paeroa

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Town 22 km south of Thames. The lower Waihou was an area of dense Māori settlement. On the opening of the Ōhinemuri goldfield in 1875, the river junction was the obvious site for a town. Paeroa was born, but payable gold was not found and the town languished. The introduction of the cyanide process and resultant goldfield boom turned Paeroa into a busy river port in the 1890s. Dumping mining debris into the Ōhinemuri also exposed Paeroa to flooding, notably in 1910. In the 20th century farming replaced mining as the mainstay of the town. One of Hauraki’s first butter factories was built at Paeroa in 1901. It is also known for Lemon and Paeroa (L & P), a carbonated drink, which was originally made using water from a local mineral spring.

Meaning of place name
Pae: ridge; roa: long; Te-Paeroa-o-Toi (The long range of Toi).