Normanby

The village has a local primary school catering for Years 1–6, along with several light industrial and rural businesses. Positioned on State Highway 3, the local dairy is a popular stop for both locals and travellers, well known for its famously generous scoops of ice cream.

History: Normanby was named after the second Marquess of Normanby, governor of New Zealand from 1874 to 1879. The township was established in the 1870s, but the earlier Waihī military post had been established in 1866 by Lieutenant Colonel Thomas McDonnell. The massive wooden stockade and blockhouses were on the high ground overlooking the tiny Waihī cemetery and an old pā site, Mangamanga. The post was manned by the armed constabulary until 1885. In the cemetery is a memorial to the Pākehā soldiers killed in 1868 at Turuturumōkai and Te Ngutu-o-te-manu. The Normanby domain was the site of the 1879 Ketemarae redoubt, and is the site of another memorial to Pākehā casualties of the 1868–69 conflicts.