Barney's Building and Hynds

Ghost signs are old painted signs that have been left on buildings for a long time and no longer relate to the current use of the place. There are other ghosts, names on buildings incorporated in the plaster on the façade that also relate to the past. They are not ghost buildings as they are still in use.

Corner of Maunganui Road and Pacific Avenue early 1930s taken from Hupokiore (Mt Drury)
Postcard published by National Publicity Studios, Collection of Justine Neal

Two of these are in Maunganui Road at the corner of Pacific Avenue. Although often a nickname the Barneys Building on the façade of the building on the corner refers to James (Jim) Barney and the little building next door named Hynds refers to A.S. Hynds the original owner.

Louise Fenton and friend Christine near Barney’s in 1968
Photograph collection and courtesy of Justine Neal

James Barney was a carpenter in Te Puke before he moved to Mount Maunganui with his wife and children, Marion, George and Val, in the early 1920s. He bought sections, one in Victoria Road for a store, and he built a house backing onto the store next door in Pacific Avenue. Jack Kelly owned the section on the corner of Pacific Avenue and Maunganui Road in the same block and he built a store there. In 1936 the Barney store burned down and Jim Barney bought Kelly’s building. This was the busy part of the town in the 1930s and 40s.

The Barney family were involved in local activities at the Mount including the Domain Board, Golf, Rugby, Croquet Clubs and Plunket Society. Mrs. Barney provided a room for the Red Cross at the back of the shop for meetings and storage. This was the time when the population of the town was 3000, growing to 15000 during the holiday season. Over time ownership changed but its general purpose was the same, a general store or superette. Colin Neal bought the building in 1971 and operated a Four Square business until 1976, also selling buckets, spades and beach gear. Today the ground floor consists of two shops: Downtown Foodmarket, a dairy with a liquor licence, and Tank, a juice bar on the corner. Upstairs an architect has his premises.

Barney’s Building and Hynds Building, 2021
Photograph by Shirley Arabin

On Maunganui Road the adjacent single-story building has the word Hynds on the façade. The photograph of the intersection taken from Hopukiori (Mount Drury) in the 1930s shows Hynds Butchery standing and the Barney site empty. A.S. Hynds was a butcher in Tauranga with a chain of shops including one on The Strand and this one at the Mount. Today it is the premises of Mount Fish & Chips.