Mount Cook is an inner city suburb of Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. It is located 1.74 km south of Wellington's central business district. It is part of Wellington Central electorate and lies within the City of Wellington local government area. A hill in the location was named 'Cook's Mount' by the New Zealand Company, after explorer James Cook, but the name later changed to 'Mount Cook'.

History

Māori settlement The Māori name of Mount Cook hill is Pukeahu ('raised hill'). When European settlers arrived in 1840, they found remnants of an abandoned pā on top of the hill. Māori used the Hauwai swamp at the base of Pukeahu (the present-day Basin Reserve) as a source of eels, fish and flax, and gardened on the slopes around Pukeahu and near present-day Nairn Street. In September 1839, Te Āti Awa chiefs Te Puni and Wharepōuri signed a deed of purchase ceding land at Wellington to the New Zealand Company. A tenth of their lands including "Cook's Mount" were to be reserved as 'native reserves' "and held in trust by them for the future benefit of the said chiefs, their families, and their heirs for ever".

Military, prison and police use Although Mount Cook was supposed to be set aside as a native reserve, a rudimentary prison was established there in 1840. Troops were stationed at Mount Cook from 1843, and a two-storeyed brick prison, solid but unhealthy, was built on the hilltop. Expansion of the military base required more Māori land, and the top of the hill was lowered by about 14 metres to create more flat land. Mount Cook became Wellington's main fortification, although a report by the Royal Engineers in 1852 noted that since it was on the edge of the city it offered no protection to Wellington. The government bought more land from Māori in 1874, and additional military buildings were built in the 1870s and 1880s. A barracks became temporary quarters for newly-arrived assisted immigrants.

In the 1880s, Te Aro was growing fast and crime was increasing. Planning for a new prison had begun, to replace the immigration barracks. A brick police station opened at Mount Cook in 1894. More of the hill was lowered and levelled for the prison building, but by 1900 only one wing of the proposed eight-wing prison had been completed, and the site was taken over by the military for use as stores and barracks. The barracks became known as Alexandra Barracks. The imposing building loomed over Te Aro and was "loathed by Wellingtonians". It was demolished in 1931.

More buildings for military use were constructed in the early 20th century, including the Defence Stores Office (later known as the General Headquarters Building) on the corner of Buckle and Taranaki streets which was completed in 1912 and declared a Historic Place Category 2 in 2003.

During the Victorian and Edwardian eras, Mt Cook became a favoured suburb of Wellington's elite. Many palatial mansions, such as the timber houses known as "painted ladies", were constructed. After the 1855 Wairarapa earthquake, many homes were built around what is now the Basin Reserve. The Dominion Museum and the carillon opened in the 1930s. Over the span of its history, Mount Cook has become known for its culture of bohemianism and preservation of uniquely Wellingtonian Victorian architecture. Mount Cook's attractions and institutions include the Colonial Cottage Museum, the Wellington campus of Massey University and the National War Memorial, and the Basin Reserve.

Demographics Mount Cook, comprising the statistical areas of Mount Cook North, Mount Cook South and Mount Cook East, covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2.

Mount Cook had a population of 6,690 in the 2023 New Zealand census, a decrease of 171 people (−2.5%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 87 people (1.3%) since the 2013 census. There were 3,183 males, 3,309 females, and 198 people of other genders in 2,727 dwellings. 18.6% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. The median age was 26.7 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 360 people (5.4%) aged under 15 years, 3,606 (53.9%) aged 15 to 29, 2,298 (34.3%) aged 30 to 64, and 423 (6.3%) aged 65 or older.

People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 69.5% European (Pākehā); 11.8% Māori; 4.1% Pasifika; 20.5% Asian; 6.5% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 1.8% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 96.7%, Māori by 3.2%, Samoan by 1.1%, and other languages by 25.3%. No language could be spoken by 1.0% (e.g. too young to talk). New Zealand Sign Language was known by 0.6%. The percentage of people born overseas was 37.5, compared with 28.8% nationally.

Religious affiliations were 18.4% Christian, 3.1% Hindu, 3.4% Islam, 0.4% Māori religious beliefs, 2.0% Buddhist, 0.7% New Age, 0.4% Jewish, and 2.3% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 64.7%, and 4.9% of people did not answer the census question.

Of those at least 15 years old, 2,688 (42.5%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 2,811 (44.4%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 831 (13.1%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $36,500, compared with $41,500 nationally. 765 people (12.1%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was 3,351 (52.9%) full-time, 1,161 (18.3%) part-time, and 399 (6.3%) unemployed.

+Individual statistical areasName Area(km2) Population Density(per km2) Dwellings Median age Medianincome Mount Cook North 0.26 2,964 11,400 1,344 27.3 years $33,200 Mount Cook South 0.35 1,077 3,077 393 28.5 years $51,300 Mount Cook East 0.44 2,646 6,014 993 25.6 years $35,100 New Zealand 38.1 years $41,500

Education Wellington High School and Community Education Centre is a state co-educational secondary (years 9–15) school. It has a roll of as of It opened in 1886 as Wellington College of Design, in an existing building on the Featherston Street and Branston Street corner. In 1891 it moved into its own building on Mercer Street and became Wellington Technical College. It moved again to Wakefield Street in 1899, and to Taranaki Street in 1922. The school's name changed from Wellington Technical High School to Wellington High School in 1964.

Mount Cook School is a state co-educational full (years 1–8) primary school. It has a roll of as of It opened in 1875 as Buckle Street Girls' School, with a boys' school sharing the site until it moved to its own premises in 1878 to become Taranaki Street Boys' School. Mt Cook Infants' School opened across the road from the girls' school in 1877. The three schools merged into Mount Cook Main School on Buckle Street in 1926. It moved to Tory Street in the mid 1970s.

Massey University's Wellington campus is in Mount Cook.

References

External links Mount Cook school website