Papanui

This Christchurch suburb, Papanui, is about five kilometers northwest of the city center. The name itself, Papanui, means 'Big plain' in Māori, from 'papa' for flat and 'nui' for big, which makes sense given how flat central Christchurch is. Another meaning for Papanui refers to a platform in a tree for a bird-spearer. There's also a legend about the name, where a Ngāi Tahu princess named Tuhaitara sent her son, Tamarairoa, here to kill her former husband, Marukore. Instead, Marukore killed Tamarairoa and his younger brother, burning their bodies on a huge pyre, which is the third meaning for Papanui.

Before Europeans arrived, Papanui was mostly marshy ground with native flax, toetoe, and raupō brush. There were lots of forest birds for the Māori inhabitants to hunt. In 1800, around 5,000 Māori lived in Canterbury, but by 1840, that number had dropped to about 500 due to diseases like measles and influenza from whaling settlements, and tribal wars. Papanui Bush was one of the few stands of pine and tōtara trees left in Canterbury when European colonization started, as most plains in the South Island had been deforested.

When settlers came to Christchurch in early 1851, the Papanui Bush attracted sawyers who milled tōtara and pine for building and firewood. A settlement grew up along the old Māori track that led north to Kaiapoi, which later became the Main North Road. By 1853, this settlement had a hotel, a store, blacksmiths, a clothing shop, butchers, a chemist, dispensers, and a school room. Papanui Road was one of the first roads built outside the city boundaries because of the demand for building materials in Christchurch. The Papanui Bridge was built over the Avon River in March 1852 to allow timber to be brought by bullock wagons directly into Market Square near the city center. By 1857, sawmilling had brought the Papanui village population to 692, compared to Christchurch's 953 in the same year.

Most of the trees were felled by 1857, and market gardening and orchards started to flourish. The land around Papanui was very fertile for farming once the swampy areas were drained. More immigrants settled here, crops were sown, and sheep and dairy farms were established. Wheat and wool exports became a main source of income. From the mid-1880s, frozen mutton shipments from the Canterbury Frozen Meat Company in Belfast to the U.K. grew, eventually becoming the main export earner. In the 1890s, butter shipments, with the Fernleaf brand, joined the export trade. As Christchurch continued to grow, farms were sold for residential and commercial developments, and Papanui became part of Christchurch city in 1923.

One of the first buildings was the Sawyers Arms Hotel, opened by Robert Carr, an American. It was on Main North Road near Sawyers Arms Road, which got its name from the hotel. Henry Roil was also a partner in the hotel in the early days. The hotel burned down twice. The first time was in November 1874, and it reopened in June 1875. The second fire was in September 1898, and it was rebuilt and renamed The Phoenix.