Биркенхед: Тарих, география және мәдени мұрасы

The Birkenhead area is primarily uplifted Waitemata Group sandstone, that was deposited on the sea floor during the Early Miocene, between 22 and 16 million years ago. Prior to human settlement, the inland North Shore was a mixed podocarp broadleaf forest dominated by kauri. Pōhutukawa trees dominated the coastal margins of Birkenhead. which refers to the older shopping centre at the junction of Birkenhead Avenue and Mokoia Road. The name Highbury was the name of Thomas Forgham's family residence, that was constructed in early colonial Birkenhead. The name of the house was chosen by English immigrant William Francis Hammond, Forgham's son in law, in memory of Highbury, Hammond's parents' townhouse in Highgate, London. The highest point in the suburb is the hill in eastern Eskdale Reserve, which reaches a height of above sea level in the neighbouring suburb of Hillcrest. The North Shore was settled by Tāmaki Māori, including people descended from the Tainui migratory canoe and ancestors of figures such as Taikehu and Peretū. Many of the early Tāmaki Māori people of the North Shore identified as Ngā Oho. Boat Rock (Te Nihokiore, "The Rat's Tooth") in the Waitematā Harbour southwest of Birkenhead was a location of great significance to Tāmaki Māori. The rock was the location where Te Arawa chief Kahumatamomoe placed a mauri stone (a stone of religious significance), naming the Waitematā ("The Waters of the Stone") after the mauri stone. The warrior Maki migrated from the Kāwhia Harbour to his ancestral home in the Auckland Region, likely sometime in the 17th century. Maki conquered and unified many the Tāmaki Māori tribes as Te Kawerau ā Maki, including those of the North Shore. After Maki's death, his sons settled different areas of his lands, creating new hapū. His younger son Maraeariki settled the North Shore and Hibiscus Coast, who based himself at the head of the Ōrewa River. Maraeariki's daughter Kahu succeeded him, and she is the namesake of the North Shore, Te Whenua Roa o Kahu ("The Greater Lands of Kahu"). Many of the iwi of the North Shore, including Ngāti Manuhiri, Ngāti Maraeariki, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Poataniwha, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki and Ngāti Whātua, can trace their lineage to Kahu. The poor clay soils of the inland forest of the hindered development. Most Māori settlements of the Birkenhead area focused on fishing and harvesting food from the forests. The focal point of Te Kawerau ā Maki on the North Shore was Te Mātārae ō Mana ("The Brow of Mana"), a headland pā at Kauri Point in modern day Chatswood, and Rongohau ("Wind Shelter"), the kāinga below the cliffs at Kendall Bay. Te Mātārae ō Mana was named after the ancestor Manaoterangi, who was the rangatira of the pā in the mid 18th century, and was likely constructed in the 17th century. The pā was of strategic importance due to its commanding view of the Waitematā Harbour, and its proximity to a renowned tauranga mango, a shark fishery which brought seasonal visitors from across Tāmaki Makurau and the Hauraki Gulf in the summer, including important rangatira such as Kiwi Tāmaki and later Tarahawaiki. By the early 19th century, the eastern headlands the Upper Waitematā Harbour, including along Oruamo or Hellyers Creek were some of the most densely settled areas of the North Shore by Tāmaki Māori. Oruamo or Hellyers Creek was an important transportation node for the North Shore area. Te Mātārae ō Mana and Rongohau were raided and destroyed in a night raid around the year 1823. The de Jersey Grut family established a farm and manor near Duck Creek in the 1850s, but struggled to establish a farm. The poor soil led to starvation, and the servants needing to share food with the de Jersey Grut family members, and cattle would often wander off into the bush. The de Jersey Grut family left in 1865, and had their house shipped to Orewa. Henry James Hawkins, established a fruit orchard in the Birkenhead area in the 1850s. Despite the poor clay soil, Hawkins became a famed horticulturalist, winning prizes for crops such as apples, plums, peas, gooseberries, strawberries. Fruit became a major industry for Birkenhead from the 1860s, notably apples, pears, and two varieties of strawberry, Marguerite and Duke of Edinburgh, which flourished well in clay soils. Birkenhead was subdivided and promoted as a township from 1863, alongside other settlements such as Allandale and Balmain (neither of which eventuated). Residents of the village survived through subsistence farming, and profited from bountiful seasonal strawberry crops. In 1879, William Francis Hammond bought at Birkenhead Point, establishing Raven Hill estate, followed by Charles E. Button who established a second grand house at Birkenhead Point in 1883. Hammond, the son of a London auctioneer, was a keen promoter of Birkenhead, surveying the area and promoting Birkenhead subdivisions and estates at auctions, and constructing a bridge across Little Shoal Bay, better connecting the community to Northcote. Lake Road, connecting Northcote and Birkenhead, was significantly improved in the 1870s, helping development in Birkenhead. This was aided further by the Auckland Harbour Board constructed a wharf in 1882, which was followed by a post office in 1884. The new wharf allowed orchardists in Birkenhead to better transport produce to the Auckland market, further helped by larger orchardists building their own jetties on Oruamo or Hellyers Creek in the north. In 1886, the Birkenhead and Northcote Fruitgrowing Association was formed. By the 1880s, itinerant gum diggers roamed Birkenhead, searching for kauri gum. Birkenhead residents loathed the gum diggers, who would often destroy roads, orchards and farms in order to locate kauri gum. In response, the Waitemata County Council lobbed the Crown to allow the country more direct control over the gum digging industry.

