Great South Road

The Great South Road was formed as far as Drury by or before March 1859. By October 1859 it was reportedly possible to drive a gig almost as far as the Waikato River. On 1 January 1862 General Cameron's troops set to work improving and extending it southward towards the Waikato. In 1863, prior to the outbreak of the Waikato War, a series of totara mileposts were erected along the Great South Road between Auckland and Drury. Some sources refer to these as military mileposts erected for the supply drivers of the Commissariat Land Transport Corps, more likely they were the work of the Auckland Provincial Council, which retained responsibility for the upkeep of the road as far as Drury throughout the war. Three of these mileposts were in Papatoetoe: near the current G.A.S station, near St Johns Presbyterian Church and near Carlie Street.

Great South Road became the main link to the agricultural areas south of Auckland. It was metaled as far as Drury by 1863, and concreted as far as East Tāmaki Rd by 1928. The first bridge over the Tāmaki River south of Otahuhu was erected in 1851. It was a drystone scoria causeway interspersed by three sluices bridged by wooden gangways.

The stretch of the Great South Road between Otahuhu and Allenby Road was formed of blue metal chips, in contrast to the scoria ash commonly used elsewhere - the inspiration for the name of Papatoetoe Historical Society's 'Blue Chip' Heritage Trail.