Waipukurau is the largest town in the Central Hawke's Bay District on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand.

His first child Te Kikiri was adopted by the Ngai Toroiwaho to be their chief - he had mana over the Waipukurau district.

Pareihe, a Ngati Rangikoianake Chief, avenged the defeat in a battle at Pukekaihau, Waipukurau after which a peace accord was made between the two tribes.

[3] The accord was short lived with the death of Te Wanikau's brother-in-law (Chief of Ngai Te Upokoiri) prompting further conflict over the erection of rahui poles on Lake Poukawa, Ngati Rangikoianake's eel fishing area.

The conflict, starting around 1819 and lasting till 1824 ended with the Ngati Rangikoianake and other local tribes evacuating the area and settling at Mahia.

[3] Within the current township is Pukekaihau hill, now in Paul Hunter Memorial Park,[4] the site of the Māori Pā, from which it gets its name.

The first Europeans who are known to have passed through the area were Bishop George Selwyn and Chief Justice Sir William Martin in November 1842 en route to Napier.

[3][7] Henry Russell acquired the land surrounding Waipukurau, calling it Mount Herbert station.

[19] By at least 1858 Waipukurau was used as a hub for mail delivery to the district, a sale yard for stock, and a court venue.

[26] In 1867 Russell acquired the Pa Flat native reserve and founded Waipukurau on it as a model village.

On his first journey from Foxton to Waipukurau his coach was intercepted by Alexander MacDonald as he was attempting to cross the Oroua River on former Ngāti Kauwhata land near Schultz's Hotel at Awahuri.

[34] MacDonald was a staunch supporter of the Ngāti Kauwhata and had been seeking redress for the dispossession of the tribe from its land on 15 December 1866.

[35] In October 1867 a dispute broke out between the residents of Waipukurau and the neighbouring township of Waipawa over the location of a telegraph station.

[37] However, the Government's Telegraph Department preferred Waipukurau due its slightly more central location.

Schäfer was a global traveller from Carlhafen in Hesse-Cassel who had walked through most of Europe, Palestine, two thirds of the way across the United States, Australia, Japan, China, Batavia, and Sumatra.

Its purpose was to improve the quality of shearing,[42] As a local response to Te Kooti's escape and conflict on the East Coast, a stockade was erected in late 1869,[43] in what is now Hunter Memorial Park.

[45] A boiling down works was constructed in March 1870, the same time a brewery was proposed and a flax mill opened.

[50] The link to Palmerston North was not completed until 9 March 1891 due in part to the more difficult country and the impact of the Long Depression.

[51] The 4 mi 62.93 ch (7.703 km) extension to Waipukurau was built by the international contractor, Brogdens, for £9,469 7s 9d.

Sixty years later the shed was leased to Belwood Bitumen Products Ltd. Railway houses were built in 1876, 1883, 1905, 1926 (5), 1931 (2), 1933 (2), 1955 and 1956.

By then Waipukurau had 3 trains a day from Napier, taking two to three hours to cover the 43 mi 34 ch (69.9 km).

During the 1979 bridge works that turntable was sent to Masterton), engine shed, stationmaster's house, urinals and a passing loop for 49 wagons.

[66] Its closure was announced several times,[73][74] including in 1886,[75] when the building was moved from Tarewa,[76] to Tapairu, a mile south of Waipawa, which seems to have been open until 1889,[59] or 1890.

From 1942 to 1964 two new wards, clinics for x-ray and physiotherapy, a laboratory, an administration block, a mortuary, and an operating theatre were added.

Through the 1940s-1970s one of the town's main businesses was Denne Bros/Peter Pan Frozen Foods, well known throughout the country for their ice cream brand.