Historic sawmill’s curious remnants
One-hundred-and-fifty years ago, one of Palmerston North’s earliest sawmills was established in Albert St. A surviving product from it is the Norwegian Swiss-style house we know as Caccia Birch House. In February 2016, other remnants briefly reappeared – before being moved to the Oroua River.
The late city archivist Ian Matheson knew the remnants’ back story well.
In the 1920s, building contractor Les Arnott erected houses in Albert St between the present-day New World supermarket and Grey St.
Substantial concrete remnants of the old sawmill, including engine blocks, remained in-situ. Arnott concluded the easiest way to ‘’dispose’’ of them was to use a sledgehammer to bend over the 1½-inch-diameter steel ‘’hold down’’ studs (for holding the engine in place) and to simply build over the top of them.
So these concrete remains spent nine decades under the house at 71 Albert St.
In 1867, young Norwegians Jacob Nannestad (a clerk) and Frits Jenssen (an engineer) left their homes in Trondheim for New Zealand. John (Johan) Richter, also from Trondheim, followed in 1868.
These weren’t the working class of Scandinavian immigrant who arrived under the Vogel Scheme several years later. For example, Richter’s brother became prime minister of Norway in 1884, while Jenssen became Palmerston North’s third mayor in 1882.
Nannestad and Jenssen were in Palmerston North by 1871. Later, the newly arrived Scandinavian settlers were angered because some “stranger” (Jenssen) had been given access to a block of land they wanted to work.
Jenssen was also temporarily employed by the Public Works Dept.
Richter appeared in 1872, and at that point the three men established Richter, Nannestad & Co. Their first mill was at Terrace End, probably where Cloake Way now is, and where the Richter homestead stood until about 2005.
Little is known about this first sawmill, but the Wellington Independent of August 15, 1872, reported: “A new saw mill is to be started shortly in our township by the Scandinavian settlers. This is a commencement on a large scale of the enterprising spirit of these people. I do not doubt that soon we shall have them embarking in some other local industry.”
It was apparently called the “Norwegian Mill”.
Flaxmilling was on a downturn by 1874, and so some items essential for sawmills became available.
Accordingly, the Independent of March 14, 1874, recorded: “The steam engine which was taken from this port some little time ago in the S.S. Go-ahead, for Mr Owen's flax mill at Foxton, has been purchased by the Scandinavian settlers in Palmerston. They intend erecting a sawmill on their bush land.”
The Whanganui Chronicle of April 6, 1874, added: “We are going to have another sawmill erected on the Palmerston flat, which is greatly needed, as it is impossible for the one at present working [Manson & Bartholomew’s] to supply the demand.”
The Feilding Block also desperately needed timber. Sadly, the article advised, “the boiler came up on Monday; it is of tremendous size, its weight being nearly four tons, but I am sorry the person (Reeves) who brought it up met with a sad accident, by which he got one of his horses terribly cut to pieces, and another badly hurt’’.
Reports said that “only” their own countrymen would be employed – in fact other Scandinavians and Germans were initially – doubtless for ease of communication in a dangerous environment.
Soon the mill was operating, the Whanganui Herald of June 13, 1874, stating that the engine was “of the newest pattern, made by Messrs Wright and Edwards, of Melbourne”. It was a 15-horse power nominal stationary engine, while “the boiler – a very superior one – is 14 feet by 5 feet 6 inches; the cylinder is 12½ inches. Two circular saws for flitching and ripping are already fixed, and a vertical one will shortly be added”.
In addition, a tramway was being connected to the main tramway newly built in Main St.
With the district’s public works complete by 1876, and local timber resources diminishing, in 1877, the firm established the Trondheim Sawmill between Bunnythorpe and Feilding.
In 1878, the company established both its flourmill, where the New World supermarket now is, and also purchased and upgraded the Hokowhitu Sawmill that was working leased land in the Hokowhitu Native Reserve.
By early 1879, the Palmerston Sawmill was leased to two men, Anderson and Robert Newman. All looked good and then Richter’s family requested he return to Norway to run their estates.
