Mpwapwa had one of the oldest veterinary research institutes in Tanzania, at Kikombo, which was later moved to Temeke in Dar es Salaam in the late 1950s.

Mpwapwa was a resting post for the reporter/explorer Henry Morton Stanley, where he is believed to have etched a note (in remembrance of W. L. Farquhar) on a rock that is still present near the Anglican missionary Cathedral (All Saints') at Ving'hawe.

While traditional ways abound with the fabric of society still enriched by a strong embodiment of the predominant Gogo culture, the district is pretty cosmopolitan in its population.

Mpwapwa is a fairly mountainous area and takes many hours to travel by car from north to south along the dirt roads that serve the district.

Kongwa, a nearby town, had all the amenities left behind after the failed groundnuts scheme in the late forties and early fifties.