In 1881, the Australasian Colonial Sugar Refining Company chose Birkenhead for the site of a new sugar refining factory, after founder Edward Knox visited Auckland. The refinery was chosen due to Auckland's relative proximity to the sugarcane plantations of Fiji, and south eastern Birkenhead was chosen as it was one of the few deep water anchorages of the Waitematā Harbour, and due to its proximity to the fresh water Duck Creek. the gardens featured a wide range of exotic edible plants and palm trees, becoming a well known tourist spot. In the following year, theatre company manager Henry John Hayward, who lived at Birkenhead, began showing films at Foresters Hall in 1912. Birkenhead became the second suburb of Auckland to have a cinema, and by the 1920s the Foresters Hall had become a major attraction for people across Auckland to attend dances and film showings. By 1913, Birkenhead had grown to have 12 stores (compared to 42 in Devonport), including the 1913 Hellaby's butchery, the first building with a tiled ceiling constructed in Australasia. An increased population led to plans for a new school to open in 1914 on a portion of Edward Skeate's Highbury estate, but plans for a school were delayed until 1919, due to the outbreak of World War I. 261 men and boys from Birkenhead served in the war. This greatly affected the community, which was further impacted by the 1918 flu pandemic. Highbury developed more commercial and residential housing in the 1920s, and was the location of the Birkenhead Borough Chambers. A small state housing area was constructed at Hammond Place, and in the mid 1970s the Highbury Bypass was constructed, linking Mokoia Road to Onewa Road, without the need to drive through Highbury. In 1997 after expansions, the mall was renamed Birkenhead Shopping Centre, and later renamed to Highbury Shopping Centre in the mid 2000s. In November 2010, the suburb was included into the North Shore ward, one of the thirteen administrative divisions of the newly formed Auckland Council. Under the council, Birkenhead is part of the Kaipātiki Local Board Area.

The first local government in the area was the North Shore Highway District, which began operating in 1868 and administered roading and similar projects across the North Shore. In 1884 the Birkenhead Road District split from the North Shore Highway District. North Shore City was amalgamated into Auckland Council in November 2010. Within the Auckland Council, Birkenhead is a part of the Kaipātiki local government area governed by the Kaipātiki Local Board. It is a part of the North Shore ward, which elects two councillors to the Auckland Council.

Birkenhead Point is home to the Birkenhead Ferry Terminal, and features an all tide boat ramp.

Birkenhead is home to Birkenhead United who compete in the Lotto Sport Italia NRFL Division 1B. During the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, Birkenhead United hosted the Italy women's national football team, and as a part of this their clubrooms were greatly upgraded.

Birkenhead School and Verran Primary School are coeducational contributing primary (years 1–6) schools with rolls of and respectively. Birkenhead School was founded in 1919 as an extension of Northcote School. Verran Primary School was founded in 1964. Rolls are as of