{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=July 2019}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Hikutaia | population_total = 42 | population_as_of = 2013 | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = New Zealand | subdivision_type1 = Region | subdivision_name1 = [[Waikato]] | subdivision_type2 = District | subdivision_name2 = [[Thames-Coromandel District]] | pushpin_map = North Island | coordinates = {{coord|37|17|32|S|175|39|17|E|region:NZ|display=inline}} | image_skyline = Hikutaia in 2023.jpg | image_caption = Hikutaia in 2023<br>viewed from the Hauraki Rail Trail }} '''Hikutaia''' is a locality on the [[Hauraki Plains]] of New Zealand. It lies on [[State Highway 26 (New Zealand)|State Highway 26]], south east of [[Thames, New Zealand|Thames]] and north of [[Paeroa]]. The [[Hikutaia River]] runs from the [[Coromandel Range]] through the area to join the [[Waihou River]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Reed New Zealand Atlas|year=2004|isbn=0-7900-0952-8|editor=Peter Dowling |publisher=Reed Books|pages=map 15}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Geographic Atlas of New Zealand|year=2005|isbn=1-877333-20-4|author=Roger Smith, GeographX|publisher=Robbie Burton|pages=map 45}}</ref>
==History and culture==
The area has a rich history of [[Māori people|Māori]] settlement, with several [[Pā (Māori)|pā]] in the vicinity.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h3NCCGttaT0C&dq=Hikutaia&pg=PA44|title=Waihou Journeys: The Archaeology of 400 years of Maori Settlement|pages=44|last=Phillips|first=Caroline|year=2001|isbn=1-86940-227-8}}</ref>
[[James Cook]] and [[Joseph Banks]] rowed up the Waihou River on 20 November 1769 and disembarked near Hikutaia. They were impressed by the [[kahikatea]] which formed a dense forest in the area. Banks described it as "the finest timber my Eyes ever beheld".<ref>King, p 53.</ref>
In 1794, acting on Cook's description of the forest, Captain Dell and his crew of the ship ''Fancy'' camped in a place they called Graves End, which is now Hikutaia, and took 213 kahikatea trees with assistance from local Māori. At least five ships came for more timber by the end of the century. Four Europeans were living at Hikutaia in 1799, assisting the trade in timber and the sale of Māori labour. These men lived with and married Māori.<ref name=King /> Cultural misunderstandings between traders and Māori sometimes led to violence.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/TheBush/UsesOfTheBush/LoggingNativeForests/2/ENZ-Resources/Standard/1/en|title=Logging native forests|encyclopedia=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]]}}</ref>
Hikutaia was known for its cheese factory in the mid-1960s.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/T/Thames/Thames/en|title=THAMES|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia of New Zealand (1966)]]}}</ref> The factory opened in 1917.<ref>{{Cite web |date=3 December 1917 |title=HIKUTAIA CHEESE FACTORY. Ohinemuri Gazette |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OG19171203.2.10 |access-date=2023-03-14 |website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}</ref>
===Marae===
Hikutaiā Marae is a traditional meeting ground for the local [[Ngāti Maru (Hauraki)|Ngāti Maru]] tribe.<ref name="tkmentry">{{cite web|title=Te Kāhui Māngai directory|url= http://www.tkm.govt.nz/ |website=tkm.govt.nz|publisher=[[Te Puni Kōkiri]]}}</ref> [[Ngāti Paoa]] have also traditionally lived in the area.<ref name=King>{{cite book|title=The Coromandel|author=Michael King|author-link=Michael King (historian)|pages=54|year=1993|isbn=0-908884-29-X}}</ref>
==Education== Hikutaia School is a coeducational full primary (years 1–8) school with a [[Socio-Economic Decile|decile rating]] of 4 and a roll of 86.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tki.org.nz/e/schools/display_school_info.php?school_id=1738|title=Te Kete Ipurangi - Hikutaia School|publisher=[[Ministry of Education (New Zealand)|Ministry of Education]]|access-date=9 February 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929125335/http://www.tki.org.nz/e/schools/display_school_info.php?school_id=1738|archive-date=29 September 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>
== Railway station == [[File:Hikutaia_station.jpg|thumb|Hikutaia station]] Hikutaia had a railway station from 1898 to 1995 on the [[Thames Branch]]. Larkins and O'Brien built the [[Kopu, New Zealand|Kopu]] to Hikutaia section from August 1885 for £10,879,<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 August 1885 |title=WAIKATO-THAMES RAILWAY. Thames Star |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THS18850804.2.13 |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}</ref> had made good progress by January 1886<ref>{{Cite web |date=18 January 1886 |title=Thames Advertiser |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THA18860118.2.6.6 |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}</ref> and completed that section in May 1887.<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 May 1887 |title=Te Aroha News |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TAN18870514.2.4 |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}</ref> Heath and Irwin started building the Hikutaia to Paeroa section in January 1887.<ref>{{Cite web |date=8 January 1887 |title=LATEST TELEGRAMS. Te Aroha News |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TAN18870108.2.7 |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=22 March 1887 |title=Thames Advertiser |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THA18870322.2.4 |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}</ref> The road to the station was built in 1888.<ref name=":02222">{{Cite web |last=Scoble |first=Juliet |title=Station Archive |url=https://railheritage.