| 1769 |
Captain James Cook sails across the Bay of Plenty in the Endeavour |
| 1820 |
Rev.Samuel Marsden sees the Tauranga Harbour from the top of Mount Hikurangi near Waihi between the warring tribes |
| 1834 |
Site for Mission Station at Te Papa (Tauranga) chosen by A.N.Brown and William Williams |
| 1835 |
Mission Station at Te Papa opened by William Wade
Several flax traders operating in the area: Tapsell, Dillon, Farrow
|
| 1836 |
Continued fighting amongst Maori tribes. Mission Station evacuated. |
| 1837 |
Rev J.A.Wilson to Mission Station |
| 1838 |
Rev A.N.Brown and family arrive at Te Papa
Purchase of first block of land by Brown for CMS
|
| 1839 |
Second land purchase (3000 acres) |
| 1840 |
John Lees Faulkner, trader, settled at Otumoetai
Treaty signed at Maungatapu Pa by Nuka, but Tupaea (Otumoetai) refuses to sign
Roman Catholic Mission established at Otumoetai |
| 1841 |
Ernst Dieffenbach visits Te Papa |
| 1842 |
Trouble over a stolen boat. Troops on Mount Drury (Hopukiore) for 4 months |
| 1845 |
Death of Marsh Brown, son of the Archdeacon
Peace treaty between Arawa and Ngaiterangi.
Peace stones set up at Maketu and Otumoetai |
| 1852 |
HMS Pandora's survey of Tauranga Harbour |
| 1855 |
Death of Charlotte Brown, wife of A.N.Brown, in Auckland. |
| 1857 |
First steamship enters Tauranga harbour. Name unknown. |
| 1859 |
Visit of Dr Hochstetter, geologist
Celia Brown marries Rev John Kinder |
| 1860 |
Henry Tacy Clarke appointed Resident Magistrate at Tauranga
Archdeacon Brown marries Christina Johnston |
| 1864 |
Military occupation of Tauranga
Battle of Gate Pa
Battle of Te Ranga
Gov. George Grey takes part in formal peacemaking with Maori
Land west of Waimapu confiscated |
| 1865 |
Rev C. Volkner murdered at Opotiki |
| 1866 |
Military settlers taking up farm and town lots |
| 1868 |
School opened in Durham Redoubt |
| 1869 |
Fear of attack by Te Kooti's followers
Opepe massacre - 9 Tauranga men killed |
| 1870 |
Tauranga Highways District and Tauranga North Highways District Boards established
Telegraphic communication with Wellington established |
| 1871 |
Town Wharf built
Mechanics Institute (library, reading room and museum) set up |
| 1872 |
Bay of Plenty Times established
Anthony Trollope passes through Tauranga en route to the Hot Lakes
Public School opened |
| 1873 |
Rev A.N.Brown buys 17 acres from CMS, which he names The Elms
Springwell Brewery opened
Branch of Bank of New Zealand opened
Canon Charles Jordan (Holy Trinity) arrives in Tauranga |
| 1874 |
Foundation stone of wooden government building laid
First Wairoa Bridge opens |
| 1875 |
George Vesey Stewart's Special Settlers arrive on the Carisbrooke Castle for Katikati |
| 1876 |
Greerton School opens |
| 1878 |
Victoria Wharf at foot of Harington Street completed
Work on Sulphur Works begins
Lady Jocelyn arrives with second party of Special Settlers
Population 793 |
| 1880 |
Fire Brigade established under Asher Asher |
| 1881 |
Lady Jocelyn arrives with Te Puke settlers |
| 1882 |
Tauranga gazetted a Borough
George Vesey Stewart elected first Mayor
Population 1258
Hairini Bridge completed |
| 1884 |
Tauranga cheese and bacon factory opened
Death of Archdeacon Brown |
| 1885 |
Deer released by Acclimatisation Society |
| 1886 |
Tarawera eruption
Second primary school opened |
| 1888 |
First land sale at Mount Maunganui |
| 1889 |
Land sale at Te Puna |
| 1891 |
Population 1055 |
| 1892 |
Phonograph heard for the first time in Tauranga |
| 1895 |
Otumoetai school opens |
| 1896 |
Te Puna school opened |
| 1897 |
