Main Street of Taumarunui.

Taumarunui is a small town in the King Country of the central North Island of New Zealand. It is on State Highway 4 and the North Island Main Trunk Railway.

In the 1980s publication Roll Back the Years there are some details on how Taumarunui got its name. "According to Frank T Brown, who wrote in the Taumarunui Press in 1926, the name Taumarunui is closely connected with the arrival of and conquering of that portion of the King Country by the Whanganui River natives during the 18th century . . . The war party that succeeded in capturing the principal pa and taking prisoner the chief of the district was headed by "Ki Maru". His warriors, to show their appreciation of his prowess and the honour of the victory, acclaimed him "Tau-maru-nui", which means "Maru the Great", or "Maru the Conqueror", that name was taken for the district and has been used ever since."

Archive Airings.......AA 179.........Street Scenes.