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Township 19 km north-west of Palmerston North. Rongotea is a long-established service centre for surrounding farming districts. It dates from the Crown’s sale of the Carnarvon block in the late 1860s, with the Sandon block next to it. The name of Rongotea, at the centre of the Carnarvon block, was changed from Campbelltown (after one of its founders, Robert Campbell) in 1887. Rongotea was at the centre of an 1870s and 1880s religious revival led by converts of preacher Gordon Forlong. A large number of churches were subsequently built in the town.
Meaning of place name
In 1894 the name was changed from Campbelltown to Rongotea unnder the Designation of Districts Act. Rongotea was the name of Turi's hapu.
