It is located near the base of the Kaimai Ranges, and is a thriving farming area known for Thoroughbred horse breeding and training pursuits.

It is part of the Matamata-Piako District, which takes in the surrounding rural areas, as well as Morrinsville and Te Aroha.

[2] A nearby farm was the location for the Hobbiton Movie Set in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings.

The New Zealand government decided to leave the Hobbit holes built on location as tourist attractions.

During the period between the filming of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey they had no furniture or props, but could be entered with vistas of the farm viewed from inside them.

In 2011, parts of Hobbiton began to close in preparation for the three new movies based on the first Tolkien novel, The Hobbit.

[8] In 1833 the Reverend Alfred Nesbit Brown visited the area and in 1835 opened a mission near Matamata Pa, but this closed the following year when intertribal warfare broke out.

[8] In 1865 Josiah Firth negotiated with Ngāti Hauā leader Wiremu Tamihana and leased a large area of land, including the future site of the town which he named after the pā.

[8] Firth constructed a dray road to Cambridge and cleared the Waihou River so that it was navigable by his (small) boats.

[8] Firth's estate later failed and by 1904 had been wholly obtained by the Crown and was subdivided into dairy farm units[9] to take advantage of the new technology of refrigeration.

[14] Initially 40 minutes north of the temporary terminus at Oxford (Tirau) and about an hour from Morrinsville.

[citation needed] By 1886 it also had a coal shed able to hold 50 tons, a stationmaster's house, 2 cottages, urinals and a 20,000 imp gal (91,000 L) brick water tank supplied by a 60 ft (18 m) diameter windpump from a well, which was deepened that year.

By 1896 Matamata had gained a 4th class station, platform, cart approach and a passing loop for 32 wagons.

[14] Matamata closed to passengers on 12 November 1968,[13] but reopened to serve the Geyserland Express[23] from 9 December 1991 until 7 October 2001.