Tokanui has a fire station,[5] public halls, school, store, garage, pub, recycling area[6] and a Rugby Club.[3] A mobile library visits once a month.[7]
History
There have been several archaeological finds on the coast south of Tokanui and a couple further up the valley,[8] including an adze (Māori: toki) at Quarry Hills.[9] The area was part of the 1853 Murihiku purchases (6,900,000 acres (28,000 km2) bought by the government for £2,600),[10][11] the injustices of which have since been partly redressed by the 1998 Ngāi Tahu Settlement.[12] Peter Dalrymple (1813-1901)[13] started a sheep station in 1857,[14] which he sold in 1878.[15] Around 1880 work started on draining what had been a wetland area and, in 1883, a road was built linking Fortrose and Waikawa, thus facilitating government sales of land to settlers.[16] However, the road was still very muddy in 1885.[17] A post office opened in 1887[18] and a dairy factory on 29 November 1897,[19] which closed in 1945.[20] A cemetery, opened in about 1891,[21] where 22 graves are listed.[22] There were flaxmills in the area from at least 1899[23] to 1930.[24] A police station opened in 1918.[25] In 1926 the first petrol pump was put in by Tokanui Motor Company.[26] Tokanui Medical Centre was formerly Golden Memorial Maternity Hospital, named after Thomas Golden, a Southland Hospital Board member,[27] and opened about 1956.[28]
There were several sawmills, milling trees such as rimu.[30] Bauchop's mill burnt down in 1912[31] and narrowly escaped another fire in 1917.[32] There were 3 timber mills in 1921.[33] Some of the sawmills were linked to their bush by tramways, between at least 1902[34] and 1925.[35] One extended 2.5 km (1.6 mi) from the railway station towards Waikawa.[36]
Tokanui was allocated £41 13s 4d[40] towards the building of a 60 ft (18 m) x 30 ft (9.1 m) Coronation Hall,[41] which opened on 13 October 1911.[42] It was burnt down in 1949.[43] The first replacement Memorial Hall was built in 1954,[44] however, it was also burnt down by an arsonist in 1965. The replacement was rather larger 12 m (39 ft) x 20 m (66 ft), built on a different site. and opened in 1967.[45] There is also a Lions Club, which was started in 1979.[46]
Railway station
Tokanui railway station in 1956
Tokanui was a flag station at the eastern terminus of the Tokanui Branch railway line, operating from Invercargill, 37 mi 67 ch (60.9 km) away.[47] The line was extended 8 mi 11 ch (13.1 km) and with gradients as steep as 1 in 50,[48] from Waimahaka to Tokanui, the official opening being on Wednesday 20 September 1911, initially with trains on Saturdays and Tuesdays.[49] From time to time trains ran daily,[50] but mainly ran only a few days a week.[51][52] Trains were speeded up in 1924, cutting the journey time to Invercargill to 2h 25m.[53] A request for a stationmaster was rejected in 1920,[54] so that Waimahaka remained the only station on the line with a stationmaster and all records of traffic on the line show only that station.[55]
A 1910 contract for the station buildings at Te Peka and Tokonui was won by P A Lyders of Dunedin for £1827. They were finished by August 1911, when Tokanui had a station building, platform, 30 ft (9.1 m) x 20 ft (6.1 m) goods shed, loading bank, cattle yards, coal shed, 5 sidings, an engine shed and, in 1912, also a turntable. The engine shed closed on 1 January 1960. There was a Post Office at the station from 6 February 1953 to 31 March 1966.[53] Although electric power reached Tokanui in 1926,[56] it wasn't until 1932 that it lit the stockyards, 1936 when it was noted a railway house had electricity and 1946 for station lighting. There were 3 railway houses in 1912 and another was added in 1919. On Sunday, 31 July 1966 the station closed to all traffic.[47] Apart from a large flat area, nothing remains of the station,[57] except part of the platform.[58]
Former adjoining stations
Pukewao Line closed, station closed 3.85 km (2.39 mi)[59]
Tokanui is a name made up of the Māori words for rock (toka) and large, or many (nui). It is used for 6 locations in North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui),[61] including Tokanui, Waikato, though there the name is thought to be a corruption of tāiko nui, a large petrel.[62] On 3 February 1912 a proposal was made to change the name of the railway station from Tokonui to Tokanui.[47] However, for over 30 years the names were often used interchangeably.[63]
Demographics
By 1911 Tokanui had a population of 119,[64] but in 2013 the population of meshblock 3096200 was 66 and 3096900 was 45.[65] The 1944 map[66] and 1956 aerial photos show settlement around the railway station and dairy factory.[67][68] Since then buildings have been enlarged and altered and driveways added, but the pattern of development remains similar.[69]
Sewage
A sewage treatment plant, built in 1972, to the west of Tokanui, beside the river puts up to 55 m3 (12,000 imp gal)/day of treated waste into the river. The effect on river quality is claimed to be minimal.[70]
Education
Tokanui School opened about 1885, a temporary teacher was appointed in 1886 and Tokanui School was built in 1887.[71] When it opened it had with a roll of 14 students.[72] The school was enlarged in 1993,[73] when Fortrose, Ōtara and Quarry Hills schools closed.[74] It is now a co-educational contributing primary school for years 1 to 8[75] with a roll of 51 students as of November 2024.[76] The 2018 Education Review Office report said there were then 110 pupils.[77] Children are brought to the school on 4 bus routes, serving the south coast from Fortrose to Waikawa and north to Fortification.[78] A 2009 proposal to move Fortrose students to Waimahaka School was opposed by parents and Tokanui School.[79] Waimahaka School closed in 2012.[80]
Quarry Hills school, probably in 1891
Quarry Hills
Quarry Hills is a scattered settlement, 9 km (5.6 mi) east of Tokanui.[81] In 2013 meshblock 309671, which covers a large area, to the edge of Tokanui, had a population of 69 and meshhblock 3096800, to the south of the main road, had 18.
In 1891 a post office opened.[82] Waikawa Valley school opened in 1891[83] and was renamed Quarry Hills in 1893.[84] A cemetery opened in about 1895[85] and a public hall in 1928.[86] The hall closed between 1968 and 1976[87] and the school closed in 1993 and is now a house.[88] A war memorial was erected in 1920.[89] Quarrying ended about 1920[90] and had restarted by 1970,[91] but the quarry is now closed.[92]
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