Jacobs Street in St Albans – Named after Henry Jacobs (1824-1901). Jacobs was the first headmaster of Christ’s College and dean of Christchurch Cathedral. One of three streets named in 1923 and formed on land that had been originally owned by the Anglican diocese. Sales of land were made for “increased revenue for Diocesan purposes”. First appears in street directories in 1925.
A small amount of information from the library website and there is a Wikipedia page for Henry Jacobs. He wrote a book called History of the Church in New Zealand plus some poetry. These are available at the library for in library use only. I did find his book online and you can read it online.
Not a lot of information on Papers Past and the earliest entry was in 1923 when it was a new street that had been asphalted plus concrete channelling and wide footpaths were done. There were sections for sale in 1925. In 1932 Dr J R G Thompson commenced practice at 26 Jacobs Street. There were a few ads over the years plus garden competitions mentioned between 1930s and 1970s. The usual birth and death notices along with a few engagement notices.
The valuation website that I use said that there were some houses built in 2000, 2016 and 2023 and the rest were built in 1920. I doublechecked the ones that were supposed to have been built this century and they were all actually built in 1920 but had repair work done after the earthquakes.
I double checked because I couldn’t remember seeing any modern houses on this street when I walked here very early yesterday morning. I had been lurking in Rugby Park unsuccessfully trying to get photos of the eclipse. It is a lovely treelined street with mostly lovely wooden villas from the 1920s. On one tree there was a swing for children to play on. I suspect parking could be a problem when there is a rugby game on.
Lytteltonwitch's Walking the streets of Christchurch Project 