In November 1851,
the Crown purchased the
Ahuriri block for £1,500, described in 1855 as, "a million of acres at Ahuriri for a penny-three-farthings" an acre. However, the land around the Mangaone wasn't surveyed until 1861, when most of it was still under dense
bush. There were reports of
totara being floated down the river from the 1860s and two timber mills were still running in 1916. From 1861 the cleared land was used for large sheep stations, which were gradually split into smaller farms. Roads and other facilities spread, until cars and roads improved to put Rissington within a half hour journey from Napier, after which the area lost its post office, store, library hall and school.
Rissington Station In September 1861
Major George Stoddart Whitmore took in the Mangaone valley, initially as a
Crown grant for his military service, in partnership with another soldier,
Captain John McNeill. Whitmore reached Napier from Auckland on 21 December 1861. He was on the committee of Hawke's Bay
Acclimatisation Society and, shortly after his arrival, introduced rabbits,
brown quail, blackberry, and gorse. Whitmore represented
Wairoa on the
Hawke's Bay Provincial Council from 10 April 1867 until 29 May 1869. In July and August 1868 he pursued
Te Kooti inland from
Poverty Bay and was promoted to colonel on 21 October 1868. He was defeated by
Tītokowaru at Moturoa on 7 November, but took Te Kooti's stronghold of
Ngātapa on 5 January 1869 with great slaughter. His last campaign was invasion of
Te Urewera, from 4 to 18 May. Whitmore was eased out of his post in July 1869. He sold the station in 1872. It was divided into smaller farms in 1882, at which time it had about 1,000 cattle and 90,000 sheep.
Apley Station of Rissington Station was sold in 1873 for £30,500 to
William Buckland, who sold it for £37,300 in 1874. It was divided into three blocks in 1879 and further subdivided after 1929. Steam-driven shearing was introduced in Apley woolshed by 1908. Since 2001 Apley homestead has been on a farm, between Rissington and Patoka. Apley homestead and woolshed were listed as
Category 2 Historic Places on 7 April 1983.
School Rissington School opened in 1904 and was extended in 1909. Due to the condition of the buildings it closed in 2010 and was demolished, or removed, in 2011,
Scout camp Weka Point, a
Scouting camp, opened in 1911, beside a bend in the Mangaone River. A
suspension bridge links it to Puketitiri Road. In 2011 the
Lions Club helped replace the bridge and two rooms were moved from the old school. and closed in 2001, due to its poor condition and low use. It was demolished shortly after.
Post office The post office was open by 1904. It burnt down in 1954.
Women's institute Rissington had the first
Women's Institute in the country, founded by
Bessie Spencer, on 27 January 1921 at Omatua lodge. The lodge replaced the original Omatua Homestead built by Captain Anderson in 1861, damaged in the 1863 earthquake. It was given to the
Girl Guides Association in 1961, further property was bought in 1964 and Omatua was rebuilt in 1979.
Soldiers Settlement In the 1920s a Soldiers Settlement was created to settle
World War 1 veterans as sheep farmers, under the Discharged Soldiers Settlement Act 1915, Soldiers Settlement Road being built in 1926. ==Demographics==