Te Rore was in the 1850s an important transhipment point on New Zealand's Waipā River, between the agriculture of the Waikato basin and its Auckland market.

That was ended in 1864 by the Invasion of the Waikato, when Te Rore was, for a few months, part of the supply route to four redoubts set up nearby.

It is now a rural community in the Waipa District, 6 km (3.7 mi) north of Pirongia and roughly the same distance south of Ngāhinapōuri on State Highway 39.

Many artefacts have been found in and around the lake, including beaters, pounders, paddles, fishing and eeling equipment, spears, weaving sticks, digging-sticks, spades, paddles, canoes, adze handles, weapons, rafters and palisades.

[1] The Waipā River and its streams were lined with pā sites, those at Te Rore being among them.

[4][5] The name Te Rore, the snare, originated in 1826, when Waikato ambushed Ngāpuhi Chief, Pomare to punish the breaking of a peace treaty and to revenge an earlier defeat at Mātakitaki.

[6][7] John Vittoria Cowell, a Kawhia trader,[8] was given about 40,000 acres (16,000 ha) by Ngāti Apakura in October 1839, on which he set up a trading station at Te Rore.

One account said, "the General made his head-quarters at Te Rore, near a settler’s house named Cowell, which had been burned by the natives, as well as another belonging to a Mr.

[9] His Homewood house, to the south of Te Pahu, may date from 1841 and be the oldest surviving building in Waikato.

The officer who organised supplies, Colonel Gamble, reported, "A redoubt has been constructed for 150 men on our main encampment which covers a good landing place for stores on the river bank .

A local committee was formed to maintain the graves and the County Council approved headstone designs.

On 22 January 1920 obelisks costing £80 were ordered for Te Rore and Paterangi and erected in February 1921.

[35] Te Rore Hall Association Incorporated Society had been registered on 22 June 1934.

[40] Ambury, English & Co opened a creamery at Te Rore in 1908,[41] on Mrs Totty's farm.

[46] A water supply for Te Rore was taken from the Mangamauku Stream on Pirongia in about 1930 at a cost of some £5,000.

The piped water crosses the Waipā River on a bridge that was reported as in need of major repair,[48] but remains in place.

[49] The scheme was transferred to Te Rore Water Supply Group in November 2012,[50] when it was valued at $703,000 in Waipā District Council's accounts.

[64] Mangaotama Stream flows from Lake Ngaroto and enters the Waipā north of Te Rore.

[7] In 1928 it was noted that a drought made the river unnavigable[75] and in 1925 there were complaints about the number of cars stuck on the mud roads.

[76] A bus route linked Te Rore with Pirongia, Whatawhata and Hamilton from 1926.

[80] In 2019 average daily traffic on SH39 at Meadway Road, just north of Te Rore, was 8,524, of which 13.9% were heavy vehicles,[81] up from 5,480 (12.4%) a decade earlier.