The volcano was dwarfed by the pre-volcanic sandstone ridge of Albert Park directly to the south-east, and only recognised as volcanic by Ferdinand von Hochstetter when he visited Auckland in 1859.

[1] The initial phase began with wet, explosive eruptions that deposited up to 8 metres of a thick ash layer around the Queen Street Valley area.

[1][3] European settlers began to live in the Queen Street Valley in 1840, after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and Auckland being chosen as the new capital for the colony.

[1] Most information about the volcano comes from an early description by surveyor Ferdinand von Hochstetter, who visited Auckland in 1859 and recognised the volcanic nature of the upper Albert Park area.

[1] In the 1870s, when major sewer work around the Albert Barracks was being undertaken, contractors discovered a Leptospermum scoparium (mānuka) tree stump, imbedded in clay and but covered in stratified layers of volcanic ash.