History of the Museum The founding and building of Auckland
Museum Auckland War Memorial Museum stands on the hill known by
Maori as Pukekawa. It has occupied this site since 1929 when
subscriptions raised by Aucklanders in remembrance of their war
dead, enabled the construction of what is considered one of New
Zealand’s finest heritage buildings. To this day, Auckland War
Memorial Museum is a touchstone of remembrance for families and
returned service personnel who wish to honour their loved ones
and fallen comrades. Prior to 1929, Auckland Museum occupied
premises in central Auckland, beginning life in a two-room farm
cottage in the suburb of Grafton. With one room for the Museum’s
fledgling collections and one room for the curator, New
Zealand’s first museum soon outgrew this site, relocating to
what was the Provincial Council Building in 1867 before moving
once again to the old Post Office building in Princes Street
three years later. The Museum’s first custom-built premises, to
which it moved in 1876, we