New Zealand - Dannevirke - Dannevirke is the gateway to Southern Hawke's Bay, and is unique in that it was a planned settlement surveyed and made ready for a party of Scandinavians. #603109b Dannevirke - Before European settlers arrived in the 1870s, the line of descent for Maori in the area was from the Kurahaupō waka. The tribe of the area is Rangitāne, with geographic distinction to Te Rangiwhakaewa in the immediate Dannevirke region. The first known 'Aotea' meeting house was established approximately 15 generations ago (from 2010) followed by the building of a marae at Makirikiri near Dannevirke at about the same time as the first Nordic settlers arrived from Napier and Hawkes Bay. - The town was founded on 15 October 1872 by Danish, Norwegian and Swedish settlers, adherents of Scandinavism, who arrived at the port of Napier and moved inland. The settlers, who arrived under the Public Works Act, built their initial settlement in a clearing of the Seventy Mile Bush. - The Dannevirke after which the town was named is an extensive Viking age fortification line in Denmark which had a strong emotive symbolic role for 19th-century Danes, especially after the site had fallen into German hands in the German-Danish War of 1864 - a recent and very painful event for these settlers. The settlement quickly earned the nickname of "sleeper town", as the town's purpose was to provide totara sleepers for the Napier - Wellington railway line. At one stage the area had 50 operating sawmills. After the native bush was cleared, the land was turned into pasture for grazing animals. - On 27 October 1917 much of the town's business district was destroyed by fire. The fire had started in the Andrew's Hotel on the corner of High and Station Streets at about 2pm. Flames blew across the road engulfing the Dannevirke Co-operative Association's store. As the fire spread through adjoining shops another hotel, the Masonic was engulfed. By about 5pm the Dannevirke and Woodville Fire Brigades, along with assistance from the local community had brought the fires under control. In total 27 business premises and 2 hotels were destroyed with damage estimated at £200,000. - Dannevirke has three marae (tribal meeting grounds) of the Rangitāne tribe and its hapū (sub-tribes); each marae has a wharenui (meeting house). Kaitoki Mare is affiliated with the Ngāti Pakapaka and Ngāti Te Rangiwhakaewa hapū, and includes the Kaitoki Memorial Hall. Mākirikiri is affiliated with Ngāti Mutuahi and Ngāti Te Rangiwhakaewa hapū, and includes the Aotea Tuatoru wharenui. Whiti te Rā marae, also known as Poherau marae, is affiliated with Ngāti Mutuahi hapū, and includes Whiti te Rā wharenui. - Totara College hosts the Dannevirke Garden and Craft Expo, an annual event that has grown to a considerable size. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dannevirke) - Whites Pictorial Reference has been produced to tell a new story - a modern story. Aerial photography has been utilised to show where New Zealanders live and the countryside from which comes their wealth. Most important, it also illustrates most vividly the Dominion's growing cities and towns, but perhaps more to the point it shows that there is still plenty of room for further development... Author: White Leo (compiled) Click the link provided at the top to purchase the book through the MAD on New Zealand Shop - Supporting New Zealand Authors and Artists #dannevirke