Brown Owl, New Zealand
| Brown Owl | |
|---|---|
| Suburb | |
| Coordinates: 41°06′18″S 175°05′54″E / 41.1049°S 175.0983°ECoordinates: 41°06′18″S 175°05′54″E / 41.1049°S 175.0983°E | |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Island | North Island |
| City | Upper Hutt |
Brown Owl is a suburb of Upper Hutt located in the lower North Island of New Zealand.
The origin of the name Brown Owl is somewhat uncertain, with at least 3 different stories offered by various historians:[1]
- The Brown Owl Tea Rooms, later a Cabaret and Ballroom, stood at the corner of Akatarawa Road and Main Road (now State Highway 2) and were a popular dining and entertainment venue between 1927 and about 1962, before being purchased by the Rimutaka Baptist Church.
- A Brown Owl mascot or lucky charm was hung from the back window of motor vehicles in earlier times and at least one of these was a familiar sight on the districts roads.
- The adjacent heavily forested area was inhabited by many Morepork, the native New Zealand Owl.
The Tea Room origins appear to be the most plausible because the New Zealand Geographic Board Place Name Database locates Brown Owl close to the road junction. While the place name appears in the Place Name Database, because it is shown on maps, it has not been gazetted officially. It is even possible the place name is Brown Owl Corner.[2] Additionally, the Te Marua School, which had stood on the other side of the road since 1879, only changed its name to Brown Owl School in 1973, when the Rimutaka Riding of Hutt County was incorporated into Upper Hutt City.
Notes
Further reading
- Judith A. Collins; drawings by Stephen Shadwell (1982), Maoribank and the old Brown Owl, Upper Hutt, N.Z: Upper Hutt City Council, ISBN 0-9597585-8-5, OL 21957910M - Upper Hutt City Library Digital Archive item 64/14238