New Zealand - Taihape - Taihape in the making - the main street in 1896 - 30/4/1913 - Unknown Photographer - Original Newspaper Clipping from "The Weekly Graphic and New Zealand Mail" #334835 Settlers first took up sections of land at Taihape in 1894. The main trunk railway reached the town in 1904, and through the 20th century the town housed rail workers, as well as catering to local farms and passing rail and road travellers. Meaning of place name Originally Ōtaihape, ō: place of; tai: angle; hape: crooked; or Place of Taihape (a personal name); or Place of Tai the hunchback. No reason for the name can be given with certainty, although the initial 'ō' may have been dropped when the town was gazetted in 1894. https://nzhistory.govt.nz/keyword/taihape