In 2013 a history of the Peninsula written by local resident, George Singleton, was published as a KPCA project. “Our Place in the Sun” remains the best immediate source of information about the history and development of the Peninsula (copy available at the Frankton Library).
Undoubtedly, Tangata Whenua walked the Peninsula long before the arrival of European explorers, Waitaha, Katimamoe and then Kai Tahu iwi. Indeed, the Peninsula was known as Te Nuku-o-Hākitekura, The Place of Hākitekura, a name handed down in the Māori oral tradition. The story of Hākitekura, including her legendary swim which gave the Peninsula its te reo name, is described by Peninsula resident Warren Skerrett.
George Singleton notes that, although there is now no evidence of permanent occupation, there are reports of adzes and other tools found in the Bay View area and several substantial Maori oven sites.
In 1863 William Rees relocated his family to ‘the Falls’, as he named his homestead and run. He named the hill behind, ‘Peninsula Hill’ (often now referred to locally as Deer Park Heights) and the Peninsula simply that: ‘the Peninsula’. In the 1920s a tourist launch made brief stopovers on the beach area which became known as Kelvin Grove, after the name of the boat. (The name, Kelvin Grove, may have been inspired by the park in Glasgow called Kelvingrove.) ‘Kelvin’ came to be applied more generally, as in Kelvin Heights and Kelvin Peninsula. Thanks to the efforts of Dickson (Cap) Jardine, with the support of the QLDC and KPCA, the name, ‘Kelvin Peninsula’, was recognised as the official name by the New Zealand Geographic Board in 1999. In 2022, KPCA added the te reo Māori name, Te Nuku-o-Hākitekura, to its sign at the entrance of the Peninsula to recognise and pay tribute to what came before ‘Kelvin”, as described in Peninsula Names
The Peninsula was first subdivided in 1958. The survey plan named the development as the Township of Kawarau Falls and included Willow Place, Peninsula, Loop, Mincher, Lewis and Bay View Roads. Jardine Park was created at the same time and gifted to the community as a recreational reserve. Similarly, the Willow Place and Bay View reserves were created, linked by a continuous reserve from the Grove to the William Rees reserve, providing access to the water.
