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The 1908 City of Auckland Map

The 1908 map is a significant and unique record of Auckland City's history and early infrastructure. The map portrays an exciting period in the city's development and documents the progress of a growing city. As such, it is one of Auckland City Council archives' most treasured and valuable assets; it is referred to regularly by family and property researchers, local historians, students, archaeologists and contractors working for council.

The original 1908 City of Auckland Map consists of a series of 66 plans, plus one index sheet, that show the location and position of streets, footpaths, tramways, post and telegraph department fixtures, electricity department fixtures, gas, sewers, water and buildings throughout Auckland City as it was in 1908. From 1908, annotations by hand began to be made to a printed copy of the 1908 map. These annotations depict changes to buildings, streets, street names, etc. up to at least 1918/1919 and even 1923 for some parts of the city. An additional eight sheets were also drawn to include land reclaimed along the city's waterfront and what is now Victoria Park. Images of this amended version of the City of Auckland Map can be searched using the options available on this page.

• History of the map
• The survey process
• The survey team
• Digitisation
• Search the map
• Interpreting the map
• Purchasing map images

History of the map

The map was created on the advice of Walter E. Bush, City Engineer, Surveyor and Building Surveyor of the City of Auckland.  In August 1906, he had been asked by council to prepare and submit a report on The Scheme of Main Drainage, submitted by R L Mestayer and G Midgley Taylor, that recommended the preparation of a plan of the city to the scale of 40 feet to the inch to support the completion of the scheme. Bush responded with the recommendation of "having a Plan or Map prepared of the City, on which shall be shown not only all the lines and boundaries of streets, but also the position of all buildings, boundary fences, etc. as far as can be ascertained, the exact positions of all existing sewers, gas and water mains¹". Bush advised that somewhere between one and two years would be required to prepare the map for a cost of £10,000, and that a draughting office was required along with staff; a surveyor, eight assistant surveyors, ten chainmen and eight draughtsmen. Council approved preparation of the detailed survey map based on a 1907 standard alignment survey of Auckland City by the Department of Lands and Survey.

The survey process

Bush in his final report on the City Survey in December 1909, described how the work for the map was undertaken. The first work to be done in the field was the traverse of the new standards that had been fixed by the Lands and Survey Department. This was followed by a careful survey of the whole of the street frontages. The field notes made by the surveyors on this work were handed in on loose sheets to the draughting office every evening, for recording and filing. The traversing was finished in October 1907 and the frontage survey in February 1908. From the sheets handed in by the surveyors, the plotting of the map was carried out by the draughting staff. With this information obtained, it was possible to prepare tracings of various blocks of the City and these were pinned to boards and handed to those surveyors who were to fill in the internal work of each block. This internal detail was measured up and plotted directly on the work, each party consisting of one surveyor and two chainmen. As each block was completed by the Surveyor, it was handed in, recorded and filed, and subsequently used by the draughtsmen in filling up the detail on the sheets of the map². 

The survey was completed in February of 1909 and draughting work at the end of June that year. Bush describes that concurrently with the survey work, levelling bench marks were established on all the principal standard blocks throughout the city and subsequently levels were taken on the centre of the streets at intervals of 100 feet and these were worked out, checked and plotted on the City Map. The principal gullies were also traversed and levels taken therein. The maps as printed show practically everything that appears above the surface of the ground and this meant an immense amount of detailed work. The underground work such as sewers, water mains, gas mains, etc. were to be plotted on the council's own records and all additions and alterations noted thereon. Arrangements were made to ensure each week any alterations were made on account of additions or alterations to buildings, to keep an up-to-date record of the growth and expansion of the city. The actual date of content for the map was as at 31 December 1908.³

On 17 December 1909, Wilson & Horton's tender for printing 100 sets of the 67 sheets of the map "using a photolithographic process on to tough pure rag drawing paper", at the price of £841, was accepted.⁴ Copies had been pre ordered by the Auckland and Suburban Drainage Board, Auckland Electric Tramway Company, Auckland Gas Company, the Council of the Fire Underwriters Association and by the following departments of council - Town Clerk, City Valuer, Water Works and Electricity.⁵

The survey team

The staff, as many as 36 at times, included the supervising surveyor, chief draughtsman, surveying assistants, draughtsmen and chainmen.

Thomas McFarlane was appointed as supervising surveyor and started duty on 1 June 1907. Others named in records include: Harry Wrigg as chief draughtsmen, Arthur E. Baber as chief survey assistant, A. Stewart as surveying assistant, J.P. Wright, F. O'Malley, W. Patten, E. Crow, and R. Jackson as temporary surveying assistants, Lester Hunt, A. Waters and A. Jarman as temporary draughting assistants, master E.J. Warren as temporary cadet and office boy, and O. Johansen as office boy.⁶

Digitisation

In its centennial year, a review of future access to and use of the map was warranted. This would involve an investigation of possibilities for improving access to the map though good quality digitisation and the provision of online access, plus an assessment of the physical condition of the map with regard to its future preservation. This pilot project was also intended to inform future digitisation strategies for existing collections within council's archives.

