Inangahua's main industries include forestry, coal, farming and sawmilling.

The name of the town refers to inanga, the Māori word for whitebait (Galaxias spp.)

and hua, the act of drying and preserving them in sealed containers; the river was known for its abundance of fish.

Before the construction of the Buller Gorge road, the only way to travel inland from Westport was by river.

At the beginning of the West Coast gold rush, mining equipment and quartz-crushing machinery was ferried up the Buller River to its confluence with the Inangahua, then about 10 km up the Inangahua as far as "The Landing", from which it was transported overland south to Reefton.

There were no fatalities in the town, but a woman and her visiting mother were killed when the house they were in, along the Inangahua Junction to Westport road, was crushed by a landslide on the cliffs above their house,[7] while a man died near Greymouth when his car hit a section of road on that suddenly subsided on the run-up to a bridge.

[8] Another three died days later when a helicopter surveying downed telephone lines crashed.

In 1914, the railway was opened to Inangahua Junction from its former terminus in Cronadun, but subsequent progress through the Buller Gorge was slow.

Today the town is served by the daily inter city bus between Nelson and Westport.

PHAT07, PHAT08, PHAT09, PHAT10 (with Australian band Pendulum and NZers Black Seeds, Kora, Salmonella Dub, Tiki and Concord Dawn),[12] PHAT11 featured New Zealand and many international acts.

Approximately 5000 people attend the PHAT music festivals, with 48+ hours of continuous performance on two stages.

[15] The College, which existed for 38 years, replaced the Reefton District High School.