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Story: Rural services

Building roads

Image
Building roads

These men are breaking rocks for surfacing a road in Northland, about 1910. Roads and railways were essential to open up land for farming in remote areas. They allowed provisions and equipment to be brought into an area to develop it – and farm produce to be taken out to market.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, Northwood Collection (PA-Group-00027)

Reference: 1/1-010600; G

by Northwood Brothers

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Nancy Swarbrick, Rural services – Overview, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/18537/building-roads (accessed 14 June 2026).

Story by Nancy Swarbrick, published 1 March 2009.