Thus the company was advertised on March 12, 1879, to dissolve the partnership. This described three sawmills – Palmerston (complete with 1500 acres of variously freehold and leased land), Hokowhitu and Trondheim; the flourmill; and Section 187 on the corner of Grey and Tram (Heretaunga) streets.
Unfortunately, the sawmill was destroyed by fire on the evening of March 25, 1879. The whole building collapsed in minutes, with the flames illuminating a wide area.
By the next morning it was just “a mass of charred timber, a solitary brick chimney, the boiler, and the ruined machinery”. The cause was unclear.
The company had nearly finished installing a new plant, including a stationary engine, boiler, supplied by the Lion Foundry of E. W. Mills of Wellington, and while the building was insured, the new plant, valued at £600, wasn’t.
Meanwhile the Richter, Nannestad & Co. partnership remained intact, although it began dividing into three companies from 1888.
It’s possible the two engine blocks found at 71 Albert St previously held the 1874 and 1879 stationary engines. Certainly they traced to different times. One appeared to be river metal, while the larger one was pit metal.
After gaining permission to lay a tramway across Boundary Rd (now Tremaine Ave) in December 1880, the replacement mill worked the future airport land and also the Tutaki Rd area.
The Palmerston North Sash, Door & Timber Co., formed in 1892, included the 1879 mill. That mill was replaced in about 1906, only for the new factory to be destroyed by arson in April 1910.
In 1917, Frits and Tram streets became Russell and Heretaunga streets respectively. ‘‘Frits’’ (after Frits Jenssen) was deemed too Germanic. Sadly, the inoffensive ‘‘Tram’’ went too.
That just left the concrete blocks – until they too left the site in 2016.
Changes could be made to the Taihape Area School rebuild as the Ministry of Education looks for costs savings with its projects.
The Rangitīkei school, which teaches children from year 1 to 13, has been slated for refurbishment since a $10 million rebuild was announced in 2019 to fix serious problems with water leaks, heating and the sewerage system.
But now changes could be made, as the school is on the ministry’s list of property projects subject to a value-for-money review.
The ministry is reviewing 352 projects at 305 schools in pre-construction, to find ways of achieving better value for money. Due to an increase in costs in recent years, the ministry was looking to bring costs down, it said on its website.
The Taihape Area School project was still in the design phase, which had been expected to be completed this year.
The ministry’s head of property Sam Fowler said the ministry was working through the reviews and decisions for most schools would be made by the end of the month.
“The ministry and school were exploring the possibility of temporarily relocating the school during the redevelopment, however the scope and timing of the investment in Taihape Area School will now be determined through the value for money review and prioritisation.”
Stuff asked whether this could mean if the project could change drastically, be smaller, cheaper or delayed. But the ministry said it would not pre-empt any decision. Acting school principal Michelle Cameron declined to comment until a decision was made.
The rebuild was needed because of problems with the building, such as leaks and heating issues, particularly for an area such as Taihape, where it could snow.
The main building, which made up most of the school except for its multi-purpose gym and hall, needed to be rebuilt.
Fowler said the ministry was working with the school on its “immediate property challenges”, including the maintenance or replacement of heating units to improve heating, and the ministry was “investigating the sewerage system to identify the best options for remediation”.
The school buildings had been assessed by engineers and some aspects were found to be below 34% new building standard.
Fowler said some remediation work was done in September 2023 and the ministry’s assessment and advice was that the buildings were a low risk and were suitable for continued use.
When the rebuild was announced in 2019 the ministry said the cost would be an expected $10m.
Stuff asked if this was still expected to be the cost. Fowler said budgets associated with individual schools or projects were commercially sensitive while procurement and delivery activities were still to be done.
The ministry's website said for projects in the design or tender stage, the review was needed to confirm the planned approach was still the right one.
This meant reaffirming “the project scope is the correct one” and investigating whether a standardised solution could be used instead, or parts of the existing design could be changed to reduce costs, including using a different material.