avondale College, the second largest high school in New Zealand.