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On December 13 1945, Hamilton achieved city status. It was estimated that the population of Hamilton had reached 20,000 people, the threshold then necessary for Hamilton to be declared a city. The city is based in the Waikato region in the North Island of New Zealand. The area now covered by the city was originally the site of a handful of Māori villages (kāinga), including Pukete, Miropiko and Kirikiriroa ("long stretch of gravel'), from which the city takes its Māori name. At the end of the Waikato Campaign in the New Zealand Wars the four regiments of the Waikato Militia were settled as a peace-keeping force across the region. The 1st Regiment was at Tauranga, the 2nd at Pirongia, the 3rd at Cambridge, and the 4th at Kirikiriroa. The settlement was founded on 24 August 1864 and named by Colonel William Moule after Captain John Fane Charles Hamilton, the popular Scottish commander of HMS Esk, who was killed in the battle of Gate Pā, Tauranga.

The road from Auckland reached Hamilton in 1867 and the railway in December 1877. That same month, the towns of Hamilton West and Hamilton East merged under a single borough council. The first traffic bridge between Hamilton West and Hamilton East, known as the Union Bridge, opened in 1879. It was replaced by the Victoria Bridge in 1910. Hamilton is growing annually, with populations of 209,300 for the urban area and 150,200 for the territorial authority as of June 2013. More than 80 ethnic groups are represented within Hamilton's population. The main area of population growth is in the Flagstaff-Rototuna area. With its large tertiary student population at Wintec and Waikato University, approximately 40,000 tertiary students, Hamilton has a significant transient population and is the second fastest growing population centre after Auckland. Hamilton is one of the few cities in the world that has a near-exact antipodal city – Córdoba, Spain. The images presented here are from the Former Post and telegraph Museum holdings, transferred to Archives New Zealand via New Zealand Post. These items can be viewed in our Wellington Reading Room. AAME 8106 W5603 121 11/2/53 For updates on our On This Day series and news from Archives New Zealand, follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/ArchivesNZ