The suburb, named after the Mount, is located seven kilometres to the south of the city centre, and is surrounded by the neighbouring suburbs of Three Kings, Sandringham, Wesley, Hillsborough and Mount Albert. The Mount Roskill shops are located at the intersection of Mount Albert and Dominion Roads. In the 1920s, a new subdivision off Dominion Road was established. It was named the Victory Estate after notable First World War personnel. One of the city's larger suburbs, it was largely farmland until after the Second World War. It was a separate borough from 1947 until local government reorganisation in 1989 amalgamated it with Auckland City. In the past, Mount Roskill was referred to as the Bible Belt of Auckland, as it contained the highest number of churches per capita in New Zealand. The electorate was one of the last in the country to go "wet", in 1999, having formally been a dry area where the selling of alcohol was prohibited. Mount Roskill is one of the most ethnically diverse suburbs in New Zealand with a mix of Indians, Pacific Islanders, Europeans, and various East and South Asian peoples residing in the community and representing at least 54 different nationalities. The area has also begun attracting people of African and Latin American origin. The local secondary school is Mount Roskill Grammar.
Local government
Mount Roskill had a local government like other suburbs of Auckland at the time. The local government was called Mount Roskill Borough Council, which started in 1947 and merged into Auckland City Council in 1989 and then eventually merged into Auckland Council in 2010.
Mayors (1947–1989)
Charles M. McCullough, 1947–1950
Philip Ernest Potter, 1950–1953
Keith W. Hay, 1953–1974
Richard Noel Fickling, 1974–1987
David J. Hay, 1987–1989
Library
Mt Roskill Library was built and opened to public in August 1977. It was refurbished and the floor area extended in November 2011. Mt Roskill Library has English, Maori, Chinese, Tamil, Arabic and Somali collections.
Dominion Road School - He Maunga Teitei is a multicultural decile 3 primary school on Quest Terrace with a roll of students (as of The principal is Lesley Mitchell, who started at the end of 2017. The school caters to students from Year 0 to Year 6. It is located close to the central city.
People
Mount Roskill has been home to many successful New Zealanders who attended the local schools. Among them are:
In 2007, the Mount Roskill Community Board commissioned a 176-page book titled Just Passing Through: A History of Mt Roskill which covered the growth of the district from 1840 up until the present time. It identified the significant input of Mount Roskill residents internationally, such as athletics coach Arthur Lydiard in the chapter "How Sport Put Mt Roskill on the World Map."
