In 1955 Hauraki Plains County Council bought 18 acres of land in Ngātea for a war memorial reserve (it later added a further five acres). A grandstand was built on the site and various other sporting facilities were developed, including football and hockey fields and an athletics track.
On 12 October 1957 Minister of Agriculture Mr S.W. Smith also opened the Ngatea War Memorial Hall in the reserve. There are two dedicatory plaques at the front entrance honouring local men who died in both world wars. A roll of honour inside lists all who served.
Sources: ‘Large Gathering See[s] Ngatea War Memorial Hall Opened’, Thames Star, 14/10/957, p. 1; ‘Large Crowd of Revellers at War Memorial’s Grand Opening Ball’, ibid., p. 3; ‘Ngatea War Memorial Hall Has Some Unique Features’, ibid., p. 4; ‘Ngatea War Memorial Hall’, Auckland Star, 15/10/1957; ‘Rapid Development at Ngatea’, NZ Herald, 19/12/1959; C.M. Evans, Ngatea District High School Golden Jubilee, 1912-1962, Ngatea, 1962, pp. 68-70; Hauraki Plains Story, ed. Rufus E. Tye, Pāeroa, 1974, pp. 21-2.
Main image and text: Bruce Ringer, Auckland Libraries, 2014
Other images: Meghan Hawkes (ed) (2014) From Gold Mine to Firing Line: 'The Thames' and the Great War 1914-1918, Coromandel Heritage Trust