According to other oral histories, explorer Haunui named the wetlands after the way the lake appeared to glisten from the Remutaka Ranges to the west.

[6] Rangitāne and Ngāti Kahungunu were the resident Māori tribes (iwi) when European explorers arrived in the area in the 1770s.

On 23 January 1855 the strongest earthquake recorded in New Zealand hit the region; it reached magnitude 8.2 on the Richter Scale and caused five deaths among the then sparse population.

In World War II United States Marine Corps soldiers were stationed in the Wairarapa with two battalions in Masterton.

[7] The agricultural industries, including forestry, cropping, sheep, beef and dairy farming, are major land users.

The State Highway 2, via Rimutaka Hill Road connects the region to Wellington in the south and the Manawatū in the north.

Many residents, especially in the southern towns such as Featherston and Greytown, commute to work in Wellington, either by train or over the Rimutaka Ranges by car or motorcycle.

Many of New Zealand's endangered native bird species can be seen at the Pukaha / Mount Bruce National Wildlife Centre, which is just south of Eketāhuna.

In January 2023, an area of 3,665 square kilometres (1,415 sq mi), was certified as the Wairarapa Dark Sky Reserve by the International Dark-Sky Association.