Mount Cook is an inner suburb of the metropolitan area of
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
,
The North Island,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, 1.74 km dead south of
Wellington's Central Business District. Its local constituency area is the
Wellington Central, and is part of the City of Wellington local government area. The suburb stands on the southern fringe of the central city alongside
Te Aro
Te Aro (formerly also known as Te Aro Flat) is an inner-city suburb of Wellington, New Zealand. It comprises the southern part of the central business district including the majority of the city's entertainment district and covers the mostly fla ...
and to the north of
Newtown.
History
![Wright St 19](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Wright_St_19.jpg)
After being settled by Maori since roughly 1000 CE, the Mount Cook area was situated on a fertile hill, just south of
Te Aro Pā. The hill was the origin-point of the original survey marks through Wellington. It was given its current name by the
New Zealand Company
The New Zealand Company, chartered in the United Kingdom, was a company that existed in the first half of the 19th century on a business model focused on the systematic colonisation of New Zealand. The company was formed to carry out the principl ...
, after Captain James Cook (the
mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...
in the
South Island
The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
was named separately), and was the suite of a large British military base, and later a prison that was "loathed by Wellingtonians", and demolished in 1931.
During the Victorian and Edwardian eras, Mt Cook became a favoured suburb of Wellington's elite, and many palatial mansions, such as the timber houses known as "
painted ladies
In American architecture, painted ladies are Victorian and Edwardian houses and buildings repainted, starting in the 1960s, in three or more colors that embellish or enhance their architectural details. The term was first used for San Francisco ...
", were constructed along the Kent and Edward Terrace rivers; After the
Earthquake of 1855, many were built around what was now the
Basin Reserve
The Basin Reserve (commonly known as "The Basin") is a cricket ground in Wellington, New Zealand. It has been used for Test matches, and is the main home ground for the Wellington Firebirds first-class team. The Basin Reserve is the only cricke ...
. Densely populated mid-to-postwar Wellington had all eyes on Mount Cook, where the
Dominion Museum
The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...
and the
carillon
A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a keyboard and consists of at least 23 cast-bronze bells. The bells are hung in fixed suspension and tuned in chromatic order so that they can be sounded harmoniou ...
opened for the country's 100th anniversary of the
Treaty of Waitangi
The Treaty of Waitangi ( mi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a document of central importance to the history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in the treatment of the M ...
, in 1940. 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
Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...
and the
National War Memorial, and, to cricketers locally and around the world, the Basin Reserve.
Demographics
Mount Cook, comprising the statistical areas of Mount Cook West and Mount Cook East, covers .
It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km
2.
![Mount Cook Police Barracks 059](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Mount_Cook_Police_Barracks_059.jpg)
Mount Cook had a population of 6,858 at the
2018 New Zealand census
Eighteen or 18 may refer to:
* 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19
* one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018
Film, television and entertainment
* ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...
, an increase of 255 people (3.9%) since the
2013 census, and an increase of 345 people (5.3%) since the
2006 census
6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number.
In mathematics
Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...
. There were 2,529 households. There were 3,363 males and 3,498 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.96 males per female, with 360 people (5.2%) aged under 15 years, 3,864 (56.3%) aged 15 to 29, 2,295 (33.5%) aged 30 to 64, and 336 (4.9%) aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 73.2% European/Pākehā, 10.3% Māori, 4.1% Pacific peoples, 17.6% Asian, and 5.9% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities).
The proportion of people born overseas was 36.6%, compared with 27.1% nationally.
Although some people objected to giving their religion, 63.7% had no religion, 20.6% were Christian, 3.2% were Hindu, 1.7% were Muslim, 1.9% were Buddhist and 4.0% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 2,595 (39.9%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 321 (4.9%) people had no formal qualifications. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 3,366 (51.8%) people were employed full-time, 1,188 (18.3%) were part-time, and 513 (7.9%) were unemployed.
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
* Mount Cook School is a state co-educational full (years 1–8) primary school.
It has a roll of as of
*
Massey University
Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...
's Wellington campus
References
External links
Mount Cook school website
{{coord, -41.301764, 174.774031, region:NZ-WGN_type:city(4851), format=dms, display=title
Suburbs of Wellington City