Makuri, New Zealand

Makuri is a farming community in Tararua District and Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island.

The area features dusty gravel roads, a bush-clad gorge valley, and sheep farms on the rolling green surrounding hills. It is about an hour's drive from Palmerston North, between Pahiatua and Pongaroa.

A walking track has been established through the Mahuri Gorge which takes about one hour to complete.

History

19th century

European settlers began farming the area in the late 19th century.

In 1889, Walter Tylee took control of 1200 acres of dense bush. The site was only accessible by a rough ten-mile horse track from Pahiatua, covered in two feet of mud during winter. By 1896 most of the property had been cleared for sheep farming. Tylee had been raised and educated in Napier and Nelson, and had travelled to Argentina to learn sheep farming.

In 1890, Frank Anderson purchased a 640-acre property covered in standing bush. By 1896, he had cleared 400 acres for farming sheep. Anderson was born in Wellington in 1870 and was educated at Wellington College and Wanganui College. He was active in establishing the local school and organising social functions.

In 1891, Bertram Harrison began managing the 3000 acre Tuscan Hills Estate. By 1896, 2000 acres had been felled, burnt and sown with grass to accommodate 3500 sheep and 100 cattle. The estate include an orchard and a villa, known as Bungalow House. Harrison had been born in Sydenham, England, in 1868, was educated in Berkhamstead, England, and had spent two years in Scotland and five years in New Zealand before taking over the estate. By 1897, he presided over the newly formed Makuri Cricket Club and was involved in local sports.

By 1897, the area was accessible by coach from Eketahuna railway station or Woodville railway station. The district had a daily mail service, and its nearest telegraph office was at Pahiatua.

20th century

A photograph of a farmhouse in Mahuri, taken between 1923 and 1928 by Robert Percy Moore, depicts a panoramic view of a farmhouse by pine trees, above a river. There is still some native bush, and a driveway and bridge connecting the house with a main road. In the hills in the background, there are still remains of the farmer's attempts to clear the standing forest.

A New Zealand Railways Department collage poster, compiled about the same time, shows fly-fishing in Mahuri as one of 12 examples of what makes New Zealand a "sportsman's paradise".

21st century

On 20 January 2014, a 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck the area, leaving a crack down the middle of Pahiatua-Pongaroa Road. It was the most powerful earthquake recorded in New Zealand that year.

In May 2018, a Landcorp's Rangedale Station, a 1380 hectare sheep and beef operation, was infected with Mycoplasma bovis.

Education

Makuri School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of 17 as of August 2024.

In 2009, a Ministry of Education review proposed closing eight of the ten schools in the Tararua bush area, including Makuri School. Makuri was the smallest of the schools at the time, having only six students.

Principal Keryl Kelleher told the Dominion Post the closure would be a "tragedy" for the Makuri community:

The kids can't see how it is going to better their education by moving to a bigger school, when they have one-on-one teaching here.

The school was investigated by the Office of the Auditor-General in 2017 for inappropriately borrowing money.