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Chritian missionary Rev. Samuel Marsden visited the area briefly in August 1820, but the first European settlement of the district is thought to hae been by Thomas Spencer Forsaith who purchased land from the local Maoris in 1839. Soon after the milling of Kauri attracted a huge number of settlers to the region, especially during the 1960's. In the twentieth century, however, farming replaced this declining industry.
Joseph McMullen Dargaville was a merchant of the nineteenth century who established two hotels and a private township when he purchased the Tuhatahi Block at the Kaihu-Wairoa River junction in 1872. Railway, river and roading infastructure were established as a result of the Kauri milling and forestry industries.
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