In 1779 Captain Cook took a longboat up the Waihou River to Netherton, just a few kilometres from where the township of Paeroa would be built.
Around 300 years earlier, it's thought local iwi settled in the area.
Today there are a number of marae still operating, including Te Pai o Hauraki, a Ngati Tamatera marae.
Mihi's went to see historian and kaikorero Larn Wilkinson to hear more about the marae and its history.