- Putaruru
Location map
New Zealand
label=Putaruru
lat_dir=S | lat_deg=38 | lat_min=3
lon_dir=E | lon_deg=175 | lon_min=47
position=left
width= 150
float=right
caption=Putaruru is a small town in the
Waikato region ofNew Zealand 'sNorth Island . It is on theOraka River 65 kilometres south-east of Hamilton.The correct form of the name is thought to be the [Māori language| [Māori] word "Putaaruru" – "To come forth like a "ruru" (native owl)"; sometimes give as 'Home of the Owl'.
The town's population at the 2006 census was 3765 (2001: 3783, 1996: 4047). Its economy is based on
farming ,forestry andtimber production.State Highway 1 and the Kinleith Branch railway run through the town.
The nearby
Blue Spring is the current source of about 60% of New Zealand'sbottled water .History
There were several
Māori settlements in the Putaruru district in pre-colonial times. DuringTe Rauparaha 's migration to theCook Strait area in the 1820s, manyNgāti Raukawa people moved from these settlements toRangitikei andManawatu localities, and others followed after the Siege of Orakau in 1864.Te Kooti and his followers were pursued through the district early in 1870 by a force under Lt-Col.Thomas McDonnell .The Patetere Block, containing the future town site of Putaruru, was acquired from the
Māori in the 1860s. In the early 1880s large areas in the Putaruru district came into the possession of the Patetere Land Company, and from 1883 much of this land passed into the hands of the Thames Valley Land Company. Roadmaking commenced in the late 1880s, but therailway , begun by the Thames Valley and Rotorua Railway Co., was the most important factor in the progress of settlement in the area. It reached Oxford (Tirau) on8 March 1886 and Lichfield, 5 miles (8 km) south-east of Putaruru, on21 June 1886 . In 1889 the Putaruru-Rotorua section was begun, and was completed on8 December 1894 . The firstsettler in the district bought his section in 1892.In the 1880s Putaruru consisted of little more than a
hotel and ablacksmith 's shop. In the early 1900s the Taupo Totara Timber Company acquired bush blocks north and north-west ofLake Taupo and erected a mill at Kopokorahi, near the present Kinleith (Tokoroa). A bush tramway was constructed linking that mill with the Mokai Mill, 51 miles (82 km) south-east of Putaruru. By 1905 logs were transported to Putaruru via this line, and by 1908 passengers and goods. The dismantling of this line began in 1944 but in 1946 the Ministry of Works purchased it and in 1948 it began rebuilding the 18 miles (29 km) between Putaruru and Kinleith as a New Zealand Government Railways branch line to serve the newKinleith Mill for pulp andpaper production. This was completed on6 October 1952 .Exotic
afforestation was begun in the district some time after 1910 by a land andtimber company with an outlet to the Hamilton-Rotorua railway near Pinedale. Commercial tree planting with "Pinus radiata " took place between 1924 and 1928 on the Pinedale Block. Milling began in 1940–41 and by 1951 the area had been cut out and replanted. Larger areas further south were planted in 1924 for future milling and to provide the raw material for pulp and paper manufacture. The town of Putaruru was surveyed in 1905 and on 18 December an area of 50,987 acres (206 km²), which had been acquired from the Thames Valley Land Co. by the Crown and included town allotments in Putaruru and Lichfield, was opened by ballot.Much of the land in the Putaruru district suffered from a cobalt deficiency, which made
farming practically impossible, but since 1935 measures have been taken to restore fertility, andfarming has expanded. Putaruru was created atown district in 1926, and on1 July 1947 it was constituted aborough .In 1901 Putaruru Primary School was established in the main street, followed in 1925 by a high school at the northern entrance to the town, by the Oraka river.
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