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Wharves in Wellington Harbour have been essential to the operation of the Port of Wellington and to the development of the city and the lower half of the North Island of New Zealand.
There are 20 wharves situated around Wellington Harbour. These include large wharves in the inner harbour and port area, smaller wharves in seaside suburbs and fuel wharves at Point Howard and Evans Bay. The first wharves were built from 1840 by newly-arrived European settlers, to enable them to move goods from ship to shore. The first publicly-owned wharf built in Wellington Harbour was Queens Wharf, completed in 1862. Wharves were built for various purposes – moving fuel, primary products such as timber, wool and meat coming from the hinterland, and other goods and passengers. Wharves for passenger vessels included berths for ferries transporting commuters and day trippers to and from the city and suburbs, and larger inter-island ferries going to Picton and Lyttelton. The wharves also serviced passenger liners from overseas and TEAL flying boats.
Wellington Harbour Board was created in 1880 and took control of most wharves in the harbour until its disestablishment in 1989. At that time a commercial company, Port of Wellington (now called CentrePort Wellington), took over management of most industrial wharves, while Wellington City Council and Hutt City Council gained control of most suburban wharves.
Over time Wellington's wharves have been altered, upgraded, extended, truncated or buried in reclamation along the shoreline of Wellington Harbour. Many wharves have been repurposed in response to changing domestic and international conditions and requirements for maritime transport of passengers and cargo.