Opoho – ‘Here my head is level with hills and sky’ – (Janet Frame)
[These historical notes were prepared by Ross for our wanderings around Opoho on 1 June 2022 on a tour led by Neil and Margreet Simpson and Wyn and Ross Davies. Only parts of it were recounted as we zoomed around, and some asked for a chance to read a bit more about what was talked about. What follows is the whole lot.]
Name of Opoho
Maori have been present in the area for 800-900 years. Two groups of Maori ovens have been found on the contours of the hill, said to have been used by people of the Ngatiwairua.
Poho is said to have been a Ngatiwairua chief in the 1700s, head of a family occupying a small kaika (village) by the outlet of the stream which flows down the hill into what was once Pelichet Bay (now Logan Park). O-poho simply means ‘Poho’s place’ and it came to be applied to the neighbouring stream – Opoho Creek.
Later it was adopted by one of the early English landowners for a subdivision on the middle slopes beside where the stream flowed (the Logan Park side), and gradually the name became applied to the whole suburb (on both sides of the ridge).
Opoho Odyssey Part 1 – Botanic Gardens Top Car Park to Knox College
Lovelock Avenue
Formerly Cemetery Road because of the Northern Cemetery halfway down. Renamed Lovelock Avenue in 1968, after Jack Lovelock who lived in Opoho while studying medicine at Otago University. It was the street he ran down every day going to university. Jack Lovelock kept running, and broke the world record for the mile in 1933. He went on to win the gold medal in the 1500 metres at the Berlin Olympics in 1936 (the first Kiwi to win an Olympic track event).
Signal Hill Road
The most enduring street name in Opoho is Signal Hill Road. It appears on all the maps. The top of Signal Hill provides a good view of the harbour and may have given the Maori a place to watch for hostile war canoes and signal from. With European settlement, the same hill was used to signal immigrant ships and perhaps to announce their approach to Dunedin residents. It remains one of the best-known landmarks in Dunedin.
Opoho Road and Trams
The original Opoho subdivision, called Estate of Opoho, to form Opoho Township was created by Captain Boyd in 1873. We’re going to wander some of the streets of this Opoho Township this morning, making our way down to Knox College for a tour at 11am. Opoho Road was the southern boundary of the Opoho Township, originally called District Road. It was the first access to the suburb from the Gardens although there was also a road to Dundas Street down Lovelock Avenue. Opoho Road was too steep where it meets Signal Hill Road for the trams, so a new loop was created through part of the Upper Gardens where the road now goes. It was the steepest line attempted by electric trams. The terminus was at the corner of Signal Hill Road and Blacks Road, and that was steep too. At least two trams ran away from the terminus when the brakes failed – with serious consequences. The tramline opened in 1924. Continue reading “Opoho – Historical Background Notes”