The grandson of George Edwin Alderton - sometimes called the founding father of modern Kerikeri - has presented two books written by his grandfather to the Procter Library.
Masterton resident Nigel Alderton travelled north to present the two books about horticulture which were written in the 1920s and are still used in the industry as reference.
George Alderton, who died in 1942, founded the Northern Advocate via its predecessor, The Comet, in 1875.
After retiring he moved to Kerikeri in the early 1900s with a vaguely utopian vision for a new community and to develop land for commercial orchards.
In 1920 his North Auckland Land Development Company carved up and sold orchard-sized lots of windswept, scrubby plateau from State Highway 1 to Inlet Rd, where windbreaks and fruit would soon be planted.
Alderton's own former farm is where much of Kerikeri township is now built.
Far North District Mayor John Carter accepted the books on behalf of the library and the Kerikeri community.
He described George Alderton as a visionary who saw the potential of the Far North.
"The modern and thriving Kerikeri community owes a great deal to George Alderton."