Historic HB: Coote Rd named for officer
This view of Bluff Hill, Napier, was taken in 1876. The road which goes before the fence and up the hill is Coote Rd.
According to Ian Mills book, What's in a name: The streets of Napier, the road was named for Sir Eyre Coote, a commander in India in the 1700s. Buildings on Bluff Hill at this time included the Napier Prison, the asylum, Samuel Williams' and Bishop William Williams' houses, a lighthouse and Hukarere Native Girls' School.
Water reservoirs were built in 1876 in Sealy Road, and when a second was added, water was supplied to among other places, Coote Road.
The development of the outer harbour, known as the breakwater harbour, which began in the 1880s, meant a road was needed from the town side of the hill, which became Breakwater Rd.
