1876 (29 May): Gala opening of New Plymouth's 35-acre (15-hectare) Recreation Ground. Thomas King, the first chairman of the board of trustees (and father of Sir Truby and Newton) invites Miss Jane Carrington (daughter of F.A. Carrington) to plant the first trees in the park. These are, an oak for Great Britain, a puriri for New Zealand, a Norfolk Island pine for the South Pacific Islands and a Pinus radiata for America. These are still growing on Cannon Hill, behind the band rotunda.
1878: Pukekura Stream is dammed to create the main lake.
1879: A bathing shed is built for swimmers to change into their togs.
1883: Work begins on filling in the swamp at the top end of Liardet Street to form the sportsground. This is done with voluntary labour after a women's committee raises funds for materials by holding a fancy dress ball.
1884:
- The Poet's Bridge is gifted by James T. Davis after a win at the Auckland races. The horse he backed was called, The Poet. Its victory earned him 150 pounds, which he donated for the bridge.
- With the completion of the cutting at the top end of Liardet Street, the main entrance is relocated from lower Victoria Road, the original main entrance to the park.
1885: First football practice is held on the sportsground.
1887: The bandstand is built. This is still standing and is believed to be one of the oldest in New Zealand.
Built To Last: The bandstand is still a feature in Pukekura Park today.
1890 (11 April): Aged army pensioner Stephen Maloney is found murdered under a pine tree on the path leading from the Main Lake to Rogan St, now Horton Walk. Mahi Kai is convicted and sentenced to death, but this is commuted to life imprisonment. He was released on 5 December 1906.
1890s: Early in this decade, grassy terraces are built around the sportsground.
1892 (December): First cricket match held on the sportsground.
1893: Lower lake (later to be known as the Fountain Lake) is formed.
1897: Drinking fountain by the band rotunda is erected to mark Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.
1900: Sportsground is improved and enlarged.
Star Ground: A 1908 postcard features the sportsground at Pukekura Park. In 2003, the ground was used as a backdrop in The Last Samurai, starring Hollywood actor Tom Cruise.
1904: A derelict colonial hospital is moved on to the Brooklands property at the request of Mary King. Now called the Gables, the infirmary was built in 1847-48 and is New Zealand's oldest surviving hospital. Today it is headquarters for the Taranaki Arts Society.
1908: After much debate, the name Pukekura Park is adopted. For years, the area has simply been known as "The Rec". The park is named after the stream dammed to form the lake. One translation of Pukekura is "Red Hill".
1926: Thomas Horton takes over as curator of the Pukekura Park.
1928 (January 28): Fernery and (Stainton) Dell are opened by Mayor H.V.S. Griffiths.
Fern Sanctuary: First opened in 1928.
1929 (10 May): Pukekura Park Board passes the park's administration to the New Plymouth Borough Council. Before this, it was independent from any type of local body or central government funding. However, a Pukekura Park committee of citizens answerable to the council ensured the continuation of strong community input.
1931: The Teahouse (now known as the Kiosk) is built from funds provided by Mayor and Mayoress Charles and Mary Burgess as a celebration of their golden wedding.
1934:
- On 10 March, Brooklands is formerly handed to the New Plymouth Borough Council by the trustees of Newton and Mary King's estate. The 53-acre (21.5-hectare) property is given in lieu of money promised to the town in Newton King's will. That same year, the magnificent Newton King homestead, Brooklands, is demolished.
- Also, a three-hectare portion of newspaperman Thomas List's Maranui property is added to the original Pukekura Park.
Grand Home: Brooklands and the surrounding grounds were given to New Plymouth by Newton King's family trustees.
1938: Main entrance gates are built following a bequest from Charles Score Sanders, a respected Taranaki horticulturalist.
1939: An extra glasshouse is brought from Brooklands, where it had once sheltered a grape vine, and added to the fernery area.
1949: Thomas Horton retires and John (Jack) Goodwin takes over as Pukekura Park and Brooklands curator.
1954: Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh are welcomed to New Plymouth, with a reception at Pukekura Park on 9 January 1954.
Royal Reception: The Queen and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, during their visit to Pukekura Park in 1954.
1955: To celebrate the Royal visit, the illuminated fountain is erected in the lower lake. This fountain has 228 water jets, the highest reaching 15 metres.
1957:
- Children's playground opens off Victoria Rd.
- Sportsground is converted into a five-circuits-to-the-mile track and the eastern terrace is sliced to provide space for a 100-metre sprinting track.
1957-62: Between these years, the hatchery lily pond is filled in and turned into the Hatchery Lawn.
1958 (February 25): Bowl of Brooklands opens with the first Festival of the Pines event.
1959: A New Plymouth Borough Council by-law bans people from bathing or wading in the park lakes or waterways, reversing the original concept.
1960: A paddling pool is added to the children's playground at the bottom of Victoria Rd.
1962: Alan Jellyman becomes assistant curator to Jack Goodwin.
1965 (February 27): Brooklands Zoo and children's playground opens. The funds, materials and craftsmanship are all provided by New Plymouth Jaycees.
1966: George Fuller is appointed curator.
1967: The fernery gets a brand new glasshouse, named the Kibby House. This modern structure, which is four times the size of the original glasshouse that came from Brooklands, is paid for by Mr and Mrs G. Kibby.
1969 (March): The old bathing shed next to the main lake is demolished.
1970 (October 21): Illuminated waterfall opens.
1976 (May 1): Waterwheel from the Omata dairy factory is installed as a New Plymouth centennial project. As part of these celebrations, D.V. Sutherland plants a Norfolk Pine on Cannon Hill, using the same spade that Miss Jane Carrington used to plant the first trees on 29 May 1876.
198?: The Pukekura Park committee is dissolved and the administration of the park is vested in the parks and recreation committee of the New Plymouth District Council.
1986 (November 21): Jogger Wendy Snowdon (aged 23) is raped and left for dead near the List St entrance to Pukekura Park. She dies in hospital on December 7. Gary Lawrence McKinley is convicted with her rape and murder.
1989: Regional amalgamation is imposed by central government. Because of space limitations for park administration, this leads to the Parks and Recreation Department being moved from its headquarters within Pukekura Park to the council offices on Liardet Street.
1998: Bowl of Brooklands stage and seating are extensively updated.
Diva Dame: A bowlful of people turn out to hear Dame Kiri Te Kanawa perform her operatic magic at the Bowl of Brooklands in early 1999.
2002 (March 26): The Fuller Walk is named in honour of former curator George Fuller.
2003 (March): Womad (World of Music and Dance) is held in the Bowl of Brooklands, the zoo and adjoining park, turning the area into a global village of sound and arts.