The Guide to Travellers section of the Poverty Bay Almanac for 1884 contained a warning to visitors to Waiapu not to attempt to pass round headlands where there was no track.
Mention is made of a track from Waipiro Bay to the hot springs at Te Puia, and of another leading to Makarika.
In October 1884, the Poverty Bay Independent praised the development work which was being undertaken by Mr. J. N. Williams and Sir George Whitmore.
"There is already a movement among the dry bones of Tawhiti," it remarked, "and, to-day, the district is alive with the voices of labourers."
It added: "Smallholders could not possibly make any strides in the work of converting those wilds into pleasant and verdant pastures."
It was not until 1894 that steps were taken to effect appreciable improvements to the old native track leading north from Tolaga Bay along the Hikuwai River.
A contract was then let to D. Malone to form a road 1.8 metres (6 ft) wide for a distance of 13 kilometres (8 mi).
When the council raised a loan of NZ£10,000 for road works in 1901, very considerable improvements were made to the inland route.
Phenomenal rains at Tokomaru Bay on 21–22 January 1917, caused the Mangahauini Stream to rise to a record level in a few hours.
When Mr. and Mrs. Hanlon had to leave their home, the husband took charge of their 18-months-old infant, but it slipped from his grasp when he became entangled in a fence, and was swept out to sea.
The pattern of a large section of the East Coast was completely altered by the diversion of traffic from the coastline to the inland route.
On the other hand, Ruatoria has blossomed from a sparsely settled junction known as "The Cross Roads" into a substantial township, and Te Puia (now the county headquarters) has become a popular spa.
As in the case of other small ports, it suffered a heavy decline in business when—during the Second World War—it was excluded from the itineraries of Home vessels.
Harbour Board Chairmen: A severe outbreak of typhoid fever, which necessitated the establishment of a temporary camp at Ruatoria, led to the erection of a small hospital in 1907 at Te Puia.
As at 31 March 1947, the county debt (apart from Harbour Board loans) stood at £57,130, with maturity dates ranging up to 1966.
In 1875 "Scotty" Siddons, mate of the Beautiful Star, claimed to have met, on the East Coast, a native who had a few ounces of gold.
He and a mate named Hill found a lot of mundic on the north-west side of the mountain, but only outcrops of limestone on the higher slopes.
In 1886, Reupane te Ana, of Makarika, discovered what he fondly imagined was an enormous deposit of gold.
Drays, wheelbarrows and receptacles of all kinds were rushed to the scene, and large quantities of the "precious metal" were removed to a safe place.
He was the only justice of the peace for miles around, carried out the duties of lay reader, and, when an accident occurred, was called upon to administer first aid.
He served, for several terms, on Gisborne Harbour Board, and became prominent in social, business and sporting circles in Poverty Bay.
In 1894, he took up the management of Tuparoa run for his uncle (Archdeacon Samuel Williams) and developed methods of stocking and fencing which overcame tauhinu scrub, which had become a grave menace to the establishment of pasture on papa hillslopes.
A good deal of the road and bridge work carried out under his supervision was badly damaged by floods between 1916 and 1918.
Upon his retirement in 1946, after fifty years' service as a contractor and/or employee of Waiapu County, Charles H, McCracken was presented with a special letter of appreciation and a substantial gratuity.