It was felt that digitisation of the map would open up a whole range of possibilities that could not be achieved with the original sheets or existing reproductions. The key objectives of this project were to:

• create a digital surrogate of the 1908 map
• reduce the physical deterioration caused by research handling of the original 1908 map sheets by creating alternative copies for research use
• increase accessibility to and awareness of the 1908 map.

Following conservation work to repair any damaged sheets, digitisation was conducted over a period of two months from June to July 2008. It was decided that outsourcing to an external vendor that specialises in high-quality image conversion services was the most feasible and timely way to accomplish the digitisation to the desired standard. Ten maps at a time were taken offsite to the vendor's facility. Once these had been photographed, they were returned and another ten maps collected.

The vendor initially photographed the map sheets, using a Micro Technical 5x4 film plate camera, to produce 5" by 4" transparencies. These were then drum-scanned using an Imacon Flextight 848 virtual drum scanner to create high-quality digital representations of the map sheets. Further derivatives were then taken from these master images to create several different sets of images that can be used for different purposes.

Search the map

Following on from the digitisation process, digital images of the map sheets are now available online. Please use the options below to search and view images of the map sheets.

Search the map by street, building or place

Browse the map

Interpreting the map

The sheets contain very fine detail and colour has been used to indicate any additions and alterations in the city since the original 1908 map sheets were drawn up. Each map sheet also contains a legend indicating the meaning of the various icons and codes used on the plan itself. There are 47 individual icons in total.  

The table below provides a key to the icons on the map legend:

Category		Icon / image	Icon image
Storeys		1 Storey House
		2 Storey House
		3 Storey House
		3 Storey House
The storey is followed by: W for wood B for brick GI for galvanised iron
Streets, footpaths, etc.		Unformed
		Formed but Unmetalled
		Metalled or Gravelled
		Asphalted, Tar Paving, or Flagged
		Not Kerbed
		Kerbed
		Kerbed and Channelled
		Channel Crossings, Iron
		Footway Crossings, Wood or Stone Paved
		Gates
		Gratings in front of Buildings
		Survey Standards
		Board Fence or Lattice
		Iron Railings
		Post and Rail Fence
		Wire Fence
		Post and Rail and Wire Fence
		Picket Fence
		Iron Cor. Fence
		Stone or Brick Wall
		Hedge
		Sanitary Boxes
		Trees
		Trees, fenced
		Verandah Posts, Iron; Wood
		Levels
Tramways		Line of Rails
		Track Drain
		Poles, Iron; Wood
		Conduit Pit Cover or Pillar
Post and Telegraph Dept.		Poles, Iron; Wood
		Letter Boxes
		Fire Alarm
Gas		Boxes
		Lamps
Electricity Dept.		Line Poles
		Network Box
Sewers		Cesspits or Gully Traps
		Manhole
		Ventilations
Water		Fire Plug or Ball Hydrant
		Valve on Main
		Service Pipe Boxes

Purchasing map images

Wish to own your own copy of an image from the map?

Images of the map sheets can be purchased directly from Auckland City Council archives. Images are available in the following sizes:

Printed images

Print-outs of individual sheets are available in the following sizes:

• A4 sheet on office paper at $3
• A3 sheet on office paper at $7

Digital images

Digital images are available in the following sizes:

Images will be delivered on DVD within a unique collector's edition case. Full details on the content (streets, buildings, places) of each of the images will also be provided.

All prices include GST.

Please note that you will be required to sign a licence agreement that governs how the images can be used.

To purchase images or for further information, please contact Auckland City Council archives.

1 Letter from City Engineer's Office to Town Clerk, 1 August 1906, Record Files - Standard Survey 1906-1907 Auckland City Council archives reference ACC 275 223 Box 43

2 Report from Walter Bush City Engineer to Council 2 December 1909 Record Files City Engineer A, B, C 1909 Auckland City Council archives ACC 285 141 Box 41

3 Report from Walter Bush City Engineer to Council 2 December 1909 Record Files City Engineer A, B, C 1909 Auckland City Council archives ACC 285 141 Box 41

4 Letter from Town Clerk to Wilson & Horton, 17 December 1908, Auckland City Council archives ACC 285 223 Box 43

5 Report from Walter Bush City Engineer to Council 2 December 1909 Record Files City Engineer A, B, C 1909 Auckland City Council archives ACC 285 141 Box 41

6 Town Clerks Office Record Files Auckland City Council archives ACC 285 223 Box 43

Updated April 2010