A.H.Whitehouse, first person to make moving pictures in New Zealand, gives Kinematograph show in Tauranga |
| 1900 |
First municipal lamppost erected |
| 1901 |
Population 945 |
| 1902 |
Government Buildings destroyed by fire
Foundation stone for Edward VII Esplanade laid
New concrete retaining wall built along Strand |
| 1903 |
First motor car seen in Tauranga |
| 1905 |
Opening of school at Oropi |
| 1907 |
Tauranga District High School formed |
| 1908 |
Telephone system installed with 21 subscribers
Survey of Tauranga-Waihi-Te Puke railway reaches Tauranga |
| 1909 |
Gasworks built
Faulkner's regular ferry service to Mount begins |
| 1910 |
First sod of railway line between Mount Maunganui and Te Puke turned |
| 1911 |
First vehicles licensed
First septic tank completed
Population 1346 |
| |
Tauranga Harbour Board formed
Train service Mount Maunganui to Te Puke |
| 1914 |
First Tauranga Hospital opened
First recorded motor car accident in Tauranga
Foundation Stone of Town Hall laid |
| 1915 |
Omanawa Falls Power Station completed, and lights turned on in borough
Public sewer installed |
| 1917 |
School at Ohauiti |
| 1918 |
School at Tauriko
Electric light turned on in Otumoetai |
| 1919 |
First bus service |
| 1920 |
First swordfish caught in Mayor Island waters
First plane to visit Tauranga - seaplane carrying Bishop Cleary
X-ray outfit for hospital |
| 1921 |
Population 2,241 |
| 1922 |
Filming of My Lady of the Cave on Mayor Island
Avro bi-plane landed on Waikareao estuary |
| 1923 |
First planting of trees on Matakana Island |
| 1924 |
Foundation stone of new hospital laid
Driving of the last rivet on the Matapihi railway bridge
First train over the bridge
Opening of Strand station |
| 1925 |
McLarens Falls Power station commissioned
Further plantings of pinus radiata on Matakana Island |
| 1928 |
Railway connection to Auckland completed |
| 1931 |
School at Pahoia |
| 1932 |
Aero and Gliding Club formed
Licensed grazing of cows on borough streets ends |
| 1933 |
Visit by aviator Kingsford-Smith |
| 1935 |
Site for airport negotiated at Whareroa |
| 1936 |
Cobalt applied as top-dressing cures bush sickness |
| 1937 |
Ladies Rest Room constructed on Spring Street |
| 1938 |
Post Office opened on the corner of Grey and Spring Streets |
| 1939 |
Airport officially opened
Airport taken over by the airforce |
| 1939-40 |
Kaimai road widened |
| 1941 |
Population of Tauranga 3910 |
| 1942 |
Gas company goes into liquidation |
| 1945 |
School at Pyes Pa
Co-educational college opened at Hillsdene |
| 1946 |
Gate Pa added to the borough |
| 1947 |
Commercial air services re-started
Polio epidemic |
| 1949 |
Chlorination plant completed
Otumoetai East and Judea added to the borough |
| 1950 |
Committee of enquiry decides to build deep water port at Mount Maunganui
Wreck of Ranui. 22 people drown. 1 survivor |
| 1951 |
School at Tauranga South
Population 7823 |
| 1953 |
Construction of Mount Wharf begins |
| 1955 |
Transfer of Yatton Park to Tauranga County Council |
| 1957 |
Merivale school opened
Pillans Point school opened
First shipment of logs to Japan |
| 1958 |
Hillsdene becomes Tauranga Boys' College
Tauranga Girls' College established on separate site |
| 1959 |
Maungatapu and part of Hairini added to the borough
Opening of Maungatapu bridge
Opening of road bridge over Waikareao to Otumoetai |
| 1961 |
First large scale street numbering undertaken
Otumoetai West added to borough
Population 14,150 |
| 1962 |
Inaugural meeting of The Elms Trust to help preserve Mission House |
| 1963 |
Fluoride added to water supply
Greerton added to the borough.
