by fire during the first world war and in 1920 the first general store and accommodation was erected by William Hayes Owen Johnston (1890-1960) on what is now Tuparoa Road. (The shop has been dismantled after his death in 1960) He is buried with his third wife in the cemetery at Mahora on the Tuparoa road just before the junction with the side road to Reparoa. (His first and second wives were of the Gerrard family of Tuparoa and are buried in the cemetery at the top of the hill on the northern side of the creek which separated the old Tuparoa settlement). From about 1925 onwards, Ruatoria began to replace Tuparoa as the main urban centre of the East Coast district of New Zealand. The transition to Ruatoria from Tuparoa was brought about by the increased reliability of State Highway 35, which at that time ran via the main street of Ruatoria. Tuparoa was disadvantaged by unreliable road access and a lack of all weather harbour. The Rotokautuku Bridge, connecting Ruatoria to the northern side of Waiapu River, was built in 1964. This 1964 bridge replaced the old bridge which had been built in the 1930s. The old piles were used for the new bridge, although they had to be lowered by a metre to accommodate the new bridge. In the 1980s, Ruatoria was briefly notorious for an outbreak of arson attacks in the town, during a period of severe economic downturn. Significance to Māori The Ngāti Porou proverb of identity relates to the area — Ko Hikurangi te maunga, ko Waiapu te awa, ko Ngāti Porou te iwi (Hikurangi is the mountain, Waiapu is the river, Ngāti Porou is the tribe). Ruatoria is within the iwi's rohe, and Te Runanganui o Ngāti Porou has offices located in the town. The Waiapu River is of immense cultural, spiritual, economic, and traditional value to local Māori. According to traditional beliefs, a number of taniwha dwell in and protect the river, in turn protecting the valley and its hapū. Taniwha believed to be in Waiapu River include Kotuwainuku, Kotuwairangi, Ohinewaiapu, and Ngungurutehorowhatu. According to an affidavit of Hapukuniha Te Huakore Karaka, two taniwha were placed in strategic locations in the river to protect the hapū from invading tribes — one near Paoaruku (a locality at ), and one at the Wairoa River (a small creek at ). Karaka said that a