Māori history The Pōhutukawa Coast was visited by the
Tainui migratory waka around the year 1300. Tainui followers of Manawatere, who identified as
Ngā Oho, decided to settle the area between the Pōhutukawa Coast and Tūwakamana (
Cockle Bay).
Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, the
mana whenua of the area, descend from these early settlers. The name traditionally referred to the wider area between
Motukaraka Island and the
Wairoa River. Traditional names associated with modern Maraetai include Ōmanawatere, the name of Manawatere's
pā and
kāinga, Pōhaturoa, the name of the western Maraetai Beach as far as the Ōhinerangi stone, and Papawhitu, the name of the headland pā at modern Maraetai Point. Maraetai was a customary food gathering area, In 1836, Fairburn purchased 40,000 acres between
Ōtāhuhu and Umupuia (
Duders Beach), including much of the catchment of the Wairoa River. In 1851, Welsh farmer Thomas Eckford bought 368 acres from Fairburn around Maraetai as farmland, and the area was a site for
kauri logging. In 1854, a portion of Fairburn's purchase between Maraetai Beach and Umupuia was designated as a reserve for Ngāi Tai. After the Native Lands Act of 1865, the
Native Land Court confiscated many Ngāi Tai lands. The remaining land was individuated, slowly sold on to European farmers. In 1877, the farmer Thomas Eckford sold his farm to George Couldrey.
Suburban development The area was predominantly rural and sparsely populated in the 19th Century, and by the early 20th Century became a popular spot for picnics and camping. The Maraetai Highway District was established in 1875, and the first school opened in 1880. In the 1920s the area was subdivided. Sections of the Maraetai Beach Estate are advertised for sale in 1923, followed by the Omana Beach Estate in 1924. The Maraetai Hall was built in a single day on
Labour Day 1926 as a community effort, and in 1929 the first bus service began, linking Maraetai, Beachlands and Whitford to Auckland. Suburban housing in Maraetai developed significantly in the 1960s and early 1970s. Maraetai's residents do not use city mains water and instead must use water tanks and bore water. Many residents prefer it to be kept this way to maintain the town's rural aspect. Maraetai's beaches are popular destinations for other Aucklanders and are often crowded in the summer months. ==Demographics==