Pahiatua

Pahiatua is a rural service town in the south-eastern North Island of New Zealand with an urban and rural population of over 4,000. It is between Masterton and Woodville on State Highway 2 and the Wairarapa Line railway, 60 kilometres (37 mi) north of Masterton and 30 kilometres (19 mi) east of Palmerston North. It is usually regarded as being in the Northern Wairarapa, but for local government purposes it is in the Tararua District, which encompasses Eketahuna, Pahiatua, Woodville and Dannevirke.

Unusually for a town of its size Pahiatua has retained several amenities that were lost to similar towns around New Zealand in the 1980s and 1990s, in particular banking, postal services, and a cinema. The town is served by four banks, a post office, a supermarket, four schools (3 Primary, 1 Secondary), a volunteer fire brigade, and a public library.

Name

There are conflicting accounts of how the town acquired its name. When translated from Māori, the name Pahiatua means "god's resting place". The explanation accompanying this translation is that a chief fleeing from his enemies was led by his war god to this hill to seek refuge. However, the town's founder, William Wilson McCardle, claims to have given it its name.

Pahiatua (New Zealand electorate)

Pahiatua is a former New Zealand parliamentary electorate in the Wairarapa region. It existed from 1896 to 1996, and was represented by nine Members of Parliament, including Prime Minister Keith Holyoake for 34 years.

Population centres

In the 1896 electoral redistribution, rapid population growth in the North Island required the transfer of three seats from the South Island to the north. Four electorates that previously existed were re-established, and three electorates were established for the first time, including Pahiatua. The original area of the Pahiatua electorate included the towns of Pahiatua and Woodville. Over time, the electorate shifted slightly north, until the town of Dannevirke was covered following the 1918 electoral redistribution.

The 1946 electoral redistribution took the abolition of the country quota into account, and as a rural electorate, the area covered by the Pahiatua electorate increased significantly. The Masterton electorate to the south was abolished, and its area distributed to the Wairarapa and Pahiatua electorate. Eketahuna and Castlepoint were gained by the electorate in that process.