12 Facts About Papanui

Papanui is a middle socio-economic area with a population of 3,645 consisting predominantly of Pakeha 86.

The suburb is located at the junction of three busy thoroughfares; Papanui Road leading to the City, the Main North Road that leads to North Canterbury and Harewood Road that leads to Christchurch International Airport.

The Papanui Bridge was built over the Avon River in March 1852 to allow the timber to be brought by bullock drawn wagons directly into the Market Square near the city centre.

In 1857 sawmilling had attracted a population of 692 to the Papanui village compared with 953 in Christchurch in the same year.

The land around Papanui proved to be remarkably fertile for farming once ditches and drains were dug to relieve the swampy areas.

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Gradually more immigrants settled in Papanui, crops were sown and sheep and dairy farms were established in the surrounding areas.

Papanui Hotel was originally built in the early 1850s as a parsonage for the Reverend Bradley.

The Papanui Building at 1 Main North Road was severely damaged by the first two main earthquakes and demolition commenced on 23 February 2011, the day after the second earthquake.

Much of the 20th century, Papanui was a light industrial area.

In 1900, Edward Halsey, a baker trained at Sanitarium in Michigan in the United States, emigrated to New Zealand and began making health foods in a wooden shed in Papanui, including Granola, New Zealand's first breakfast cereal.

Papanui Domain sited on Sawyers Arms Road where the Papanui Bush was clear felled in the 1850s.

The park in the heart of Papanui is probably the best location to see over-wintering monarch butterflies.