[7] Ormondville was named after John Davies Ormond, who was then the local MP and Superintendent of Hawke's Bay Province.

[9] It once had a court-house (1881[10]-1932),[11] Alpha dairy factory (1899[12]-1931),[13] hotel,[14] cobbler,[15] garage,[16] butchery, blacksmith, saddler, undertaker, solicitor, library, draper, billiard room, 3 stores, police station,[17] school, an Anglican and a Catholic church, library, hall, bakery, sports ground and railway station.

[18] It had a Town Board (including the Makotuku Riding)[19] from 1885 until 1944, when it merged into Dannevirke County Council,[20] following a petition.

[21] A hydro electric plant was installed at nearby Cave Farm in 1906,[22] but power wasn't connected to Ormondville until the late 1920s.

[25] The station, goods shed and sidings remain[26] and it has been protected by a Category 2 listing since 7 April 1983.

[28] In 1878[29] about 100 navvies were working on the 5 mi 22 ch (8.5 km) Makotuku extension of the line from Napier and Spit to Kopua.

[31] It included 3 large viaducts (Kopua, Ormondville and Makotuku) over the Manawatū River and its tributaries.

[34] Originally it wasn't clear which of the settlements in the Seventy Mile bush would develop enough to justify a station.

[32] Initially Ormondville wasn't always shown in timetables,[36][37] but from 27 June 1881 it became a flag station, with 2 trains a day each way.

[46] Initially the station would have been very spartan, as it wasn't until August 1880 that authority was sought for furnishing it and in 1882 there was negotiation over whether Public Works or NZR would pay for a ladies waiting room.

There was a post office at the station from 1883 to 1914 and in 1891,[32] when the platform length was doubled,[47] consideration was given to providing refreshment rooms.

[67] J & A Anderson & Co of Christchurch won a tender for a wrought iron replacement on 16 November 1904 and completed the work with a ceremonial driving of the last rivet on 20 October 1906.

[68] In the same era Andersons also rebuilt Kopua (1895), Makotuku (1898), Matamau (1899), Mangatera (1900) and Makatote (1908) viaducts.

[72] Chimneys in Ormondville fell in the 1904 earthquake[73] and after the 1931 quakes the viaduct was closed for repairs[74] for a week in 1932.