A winch driven by a 12-horsepower Fowler or Decauville locomobile carried three narrow gauge railway trucks at a time, consuming up to 200 kilograms (440 lb) of coal per day for about sixty journeys.

[14] Paul Decauville mentioned in a letter to Governor Theodore Lacascade, dated 18 June 1891, an order for "15 kilometres (9.3 mi) of 600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in) portable rail tracks and about 12,000 francs of rolling stock, payable in three years", presumably for a tramway from Papeʻetē to Punaʻauia operated by hand or animals.

[15][16] At the outbreak of World War I Papeʻetē was shelled by German vessels, causing loss of life and significant damage.

The growth of the city was boosted by the decision to move the French nuclear weapon test range from Algeria, which had become independent, to the atolls of Moruroa and Fangataufa, some 1,500 km (930 mi) to the east of Tahiti.

In 1983, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints built the Papeʻetē Tahiti Temple here because of its large number of members in the region.

On 5 September 1995 the government of Jacques Chirac conducted the first of a series of nuclear test detonations off the shores of Moruroa.

A resulting riot in Papeʻetē lasted for two days and damaged the international airport, injured 40 people, and scared away tourism for some time.

The Tahiti freeway starts close to the town center as Pōmare Boulevard, named after the Tahitian Royal Family of the 19th century.