Editing Point Chevalier (section)

== History ==

===Early history and European settlement===
Before the European settlement of the Auckland isthmus in the 1840s, small Maori settlements existed in the area which later became Point Chevalier, including one at Meola Reef and a fishing settlement at Rangi-mata-rau (later Point Chevalier Beach). The latter was a staging point for shark fishing off Kauri Point on the inner Waitematā Harbour.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

The [[Arch Hill Highway District]] administered the area from 1871 until the Point Chevalier Road District was formed from part of the highway district on 16 July 1874. The district was dissolved in 1921 when the area was amalgamated into the [[City of Auckland]].<ref>{{cite book | last=Bloomfield | first=Gerald Taylor | title=The Evolution of Local Government Areas in Metropolitan Auckland, 1840-1971 | publisher=Auckland University Press | publication-place=Auckland | date=1973 | isbn=0-19-647714-X |page=124,127}}</ref>

As the city of Auckland grew, Point Chevalier gained strategic importance as it lay on what was then the main land route out of Auckland, the [[Great North Road, Auckland|Great North Road]]. Because of this, a military encampment was located here during the New Zealand Wars of the 1860s. The name 'Point Chevalier' comes from Captain George Robert Chevalier (1825 - 1871), a musketry instructor serving in the 65th Regiment, stationed at this camp.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

The Point Chevalier area had a largely rural character up until the period between the two World Wars.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

===As summer destination===

Coyle Park and Point Chevalier Beach were popular destinations for family outings during the interwar period, particularly in summer. Tramlines ran down Point Chevalier Road to Coyle Park, near the beach; during summer, special trams were laid on during summer to transport people from Grey Lynn, while buses brought others from [[Mount Albert, New Zealand|Mount Albert]] and [[West Auckland, New Zealand|West Auckland]] suburbs. Following the Second World War, the combination of increased car ownership and the [[Auckland Harbour Bridge]] (1959) resulted in a complete reversal of this activity. The once crowded beach was deserted, and the various businesses that had prospered on the summer trade closed down or relocated. Whilst the tramlines were removed during the 1950s, the broadness of Point Chevalier Road - otherwise atypical for a fairly small suburb - and the paved-over roundabout terminus near Coyle Park both remain as evidence of their presence.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

Due to sand loss and degradation over the 20th century, Point Chevalier Beach was resanded in 2008 with 16,000 cubic metres of sand from Pakiri Beach pumped onto the foreshore, creating a more usable beach area.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10551753 |title=Resanding Auckland's beaches |first=Bernard |last=Orsman |date=14 January 2009 |publisher=[[New Zealand Herald]] }}</ref> The resanding has attracted larger numbers of summer visitors in the years since, making the northern part of Point Chevalier busy (and sometimes congested with vehicles) on fine weekends and holidays and at festival times.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/auckland-city-harbour-news/9147486/Car-parking-madness-irks-Pt-Chev-residents |title=Car parking 'madness' irks Pt Chev residents |first=Emma |last=Whittaker |date=11 September 2013 |newspaper=Auckland City Harbour News}}</ref>

===Demographic changes===

Up until the 1980s Point Chevalier's population was largely blue-collar or elderly, the latter particularly due to the Selwyn Village retirement community (one of the largest in New Zealand).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10872729 |title=Property Report: So you want to live in... Pt Chevalier |first=Graham |last=Hepburn |date=5 March 2012 |publisher=[[New Zealand Herald]] }}</ref> Over the 1980s and 1990s the suburb became home to increasing numbers of young families and middle-class professionals. However, 2013 census data suggested that Point Chevalier experienced a strong decrease in its young adult population (ages 20–34) after 2001; analysts have ascribed this to the increasing cost of housing in the central-western suburbs of Auckland.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/data-blog/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503710&objectid=11342279 |title=Data blog: Mapping the young(ish) adults |date=14 October 2014 |publisher=[[New Zealand Herald]] }}</ref>