Despite the appropriateness of the old name Bridge Street, in 1878 the new Masterton Borough Councillors obviously thought it did not have the dignity required for the main street of their burgeoning town. The name Princes Street was at first proposed, the name Queen Street being originally set aside for the eastern section of Russell Street.The Councillors eventually switched the regal names, and the main street of Masterton was named after Queen Victoria. For a long time Queen Street ended just north of Bruce Street, where the Borough also ended. At the time the Waipoua River had two arms, the southern one flowing through what is now Robinson Park before crossing Queen Street to pass across what is now the War Memorial Stadium. The bridge over this branch of the river was called the Town Bridge. To the north another arm of the Waipoua flowed approximately where the river course runs today, and the bridge over this arm was known as the County Bridge, as all the area north of the Town Bridge was included in the Wairarapa North County. The stretch of road between the two bridges was called Lansdowne Road, or sometimes the Waipoua Road
Pic: