Today in History

1964 Opening of first road to Maungapohatu

A milling road built by the Bayten Timber Company provided the first vehicle access to the remote Urewera settlement of Maungapohatu – famous as the former home of the prophet Rua Kenana. The road was opened by Sir Eruera Tirikatene, who, as Minister of Forests (1957–60), had pushed for its construction despite the opposition of his department. Undeterred by torrential rain, more than 1500 people attended the opening celebrations, travelling over the steep, winding road in 12 buses and 200 cars and trucks.

For a few years the milling operation provided some modest prosperity to this isolated and impoverished area, which had never recovered from the 1930s exodus of most of its inhabitants. According to Rotorua's Daily Post, Maungapohatu's permanent population in 1964 was just 15.

For a time in the 1920s it had seemed possible that Maungapohatu might become economically viable. At Rua's urging, Tuhoe had donated 16,000 hectares of land to the government in 1922 so that two arterial roads could be built to connect the settlement to Eastern Bay of Plenty and Rotorua. Construction was expected to start in 1927, but the roads were never built. By the early 1930s most of the local people had left to seek food and employment elsewhere (Tuhoe finally received some monetary compensation for their gift in 1958). Rua Kenana died at Matahi in Eastern Bay of Plenty in 1937; his hopes that Tuhoe could live fruitfully on their own lands and take control of their own lives remain largely unfulfilled. 

Image: the school at Maungapohatu c1921 (Timeframes)