It has a population of 4,800 as of June 2023,[2] and is the largest centre for a considerable distance in any direction. It is on State Highway 4 and the North Island Main Trunk railway.
The name Taumarunui is reported to be the dying words of the Māori chief Pehi Turoa – taumaru meaning screen and nui big, literally translated as Big Screen,[3] being built to shelter him from the sun, or more commonly known to mean – "The place of big shelter". There are also references to Taumarunui being known as a large sheltered location for growing kūmara.
In the 1980s publication Roll Back the Years there are some details on how Taumarunui got its name.[4] Extract: "According to Frank T Brown, who wrote in the Taumarunui Press in 1926, the name Taumarunui is closely connected with the arrival of and conquering of that portion of the King Country by the Whanganui River natives during the 18th century . . . The war party that succeeded in capturing the principal pa and taking prisoner the chief of the district was headed by "Ki Maru". His warriors, to show their appreciation of his prowess and the honour of the victory, acclaimed him "Tau-maru-nui", which means "Maru the Great", or "Maru the Conqueror", that name was taken for the district and has been used ever since."
Taumarunui was originally a Māori settlement at the confluence of the Ongarue River with the Whanganui, important canoe routes linking the interior of the island with the lower Whanganui River settlements. Some places, notably the valley of the Pungapunga Stream, which joins the upper Whanganui near Manunui, were celebrated for the size and quality of totara, and large canoes were built there. The area is a border area between a number of iwi including Whanganui, Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Tūwharetoa, who lived together in relative harmony.[5]
Late in December 1843 Bishop Selwyn travelled from the district south of Taupō to a point on the Whanganui River about six miles downstream from Taumarunui and thence continued his journey to the coast by canoe. Towards the end of 1869 Te Kooti was at Taumarunui before his march through the western Taupō district to Tapapa. In the early 1880s the first surveys of the King Country commenced, and by the early 1890s the Crown had begun the purchase of large areas of land.
In 1874, Alexander Bell set up a trading post, and became the first European settler. The town has a road called Bell Road.
During the New Zealand Wars a resident named William Moffatt manufactured and supplied Māori with a coarse kind of gunpowder. He was afterwards expelled from the district. Despite warnings, he returned in 1880, ostensibly to prospect for gold, and was executed.
The Whanganui River long continued to be the principal route serving Taumarunui. Traffic was at first by Māori canoe, but by the late 1880s regular steamship communication was established. Taumarunui Landing (Image) was the last stop on Alexander Hatrick's steam boat service from Wanganui. The river vessels maintained the services between Wanganui and Taumarunui until the late 1920s, when the condition of the river deteriorated.
Later, Taumarunui gained importance with the completion of the North Island Main Trunk line in 1908–09 (celebrated in the 1957 ballad "Taumarunui on the Main Trunk Line" by Peter Cape, about the station refreshment room). The line south of Taumarunui caused considerable problems due to the terrain, and has several high viaducts and the famous Raurimu Spiral. The Stratford–Okahukura LinetoStratford connected just north of Taumarunui. In more recent times, the town's economy has been based on forestry and farming. It has gained in importance as a tourism centre, especially as an entry point for voyagers down the scenic Wanganui River and as the possessor of a high-quality golf course.
1862, 8/9 February – James Coutts Crawford visits, was given a number of old songs and "various accounts of the taniwha, one of whom we were told overthrew the Wangaehu bridge."[6]
1864 – Boundaries of the King Country drawn and European settlement is prohibited.
1904 – £10,000 houseboat built then floated to Ōhura river junction. In 1927 this is transferred down river to Retaruke River junction where it was destroyed by fire in 1933.
1906 – Native town council set up: Hakiaha Tawhiao, J.E. Ward (interpreter), J. Carrington. E.W. Simmons, A.J. Langmuir (chairman), J.E. Slattery.
1906, 14 Sep – First issue of the Taumarunui Press.
1907 – First hospital erected, 5 beds.
1908–09 – North Island Main Trunk opened to through Auckland-Wellington trains from 9 November 1908, with the first NIMT express trains from 14 February 1909.
