MEMORIAL SQUARE

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 299, 14 September 1937, Page 6

MEMORIAL SQUARE

Situated at the corner of High Street and Park Road, the Memorial Square is one of the attractions of Carterton. Neatly laid out with lawns and flowerbeds and planted with ornamental trees and shrubs, with asphalt paths leading to a memorial stone, on which is inscribed the names of all

those from the district who fell in the Great War, the square was founded unwittingly by Mr. William Parker, one

of Carterton’s original settlers. In place of the native bush which originally' stood on his ten-acre section he planted English trees and laid out a

garden surrounding his home some 70

or SO years ago. By 1920 the old settler

had long passed away, the garden had ceased to be, but the trees had flourished and remained tall, silent sentinels around the neglected area. The property had been surveyed for disposal as business sites, but a proposal to acquire the whole of the frontage to High Street with a depth

Of 305 feet to Park Road was enthusi-

astically taken up by the then mayor,

Mr. W. Howard Booth. Under his

leadership an energetic committee was formed, funds were raised by donations, subscriptions, bazaars, shop days,

Paddy’s markets, and so on, the pro-

perty was acquired, and the square was roaded, fenced and laid out as it is to-day. In 1932 the square was handed over to the Carterton Borough and the South Wairarapa County conjointly, and a surplus of £7OO now provides an income for its upkeep.