Tauranga becomes a city
First parking meters |
| 1964 |
New hospital block opens |
| 1965 |
Otumoetai College opens
Matua school opened
Work begins on Kaimai tunnel |
| 1966 |
Marineland opens at Mount Maunganui |
| 1967 |
First Friendship plane lands on newly sealed runway at airport |
| 1970 |
Sulphur Point reclamation begins
Cave-in in Kaimai Tunnel. 7 men killed
Tauranga Harbour Board becomes Bay of Plenty Harbour Board
Development of Judea industrial area begins |
| 1971 |
Bellevue school opens
R.A.Owens elected mayor of both Tauranga City and Mount Maunganui Borough
Willow Park opens (later Quality Hotel, then Hotel Armitage)
Population 26,800 |
| 1972 |
Vehicle testing station opens |
| 1973 |
Te Awanui waka launched
Spring Street Mall created |
| 1974 |
First escalator in the Bay of Plenty installed in Trust bank building
Transmission of colour television from Mount Te Aroha
Traffic lights erected at Elizabeth Street - Cameron Road crossing |
| 1976 |
Unveiling of statue on Stoney Point |
| 1978 |
First train through Kaimai Tunnel |
| 1981 |
Work on marina at Sulphur Point begins
Collapse of Ruahihi canal
Population 36,951 |
| 1983 |
Opening of Baycourt |
| 1985 |
Opening of Bayfair shopping centre |
| 1986 |
Fluoride removed from water supply |
| 1987 |
Tauranga Town Hall demolished |
| 1988 |
Tauranga Harbour Bridge completed
Bethlehem College opens |
| 1989 |
Tauranga and Mount Maunganui Councils amalgamate.
Name of Tauranga City changed to Tauranga District Council.
Tauranga County Council becomes the Western Bay of Plenty District CouncilBay of Plenty Harbour Board becomes Port of Tauranga Ltd
New Tauranga central library opens |
| 1990 |
Keith Clarke elected mayor of Tauranga District Council |
| 1991 |
Population 67,333 |
| 1992 |
New wharves opened at Sulphur Point
Opening of Waikareao Expressway |
| 1993 |
Masonic Hotel (built 1865) demolished |
| 1995 |
Mainstreet programmes cause major redevelopment of downtown areas at Tauranga and Mount Maunganui
Tauranga parking building opens on Durham Street
Oceanside Hotel at Mount Maunganui demolished for high-rise apartments
Baypark Speedway closes |
| 1996 |
Up to 30 new housing subdivisions underway
Planning to upgrade the airport to cater for international flights
Population 77,775
Cinema 6 opens
Bridge Marina opens
Tahatai school opens
"Project Phoenix" rejuvenates Mount Maunganui main streets |
| 1997 |
1997 Edgewater Fan development completed in Tauranga
Papamoa shopping centre opens
Selwyn Ridge School opens
Opening of upgraded water treatment plant in Joyce Road |
| 1998 |
1997 The Elms Mission property sold to The Elms Foundation
Cambridge Road tip closes
Maleme Street re-cycling station opens
Waikareao expressway changed to Takitimu Drive
High rise residential towers open at Mount Maunganui
Waitangi Tribunal hearings begin for Tauranga Moana
Bayfair upgrade
Airport upgrade
|
| 1999 |
Holy Trinity Church burns down
Old Post Office building, Willow Street, refurbished |
| 2000 |
Tug Taioma moved from 17th Avenue and sunk near Motiti as dive reef
Te Akau ki Papamoa school opens |
| 2001 |
First Woman Mayor elected - Jan Beange
Tolls come off harbour bridge |
| 2002 |
Fraser Cove shopping centre opens
Opening of new Baypark Speedway |
| 2003 |
Aquinas College opens |
| 2004 |
Population reaches 100,000
Tauranga District renamed Tauranga City
Artificial surf reef approved
The Strand waterfront redevelopment wins Creative NZ Award
Papamoa Hills Regional Park opens
Devonport Towers high rise building opens |