Swanson residents bought land after a statutory meeting on 11 December 1926 by raising money through selling shares in Swanson Hall Ltd. The total cost of land, building and preliminary expenses for the hall was £377 and the hall was completed by 23 May 1929. In 1945 the hall was taken over by the RNZAF for training and recreation purposes. Read more...
The garage and house behind were built by Doug G Mattson in 1947 with the business called Mattson’s Garage. In the late 1950s Mr Linton took over the garage and house until 1962 when the property was split into two titles. The garage, renamed Swanson Motors, was bought by Clevan Holdings Ltd. During that time it was leased by Bill Read more...
In 1926, 16 year old Milan Babic Yozin came to New Zealand from the coastal village of Padgora in Dalmatia, a poverty-stricken area. An uncle with an orchard at Oratia paid his passage over; Milan worked for two years to repay him. After this he went to work on a dairy farm in the Waikato, preferring to find work with Read more...
By 1923 an Anglican vicar gained enough support to build an Anglican church in Swanson and at the beginning of 1923, £300 was borrowed to pay for Mr Erickson’s ground (next to the school). The trustees who saw the project through were: Messrs T.M. Kay, G.H. Mills, E.S. Green, A. Christian, and the Rev A. Venables. Money was raised to Read more...
In 1924 a butchery was established in Swanson by William (Bill) Calvert, who ran a farm on No 1 Road (now Coulter Road). A small shop was built where The Trusts retail shop, Swanson Village Wine and Spirits, is today. In 1935 the Calverts built a new shop on the site where it still is today. The Calverts initially had Read more...
Bill Calvert’s first butcher’s shop was originally on this site (part of the Calvert block). After the current butchery was built in 1935 his old shop was leased for Mrs Hintz’s Home Cookery and Cyril Morris’ Boot Shop until the building burned down in 1945. Many remembered Mrs Hintz’s hot mince pies for 6d. In 1962 Bill Calvert built the Read more...