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Station_Archive_4web-2.xls |website=Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand}}</ref> Work on the Paeroa to Te Aroha section began in 1892,<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 May 1892 |title=Thames Star |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THS18920512.2.6 |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}</ref> but in 1895 it was said, "a Parliamentary faction stopped the workers in their work".<ref>{{Cite web |date=13 June 1895 |title=The Rambler. Thames Star |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THS18950613.2.23 |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}</ref> Work on the bridges resumed in 1897,<ref>{{Cite web |date=11 March 1897 |title=Thames Advertiser |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THA18970311.2.12 |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}</ref> including the Hikutaia River bridge, with spans of 3 x {{Convert|40|ft|abbr=on}}, {{Convert|13|ft|abbr=on}}, and {{Convert|11|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 May 1897 |title=Ohinemuri Gazette |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OG18970501.2.14 |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}</ref> The Minister of Public Works was able to travel by train from Hikutaia to Thames in July 1897.<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 July 1897 |title=HON. W. HALL-JONES. Ohinemuri Gazette |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OG18970728.2.13 |access-date=2023-03-14 |website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}</ref> [[File:Hikutaia_railway_station_site.jpg|thumb|Hikutaia station site in 2023]] The Thames to Paeroa section of the line opened on Monday, 19 December 1898,<ref name=":02222" /> with Hikutaia as a [[flag station]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Juliet Scoble: Names & Opening & Closing Dates of Railway Stations in New Zealand |url=http://www.railheritage.org.nz/assets/dates_and_names.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180124135845/http://railheritage.org.nz/assets/Dates_and_names.pdf |archive-date=24 January 2018 |access-date=30 November 2015}}</ref> It had a partly built [[George Troup (architect)#Standard station designs|6th class station]] (a shelter shed), {{Convert|200|ft|abbr=on}} x {{Convert|12|ft|abbr=on}} passenger platform, {{Convert|20|ft|abbr=on}} x {{Convert|30|ft|abbr=on}} goods shed with verandah, loading bank, cattle and sheep yards. A year later there were also urinals and a [[passing loop]] for 50 wagons.<ref name=":02222" /> In 1906 the siding was extended, but goods were being stolen, as the goods shed wasn't locked and the station was unstaffed. Security improved in 1914, when a [[Tyer's Electric Train Tablet#Tyer's tablet working in New Zealand|tablet]] porter was appointed<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=September 2006 |title=Ohinemuri - Hikutaia Railway Station |url=https://www.ohinemuri.org.nz/journals/78-journal-50-september-2006/1755-hikutaia-railway-station |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=www.ohinemuri.org.nz}}</ref> and lighting was added in 1915.<ref name=":02222" /> Signals were installed in 1916 and 1919.<ref name=":0" /> In 1920 it was said the station was sometimes beyond its capacity and improvements were needed.<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 September 1920 |title=HIKUTAIA RAILWAY STATION. Ohinemuri Gazette |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OG19200910.2.9 |access-date=2023-03-14 |website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}</ref>
As [[New Zealand Railways Department#Increasing competition and great depression|government gave support to roads and cut railway spending]], decline started, tablet working ending in 1930, with only 3 [[Mixed train#New Zealand|mixed trains]] a day each way between Paeroa and Thames, the porter moved to Auckland, the tablet equipment to [[Mangapehi railway station|Mangapehi]]<ref name=":0" /> and passenger trains withdrawn on 28 March 1951.<ref name=":2" /> The crossing loop was reduced to 37 wagons in 1958, the platform was removed in September 1959 and the privy and urinal in November 1959.<ref name=":0" /> In the 1960s the cheese factory at Wharepoa started sending its cheese from Hikutaia, rather than Wharepoa Road.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 2007 |title=Ohinemuri - Wharepoa Road Railway Station |url=https://ohinemuri.org.nz/journals/79-journal-51-september-2007/1793-wharepoa-road-railway-station |access-date=2023-03-14 |website=ohinemuri.org.nz}}</ref> By 1965 the main traffic was coal to New Zealand Co-operative Dairy Company and produce from it. From 17 July 1966 only traffic in wagon loads was handled and the station building and goods shed were sold on 19 April 1967 and the 2 railway houses in 1969. The stock yards were unused in 1971 and closed in March 1972, when they too were sold. The crossing loop was out of use by 1974 and removed in January 1976,<ref name=":0" /> though another record says it was still in place in 1981.<ref name=":2" /> By 1980, only 982 tonnes were carried, all of it lime and fertiliser.<ref name=":0" /> On Sunday, 26 April 1981 Hikutaia closed to all traffic.<ref name=":2" /> However, in July 1982, it re-opened for maintenance trains. June 28, 1991, was the last day of commercial traffic on the Thames branch and the line officially closed on March 29, 1995.<ref name=":0" /> It is now used by the [[Hauraki Rail Trail]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Section D: Paeroa to Te Aroha |url=https://haurakirailtrail.co.nz/choose-your-ride/paeroa-to-te-aroha |access-date=2023-03-11 |website=haurakirailtrail.co.nz}}</ref> {{Historical Rail Start}} {{rail line|previous=Komata North<br /><small>Line closed, station closed<br>{{convert|4.88|km|abbr=on}}</small>|next=Wharepoa Road<br /><small>Line closed, station closed<br>{{convert|1.69|km|abbr=on}}</small>|route=[[Thames Branch]]<br><small>[[New Zealand Railways Department]]</small>|col=}} {{s-end}} {{Coord|37|17|32|S|175|39|17|E|scale:10000|display=title}}
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
{{Thames-Coromandel District}}
[[Category:Thames-Coromandel District]] [[Category:Populated places in Waikato]]