It lies on the western side of the Mamaku Ranges and in the upper basin of the Waihou River.

Her servant Ruru witnessed her murder and escaped into the forest where he hid and waited for Parahore and his men to give up their pursuit of him.

During Te Rauparaha's migration to the Cook Strait area in the 1820s, many Ngāti Raukawa people moved from these settlements to Rangitikei and Manawatu localities, and others followed after the Siege of Ōrākau in 1864.

Te Kooti and his followers were pursued through the district early in 1870 by a force under Lt-Col. Thomas McDonnell.

Exotic afforestation was begun in the district some time after 1910 by a land and timber company with an outlet to the Hamilton-Rotorua railway near Pinedale.

Larger areas further south were planted in 1924 for future milling and to provide the raw material for pulp and paper manufacture.

This community-led project is set to receive $550,000 from the South Waikato District Council in order to facilitate its upgrade.

[17] Construction of the Rotorua Branch line was started by the New Zealand Thames Valley Land Company (NZTVLC).

The line reached Oxford (Tīrau) on 8 March 1886 and Putāruru and Lichfield, 8.22 km (5.11 mi) further south-east, on Monday 21 June 1886.

[19] The 11.8 km (7.3 mi) Putāruru-Ngātira section of the line to Rotorua was built by contractor Daniel Fallon, and work was underway by April 1887.

In the early 1900s the Taupo Totara Timber Company (TTT) acquired bush blocks north and north-west of Lake Taupō and erected a sawmill at Mokai.

The NZ Government purchased a 19 miles (31 km) section of the TTT Railway,[31] from Putāruru to the "19-Mile Peg", near the present-day location of the Kinleith Paper Mill south of Tokoroa.

[33] This section of railway was reconstructed under a NZ Government scheme for development of the Waikato River basin and surrounding areas.

[39] About the time of the Rotorua Branch's completion, the station was rebuilt and extended to about 64 ft (20 m) long.

[37] It had a refreshment room[40][41] and a bookstall[42] and, from 1907, the railway yard had a 50 ft (15 m)[43] turntable[44] and handled much livestock,[45] as well as timber.

[37] Putāruru railway station closed to passengers on 12 November 1968 and freight on 10 December 2002,[18] though it was served by the Geyserland Express from 1991 to 2001.

In 1925 it was noted that inwards traffic was of timber, shingle, gravel, coal, 13 loads of manure, a wagon of lime, hardware and small goods.

The public siding closed on 8 September 1941, as it was in a poor condition, but the station remained open for passengers until 22 November 1948, and for parcels, and roadside traffic until 30 July 1951.

[59] Putāruru College is a state secondary school at the northern entrance of the town, by the Oraka River,[60] with a roll of 398.