New Zealand - Auckland - Looking east from Constitution Hill showing the Parnell Railway Bridge - 1890s - Richardson, James D The Parnell railway bridge - Originally constructed between 1865 and 1866 - Although the superstructure has been replaced, the original piers remain and it is believed to be the oldest railway bridge still in use in the North Island. - It was to be part of the ill-fated Auckland to Drury Railway Project. - The project proposed giving access to the Drury and Waikato coalfields south of Auckland, and providing a supply line to the military forces engaged in the Waikato Land Wars in 1863-1864. - The bridge was to be the first part of that project involving a link between Mechanics Bay and the Newmarket settlement. - The Parnell Railway Bridge remained part of the main trunk link until the Orakei to Westfield deviation eventuated in 1930, but has remained in daily use for suburban trains with only some rail replacement. - In 1974 overhead ties were added to the truss. - The aesthetic value of the monumental appearance is largely concealed today by advertising hoardings. (Reference: read more at http://www.heritagewalks.co.nz/rw/aklhistoric/historic/point/29/detail/0 Parnell - Ngāti Whātua occupied the Parnell area prior to European settlement. The Government acquired the area from Ngāti Whātua as part of a 3,000-acre land deal in 1840. - Robert Tod purchased 3 acres from the Government on 1 September 1841. He quickly subdivided it into 36 sections, which he advertised for sale on 4 September 1841 as the "Village of Parnell". In the early 1830s Tod had supplied copies of the Bible to a Plymouth Brethren mission in Baghdad, one of whose members was John Vesey Parnell. Streets in the village of Parnell were named Groves, Cronin and Calman after other missionaries to Baghdad, Anthony Norris Groves, Edward Cronin and Erasmus Scott Calman. These were later renamed Eglon, Fox and Marston Streets. - The Borough of Parnell, established in 1877, was amalgamated into the Auckland City Council area in 1913 or 1915. The Parnell Road Board administered the area before the Borough was established. (source - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parnell,_New_Zealand) --------------------- Image source: 'Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 4-780' http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll?BU=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aucklandcity.govt.nz%2Fdbtw-wpd%2FHeritageImages%2Findex.htm&AC=QBE_QUERY&TN=heritageimages&QF0=ID&NP=2&RF=HIORecordSearch&MR=5&QI0=%3D%224-780%22