The Marton town was formerly referred to as Tutaenui developed as a colony in the mid-1860s when four individual explorers began to dissect the tiny encampment.
The resident changed the settlement’s name from Tutaenui which translates to dung heap, changing it to Marton back in 1869, in honour of Captain James Cook, a British navigator; who had first landed in New Zealand approximately a century before. You will even find streets using this name – Tutaenui Road Marton.
Marton is a supply centre for the regional farming communities that have switched from supplying animal products to growing wheat, among other big crops.
Marton was established in 1866 with a general store, two warehouses and sundry blacksmiths who made Marton the place to get all your horse requirements sorted.
By 1978, Marton had opened a railway line that connected Whanganui to Palmerston North. The development transformed Marton’s railway station into a thriving trading station maintaining the spot for the next century.
Marton was heavily affected by the railway downsizing of the 1980s and 1990s with the impacts becoming more severe in the late 1990s. Houses for sale Marton dropped quite dramatically at the time as unemployment rose sharply.
Marton has a population of over 5,000 with a median age of just over 45 years and consists of over 90% European and 10% Maori and other ethnic groups. English is the most commonly spoken language with the residents practising different religions from Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism, to those who don’t believe in any religion.
The majority of residents are fully employed combined with those employed, the town has an employment rate of over 70% and a low unemployment rate of 2.3%.
In terms of occupation, most residents are managers taking up 30%, labourers follow by 17%, professionals are third at 13%, and the rest is shared among community workers, sales workers, machinery operators, trade workers, and technicians who have found many houses for sale Marton.