Burnt Pine Norfolk Island |
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Coordinates | 29°2′S 167°57′E / 29.033°S 167.950°ECoordinates: 29°2′S 167°57′E / 29.033°S 167.950°E |
Postcode(s) | 2899 |
Time zone | NFT (UTC+11) |
Location | 3 km (2 mi) NW of Kingston |
Burnt Pine (Norfuk language Ban Pain) is the largest town on Norfolk Island (in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia). It is the main commercial hub of the island, and travel from one side of the island to another generally involves passing through Burnt Pine. The central part of the town is marked by shops and cafes, a roundabout, Kentia Palm street trees and angle parking.
The town is located on a roughly east-west aligned ridge of volcanic soils, about 100 metres (330 feet) above sea level. The headwaters of Cascade Creek and Broken Bridge Creek (northern side) and Watermill Creek (southern side) flow from just below the ridge.
A map of 1844 labels the area 'Sheep Station', and a 1904 map shows the area as large rural holdings. The impetus for founding the town came in 1942 during the Pacific War when construction of a military aerodrome began (now the Norfolk Island Airport). This involved the destruction of the convict-planted Pine Avenue for the east-west runway. Between 1943 and 1944 the Army produced the Burnt Pine News, the first eponymous use of the place name. By the end of the war, a number of shops and a new hospital had been built around the intersection of Taylors Road and Grassy Road (the original location of the name Burnt Pine), and in 1946 Rawson Hall was built in Taylors Road. Regular commercial air services from 1946 onwards brought a gradual increase in tourism, and Burnt Pine was well placed on the airport edge for siting new guest houses and shops, such as Holloway's 'Sample Rooms' and a tea shop operated on a rise in Taylors Road known as Holloways Hill. A new hospital was built in 1952 on the Grassy Road corner. The expansion of the town matched the growth of the tourism industry. Development spread eastwards along Taylors Road: Prentice's duty-free shop opened on Taylors Road in 1953, as did the 'Leeside' store near the New Cascade Road corner. The tourist boom started in the mid-1960s and as the town spread the name Burnt Pine followed and now refers to whole urbanised area.