Taumarunui County was defined in the Waikato and King-country Counties Act 1922,[47] this statute states:
All that area of land in the Auckland and Wellington Land Districts bounded towards the north generally by the Waitomo and Taupō Counties (as described in the Third and Ninth Schedules to this Act respectively); on the east generally by Lake Taupō and Taupō County; on the south generally by the middle of the Wanganui River; on the west generally by the Ongarue River to the Waitomo County. the place of commencement: excluding the Borough of Taumarunui.
In 1952 the Kaitieke County and the Ohura County were amalgamated with a new Taumarunui County. In 1988, the Taumarunui District Council was formed, only to be replaced the following year as it was merged into the now Ruapehu District Council.
In October 2020, the Government committed $1,560,379 from the Provincial Growth Fund to upgrade Takaputiraha Marae, Whānau Maria Marae, Wharauroa Marae and 5 other nearby marae, creating 156 jobs.[51]
Taumarunui covers 13.65 km2 (5.27 sq mi)[1] and had an estimated population of 4,800 as of June 2023,[52] with a population density of 352 people per km2.
Taumarunui had a population of 4,707 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 258 people (5.8%) since the 2013 census, and a decrease of 288 people (−5.8%) since the 2006 census. There were 1,812 households, comprising 2,307 males and 2,403 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.96 males per female, with 1,035 people (22.0%) aged under 15 years, 804 (17.1%) aged 15 to 29, 1,914 (40.7%) aged 30 to 64, and 966 (20.5%) aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 60.5% European/Pākehā, 52.1% Māori, 3.3% Pacific peoples, 3.5% Asian, and 1.4% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.
The percentage of people born overseas was 9.9, compared with 27.1% nationally.
Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 47.9% had no religion, 36.1% were Christian, 5.0% had Māori religious beliefs, 0.8% were Hindu, 0.2% were Muslim, 0.6% were Buddhist and 1.5% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 315 (8.6%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 1,119 (30.5%) people had no formal qualifications. 210 people (5.7%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 1,362 (37.1%) people were employed full-time, 489 (13.3%) were part-time, and 270 (7.4%) were unemployed.[53]
Under the Köppen, Taumarunui has an Oceanic climate:(Cfb). Due to location, low altitude and Geography surroundings, Taumarunui is more liable to warm to hot summers than other central North Island centres and in winter, Taumarunui is cold and frosty. Rainfall yearly is 1,449 mm (57.047244 in). Annual sunshine yearly is 1822 hrs. In June 2002, Taumarunui recorded just 27 hrs of sun, this is the lowest in the whole country, beating the old record at Invercargill with 35 hrs in June 1935.[57] The lowest temperature recorded in Taumarunui, −6.8 °C, was in July 2010.[58]
Taumarunui has many societies and community organisations. It has a Cosmopolitan Club and RSA, a Lodge of the Freemasons as well as Taumarunui Lodge NZ No. 12 of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes Grand Council. This Lodge of the Buffaloes was established sometime in the mid-late 1920s and thus predates the introduction of the Mighty NZR KA classsteam locomotives that became the hallmark of NIMT Rail Transport of the forties, fifties and sixties.
Taumarunui High School is a co-educational state secondary school for Year 9 to 13 students,[61] with a roll of 278 as of February 2024.[62]
The town has three primary schools for Year 1 to 8 students: Taumarunui Primary School,[63] with a roll of 135,[64] Tarrangower School,[65][66] with a roll of 34,[67] and Turaki School,[68][69] with a roll of 168.[70]
St Patrick's Catholic School is a co-educational state-integrated Catholic primary school for Year 1 to 8 students,[71] with a roll of 50.[72]
2001 – QSM – Mrs Verna Lenice Warner J.P. – For Community Service
2002 – MNZM – Mrs Nansi Whetu Dewes – For services to Māori and the community
2002 – QSM – Barry David FISHER, of Taumarunui. Chief Fire Officer, Taumarunui Volunteer Fire Brigade, New Zealand Fire Service – For Services to the community
2003 – QSM – Leonard Patrick Harwood – For Public Services
2007 – QSM – Mr William Vernon McMinn – For services to music.
2009 – MNZM – Ngarau Tarawa – For services to Māori and community education
2010 – QSM – Mrs Lorraine Ivy Edwards J.P. – For services to the community.
2012 – MNZM – Ian Trevor Corney – For services to agriculture
2013 – ONZM – Susan May Morris – For services to local government.
