The Tauhoa block, together with the Hoteo block inland of it, together comprising, were purchased from the Māori chief Te Keene and others in March 1867. Land at Tauhoa was first offered for sale to settlers in 1868, but in 1875 some of the land was still being surveyed for future settlement. Some of the land occupied by settlers in the 1870s was abandoned in the 1880s. A tramway operated during the 1880s to bring kauri logs down to Te Pahi Stream, where sailing ships could take them away. The barque Mary Mildred was stranded and wrecked in the Tauhoa River with a load of kauri. The small steamer S.S. Mary Allen was built at Tauhoa and transported goods between Te Pahi Creek and the northern Wairoa River in the early 1880s. A Highway Board operated in the area from 1876 to 1906. A road north to Port Albert was described as "a good summer road" in 1880. By 1886, a route south to Kaukapakapa was complete and bridged, but was still impassable in winter. A small portion of the road at Tauhoa was metalled in 1899. In the late 1920s, the road from Tauhoa to the railway station at Hoteo was designated a highway, and metalled. Other roads in the area were mostly metalled by the mid-1930s. Gum-diggers were active in the area up before 1910.
Demographics
The statistical area of Kaipara Hills, which at 283 square kilometres is much larger than this locality, had a population of 1,965 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 279 people since the 2013 census, and an increase of 492 people since the 2006 census. There were 630 households. There were 1,005 males and 963 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.04 males per female. The median age was 41.3 years, with 465 people aged under 15 years, 288 aged 15 to 29, 1,008 aged 30 to 64, and 204 aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 87.6% European/Pākehā, 18.5% Māori, 1.7% Pacific peoples, 2.9% Asian, and 1.8% other ethnicities. The proportion of people born overseas was 22.0%, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 59.2% had no religion, 26.1% were Christian, and 7.2% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 258 people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 252 people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $34,400. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 843 people were employed full-time, 261 were part-time, and 30 were unemployed.
