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Profile of the District

History of Settlement and Development

Little is known of the history of pre-European life in the District. It appears that inter tribal conflict was common and still underway at the time of the arrival of the first European. This evolved to include conflict between Maori and Pakeha as the European steadily encroached on Maori territory. In 1833 missionaries established the first mission at Puriri, and then Matamata. Traders then arrived during the 1850’s via the Waihou River.

 

The first permanent European settlement was in 1865 when JC Firth established an estate of approximately 22,700 hectares in size. He broke the land in for agriculture, built a number of roads and cleared the Waihou River for steam navigation to serve his estate. The Waihou and Piako rivers provided the major routes for freight and passenger traffic at this time. In 1874 Thomas and Samuel Morrin purchased a large tract of land on condition that he construct 25 miles of road connecting the Waikato, Piako and Thames districts. This required reclamation of large areas of swamp. It was found that effective reclamation resulted in land suitable for farming.

 

Meanwhile, Firth established the first cheese and butter factory at Waharoa, and laid the foundation of the family dairy industry by selling blocks (20 hectares in size) of his land near the factory. Before long most freight travelled up the Waihou and Piako Rivers.

 

In 1880 Te Aroha became the centre of a short-lived gold rush initiated by Hone Werahiko. In 1881 when the prospectors started to leave, the hot springs were developed

 

A regular boat service and permanent bath houses were provided, and in 1886 a rail link with Hamilton completed the link to Auckland. In the year ending 31 March 1887, 28,553 baths were taken in Te Aroha compared with 4,878 in Rotorua.

 

By 1900 there were 22 springs discovered and the Hot Springs Domain passed into the control of the Department of Tourist and Health Resorts in 1903 (1). The Department later handed over control of the area to a joint Piako County/Te Aroha Borough administrative body which today continues to be administered by the Council.

 

(1)Te Aroha Spa, Famous Health Resort, no date: New Zealand Government Tourist Department

 

 

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