Te Awamutu has a population of 14,150 (June 2024),[2] making it the fifth-largest urban area in the Waikato behind Hamilton, Taupō, Cambridge and Tokoroa.

Te Awamutu means "the river cut short", as it marked the end of the navigable section of the Mangapiko Stream.

[5][6][7] and Māori Christians in July 1839 after they observed Tainui warriors, who had been fighting at Rotorua, return with 60 backpacks of human remains and proceed to cook and eat them in the Otawhao Pa.[8] In 1842 the Rev.

In 1846 Morgan provided advice and some capital to help local Māori to construct eight water mills to grind wheat into flour.

[11] Morgan assisted in finding a suitable miller to operate the mills and to train Māori in this skill.

[12] Possibly the oldest surviving building in the Waikato[13] is St John's church, built in 1853 as part of the mission station.

Te Awamutu was a major site during the New Zealand Wars of the 19th century, serving as a garrison town for the colonial settlers from 1864.

The Waikato Plains lie to the north and east, and the promontory of Mount Pirongia, 20 kilometres to the west, is easily visible.

Maungatautari, another extinct volcanic cone, now the site of New Zealand's largest ecological restoration project, is also nearby.

[27] For earlier censuses, Te Awamutu was divided into four area units, central, east, south and west, as in this table.

The museum has a number of permanent exhibitions focusing on the history of Te Awamutu and the surrounding area.

[38] The museum contains one of the most famous early Māori artifacts, a large carved post known simply as Te Uenuku.

The town has three large supermarkets, electronics retailers, a well equipped sports / leisure centre and The Kihikihi Trail cycleway,[39] which opened in 2017.

[57] Musician Spencer P. Jones (The Beasts of Bourbon, Paul Kelly and The Coloured Girls) was also born in Te Awamutu.

They were The Rev Martin Gloster Sullivan, vicar prior to WW2 who in 1950 became Dean of Christchurch Cathedral and, later Dean of St Pauls Cathedral London, and The Rev John David Hogg who was to become the Anglican Archdeacon of Waikato and Vicar General of the Waikato Diocese.