History – Relocation, settler style

As we plan to relocate a 160-year-old printing press to our museum, I called for strong volunteers to help. However, my more experienced fellow volunteer, Sean, quickly pointed out that if relying on brute strength was my first instinct, then I was already thinking about it the wrong way! That comment sparked my curiosity. How did early settlers move entire churches, houses and other large structures across the district – sometimes over great distances and multiple times – without modern equipment, and often with little hesitation or doubt?

In earlier times, it was not unusual for houses along rivers, once the main transportation routes, to be relocated closer to newly built roads that gradually reshaped the landscape. Without power or electricity, moving a house was, in some ways, simpler than it is today. In 1873, when the Prictor family home was relocated in Port Albert, it was hauled up a hill and down the other side, carefully rolled on logs, with each log repositioned as the house moved forward. Remarkably, the family continued to live in their home each night, undisturbed by the slow, steady progress. There were no power lines or underground utilities to navigate – with the job done using just ingenuity, manpower and the skilled use of bullocks, horses, rolling logs and timber jacks.

Our extensive archives show that many churches, halls and schools were also relocated. This included the small Hoteo Valley School, established in 1907 to serve 20 children from families like the Smyths, Williams, Parkers, Logues and McDonalds, and others who had previously travelled some distance to attend North Albertland, Te Arai South and Wayby schools. Built on three acres gifted by Mrs Parker in 1906, the school’s first teacher was Jane Kane, who was followed by Dora E. Moore in 1909. Dora’s legacy was the pine trees her students planted on Arbour Day, across the windswept hill, leaving them with this pearl of wisdom: “Trees are like men – they grow according to the way they’re planted and the nourishment they take from the soil of life.”

In 1912, teacher Miss J.G. Coe-Smith fell ill for an extended period, which saw her students return to Wayby and Te Arai South schools. After standing vacant for years, the building was repurposed in 1916, when Hakaru settlers petitioned for its use after their children had been learning in a local hall. That September, bullocks and sledges moved the old school to a new site near Valley Road on the Blackwell property, where it served the community until its closure in 1932, making the Hoteo Valley School the second shortest-lived school in the Wellsford district.

It seems these early settlers had a strong understanding of sustainability and repurposing long before it became a modern trend.