City Guide: Levin

Andrew Barrie

The jewel of the Horowhenua, a fertile band between the Tararua Ranges and the coast, was a string of shallow lakes that served as an abundant food source. The area around Lake Horowhenua was inhabited by Muaūpoko iwi, although their occupation was disrupted during the Musket Wars by a bloody conflict with Ngāti Raukawa and Ngāti Toa led by Te Rauparaha, who would establish a base further down the coast. The advent of the rail line in the 1880s – the town is named after William Levin, a director of the Wellington and Manawatū Railway Company – was critical to local development. Like much of the country, the town was literally carved from the forest; the first key business was sawmilling and the second the tilling of the fertile soil…

You're reading a preview of

Architecture NZ (Digital) - 1 Issue, March-April 2025

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.