page_title: Onerahi
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Onerahi / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph of an old wind battered (probably native) tree beyond which can be seen the harbour and Onerahi wharf with high masted ships at it. A woman (probably Laura Godber, the photographer's wife) is leaning against the trunk of the tree. Photographed by A P Godber in 1912. Dated from other images in the Godber Album.
context_page_description: Onerahi is a seaside suburb of Whangārei, New Zealand's northern most city. It is the city's only seaside suburb.
  It is located 9 km south-east of the centre of Whangārei and is principally a peninsula in the Whangārei Harbour, which empties into the Pacific Ocean.
  The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "long beach" for Onerahi.
  The suburb's main feature is Whangarei Airport, located on the large flat area at the southern end of the suburb, which was built up using material from the site of a former Maori Pa just to the north.
  There are two concentric roads around the seaward plateau; the upper one surrounds the airport, and the lower follows the coast.
  The suburb is connected to Whangarei via the Onerahi Causeway.
  Close to the suburb in the harbour is Motu Matakohe or Limestone Island, now being managed to restore its ecosystems.
context_section_description: The land for the town was purchased by Henry Walton and William Smellie Graham from Te Tirarau in the mid-1860s. It was then called Kaiwaka Point, but they renamed it Grahamtown. In 1912 it was renamed again to Onerahi (one - which means "beach" and rahi - which can be translated to mean "long and wide") to prevent a conflict with Grahamstown in the Coromandel.
  From 1911 to 1933, Onerahi was also served by a branch line railway from the North Auckland Line known as the Onerahi Branch.  It was built to provide access to a wharf in Onerahi and when coastal shipping declined severely in the 1930s, the railway was closed.  Part of its formation has been retained as a walking track.
  Whangarei Airport was established in May 1939 as a RNZAF training base. It was later converted to civilian use with commercial flights commencing in 1947, and has served the Whangarei District since.
caption: View.of Onerahi Wharf circa 1912
exif: {}