Hamilton Travel Guide

Hamilton City is situated in the North Island and straddles the banks of the Waikato River. It is a major service centre for the fertile agricultural region of the Waikato (which generates nineteen percent of New Zealand's total export earnings).

New Zealand's dairy industry is centred in Hamilton, with a strong technological-based research and development capability. Research facilities are located in and around the city, including Landcare Research, AgResearch, and Dairying Research Corporation. The city also contains some of the region's main educational assets, including the University of Waikato and Waikato Polytechnic.

The earliest recorded settlers in the Hamilton area were Maori from the Tainui canoe. The Tainui people called an area on the west bank of the Waikato River, between the Hamilton Hotel and London Street, Kirikiriroa (long stretch of gravel). At that time the river was the major means of communication and connection with other settled areas. In the 1860's the land wars started along with raupatu (land confiscation), which resulted in subsequent European settlement. A military outpost developed mainly in Hamilton East until the evolution of land transport and the development of agriculture. In 1867 the road was opened to Auckland and a regular coach service commenced, followed in 1877 by railway from Auckland. The town gradually changed in character to a market and service centre, and major transport link for the surrounding districts.

In 1877 the Borough of Hamilton was formed through the combining of the East and West Hamilton settlements. It was named by Colonel Moule, commanding officer of the?fourth Waikato Regiment, in honour of Captain John Charles Fane Hamilton, the commander of HMS Esk, who was killed while leading the naval brigade at the Battle of Gate Pa near Tauranga in 1864. The population at that time was 1245 residents, and continued to expand, reaching 20,000 in 1945, and now exceeding 115,000. The original Hamilton borough had an area of 752 hectares; the city currently occupies 9,400 hectares.