Although Northern Wairoa Memorial Park in Dargaville was first established in 1919, it seems that it was not formally dedicated until 1956. On 28 August 1919 a public meeting was held to decide on a suitable war memorial for the Northern Wairoa area (Dargaville Borough and neighbouring Hobson and Otamatea Counties). Proposals included erecting a band rotunda on the town’s esplanade, setting up a memorial institute, buying the Dargaville Club for a soldiers’ club, and establishing a memorial park. The last was the favoured option (a few years later a memorial band rotunda was also built). Eighteen acres of low-lying land were bought at Mangawhare, across the Kaihu River from the town. In 1922 this land was transferred in trust to the Dargaville Borough Council.
Despite recurring proposals to build war memorial gates, the park then languished for some years. Some work was undertaken by returned soldiers employed on relief schemes during the Depression years and a grandstand was erected nearby in 1938. However, after the Second World War, the redevelopment of the park was mooted as part of a community war memorial project. In December 1954 tenders were called for the erection of croquet and bowling pavilions and war memorial gates.
The memorial gates were officially unveiled on 10 November 1956. They display a granite plaque inscribed as follows:
NORTHERN WAIROA / MEMORIAL PARK / DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY / OF THOSE WHO DIED / FOR OUR FREEDOM / IN THE GREAT WARS / 1914-1918 / 1939-1945.
Sources: ‘Dargaville’s War Memorials’, Northern Advocate, 3/9/1919, p. 1; ‘War Memorial’, Northern Advocate, 1/12/1923, p. 5; ‘Red Cross Funds: Hobson County’s Portion’, NZ Herald, 21/8/1926, p. 14; ‘Red Cross Funds’, Auckland Star, 24/8/1926, p. 9; ‘Memorial at Dargaville’, NZ Herald, 2/11/1927, p. 10; Reserve Management Plan: Northern Wairoa Memorial Park, Kaipara District Council, July 2015.
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