Pukekohe and the surrounding areas are a section of the South Auckland volcanic field, which erupted between 550,000 and 1,600,000 years ago.

The northern slopes of the hill were home to some of the largest croplands (māra kai) for the Tāmaki Māori people who settled here.

[6] Much of the population around Pukekohe migrated south during the Musket Wars in the 1820s due to the threat from Ngāpuhi and other northern tribes,[6] gradually returning from the mid-1830s.

Most people refused due to strong links to Tainui, leaving for the south before the Government's Invasion of the Waikato.

Small numbers of people remained, in order to tend to their farms and for ahi kā (land rights through continued occupation).

The battle involved 11 armed settlers, who were converting the Pukekohe East church into a redoubt and approximately 200–300 Māori, mainly from the Waikato area.

Although surprised and severely outnumbered, the settlers held off the Māori war party until troops from the 18th Royal Irish Regiment arrived.

Despite this order, future Ngāti Maniapoto chief Wahanui Huatare and several other members raided a settler's house.

[6][15] In January 1865, the New Zealand Government's Executive Council designated Pukekohe as one of the eight districts in the Waikato region to be confiscated, which amounted to a total of 577,590 acres.

The Ngatipari claimants successfully argued that they had not opposed the Crown during the Waikato War and established their claim to the land on the basis of cultivation and ancestral burial grounds.

[7] While onions and potatoes were first grown in Pukekohe as early as the 1850s, large-scale market growing of vegetables did not begin until 1870 in nearby Patumahoe.

The expansion of roads and railway infrastructure during the late 19th century led to the development of market gardens in Pukekohe and the nearby Bombay Hills.

[18]: 30  People who had lived in Te Awa nui o Taikehu returned to the area in the 1870s, often working as labourers in the market gardens on the former lands of the reserve.

[18]: 52 During the early 20th century, several landless Māori from the Waikato migrated to Pukekohe to work in the township's market gardens as itinerant agricultural workers.

[26] The growing presence of Chinese and Indian market growers in Pukekohe led to the creation of the White New Zealand League in December 1925.

[30] The Pukekohe council later petitioned the New Zealand government to address the substandard living conditions of Māori market garden workers and their families.

[31] Between 1942 and 1944, Pukekohe hosted US Marines, US Army and US Navy personnel serving in the Pacific theatre of World War Two.

The League submitted its report to the Auckland City Council, the Department of Māori Affairs, and the State Advances Corporation.

Despite the League's lobbying, many Māori continued to face substandard living conditions and long waits for state rental housing.

The visiting American psychologist David Ausubel regarded Pukekohe's segregated school as emblematic of an alleged "colour bar" in New Zealand where Māori faced negative stereotyping and discrimination in accessing housing, hotel accommodation, employment, and credit services.

[35][36] In 1963, ethnic Chinese onion grower Rai Wai Ching contested a seat in the New Zealand Parliament to highlight racism in Pukekohe.

At candidates' meetings, he complained that members of his community were not served in bars and were allocated inferior seats at the town's cinemas.

Though Ching's parliamentary bid was unsuccessful, the publicity led the town to end discrimination against non-Whites in hotels and cinemas.

[25] In response to the community needing a larger space, the PIA Events Centre was opened by the Pukekohe Indian Association in 1999.

Pukekohe lies in the Port Waikato general electorate, currently represented by Andrew Bayly of the National Party.

Opened in 1963, this circuit is famous for having hosted the New Zealand Grand Prix 29 times between 1963 and 2000, as well as the V8 International (a round of the V8 Supercars championship) between 2001 and 2007.

Pukekohe RFC represent the town in rugby union, their number 1 field is dubbed the 'Onion Patch'.

Based on King St, Pukekohe, Rural Living is a monthly, lifestyle magazine distributed throughout the Franklin region and accessible online.

Franklin County News is the local newspaper distributed weekly to homes in Pukekohe and surrounding towns, including Waiuku and Tuakau.

[citation needed] In July 2017, it was announced that the purchase of battery-powered electric trains had been "agreed in principle"[85] by Auckland Council and that an all-electric service would be operational in 2019 (provisionally, subject to conditions), four years after completion of the rest of the region's electrified rail network.