Warkworth (Māori: Puhinui)[3][4] is a town on the Northland Peninsula in the upper North Island of New Zealand.

Māori people of the Mahurangi Harbour area moved seasonally between different kāinga based on available resources, and came to the dense kauri forests at Puhinui for food resources such as berries and eels, and to fell trees to build waka.

The area was depopulated during the Musket Wars of the 1820s, with Te Kawerau hapū taking shelter with differing tribes in the north.

European settler John Anderson Brown first settled at Warkworth in 1843, establishing a timber mill on the banks of the Mahurangi River.

Warkworth and the surrounding areas was home to over 40 United States Army camps during World War II.

[8] The township is located at the point where the river runs over a low waterfall and becomes a tidal estuary,[11] The wider area is predominantly uplifted Waitemata Group sandstone.

[12] On the eastern side of the river is the Mahurangi Peninsula, with the seaside towns of Snells Beach and Algies Bay.

It is here that the scenic Kawau Island is found, notable for its historic Mansion House, once the private retreat of Governor Grey.

[18][17] Named for Tāhuhunui-o-te-rangi, captain of the Moekākara waka, the iwi also settled at Ōtāhuhu in Auckland, Whangārei and the Bay of Islands.

[8] While the majority of known archaeological sites near Warkworth are on the Mahurangi Harbour coast,[18] the Mahurangi River (traditionally called Waihē) shores and adjoining forests would have been utilised for resources, such as berry collecting, bird snaring, flax harvesting, eel fishing and felling trees to construct waka.

[18][10] In the mid-17th century, the warrior Maki migrated from the Kāwhia Harbour to his ancestral home in the Auckland Region.

[21][22] In Mahurangi, this was done by conquering Ngāi Tāhuhu, and by forming peacemaking marriages with the Te Roroa and Ngāti Manaia/Ngātiwai tribes who were migrating from the north.

[17] By the mid-1700s, Marutūāhu tribes from the Hauraki Gulf, especially Ngāti Pāoa, sought to control the shark fishery located on the Mahurangi coast, between Kawau Island and the Whangaparāoa Peninsula.

[18][17] In 1832, Gordon Browne established a spar station on the Pukapuka Peninsula of the Mahurangi Harbour.

Browne obtained rights to fell kauri from Marutūāhu tribes,[18] after which Ngāpuhi chiefs Patuone and Tītore brokered a deal with the British Royal Navy to supply kauri spurs for navy ships, using the spar station.

[18] In 1843, early settler John Anderson Brown began squatting on land along the Mahurangi River, establishing a dam and timber mill on the left bank in 1844.

[7] The timber industry, later joined by shipbuilding, were the two major economic activities in the area during the mid-19th century.

[7] The town developed slowly, primarily around the Mahurangi River wharf, where settlers could supply goods and services for the Auckland market.

[8] In the same year, the Mahurangi School opened, and by 1868 Henry Palmer had established a flour mill in the settlement.

[8] Unlike other areas of northern Auckland and Northland, kauri gum digging did not appear to play a large part in the economy of the town.

While initially made landless through the Mahurangi Purchase, a native reserve was established between Pukapuka and Waiwera in 1853.

John Southgate established a second limeworks at a site further downstream in 1857,[7] selling it to Nathaniel Wilson in 1864.

After this time, Warkworth transitioned from a logging town into a commercial and service hub for the wider north Auckland area.

The first personnel to arrive were the 43rd Infantry Division in October 1942,[18] and camps included the modern-day Rodney Showgrounds, and a military hospital that was constructed near Hill Street.

[18] In 1971, the Warkworth Radio Astronomical Observatory was established near the town, as the first major long-range telecommunication centre for satellite telephone circuits and television in New Zealand.

[39] The first local government for the township was the Upper Mahurangi Highway District, which was formed on 24 December 1864.

[42] With the abolition of the provinces of New Zealand in 1876, Warkworth became part of Rodney County, which was formed at that time.

[54] The renovations and constructions were completed mid-2013, and Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye announced on 2 April 2015, that work would begin on a $6.3 million property upgrade at the college.

[43] State Highway 1 passed through Warkworth until an extension of the Auckland Northern Motorway opened in July 2023.