The area immediately north of Nelson City was surveyed and given the name Suburban North by the New Zealand Company Surveyors in 1842 and was therefore one of the earliest parts of the province to be allocated to settlers.

Wakapuaka was the Maori name for the area in the vicinity of the Glen, Mackays Bluff, Hira, Cable Bay and Delaware Bay. The Examiner (newspaper) in May 1843 gave the name as Wauka-pa-wauka but many settlers, unable to pronounce the name as the Maoris did, simply called the district Hokeepokee.

When the original land survey was made the road went round the foreshore and this line appears to have been used with only minor deviations until the present State Highway was built in recent years. This scenic road left the sea and continued to the Wakapuaka River and the district with its various settlements, now modern suburbs, is still popularly referred to as Wakapuaka ("Walker p'walk").^*

In tracing the original settlers one immediately comes up against the problem that many of the original section holders were simply investors or absentee owners, and only a few of these people settled in the district, others, employees or probably squatters, gained ownership later.

Many sections were allocated in 1842 but only four of the new owners began cultivating their land in that year, and of these only Robert Todd and William Wells were residents.