Tram Shelter (Former) was built in 1904 at the terminus of the Oriental Bay tram line, which was part of the city’s major expansion of its tramway system and which in turn played a pivotal role in Wellington’s suburban development. The tram ran along Oriental Bay from Courtenay Place.

Steam trams had operated in Wellington from 1878 until 1882, when they were replaced by horse-drawn trams. In the later nineteenth century the inner city became overcrowded and there was a need to provide cheap accessible transport to outlying areas to alleviate the overcrowding. In 1900 the tramways system was taken over by the Wellington City Council. Work began in late 1902 on converting the system to run electric trams, which was completed in 1904.

The tram shelter was designed by the then Wellington City Engineer, William Hobbard Morton, and was one of a number of shelters built by William McColl in 1904 to the same design. The shelter was built with a dormer in the roof, which housed a clock. It had double turned posts and trellis in the two smaller openings in the front. Two carved finials with open timber work between them were located on the hipped roof.

By 1911 there were an estimated 22 million passenger tram rides a year in Wellington. The Oriental Bay tram route provided cheap public transport for residents living in Oriental Bay and Roseneath, as well as a popular excursion to the seaside for Wellingtonians. The Oriental Bay Kiosk, containing tea rooms and a hall, opened in 1913 behind the tram shelter and provided refreshments for the excursionists.

During World War Two it was difficult to maintain the tram system, and after the war the city council decided to trial trolley buses. The Oriental Bay tram service was the second in the city to be replaced by buses, in 1950. The former tram shelter then became a bus shelter and it is now plainer than when it was originally built – there is no timber work on the roof, the trellis has gone, as has one of each of the double posts leaving four single posts on the front.

Trams were the main form of public transport in Wellington for 86 years, between 1878 and 1964, although buses had begun to replace them in the 1950s. Tram Shelter (Former) is one of the few surviving shelters in Wellington from the early 1900s. It is a reminder of the importance of trams to the expansion of Wellington and development of its suburbs.