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Mai i te ngahurutanga tau 1840-1850 he pai tonu te wairua o te noho tahi o te iwi o Ngāti Awa me te tokopae āta tupu o te hunga Pākehā e noho ana i te rohe o Whakatāne. Te taenga ki waenganui i te ngahurutanga 1860-1870, kua puta kē te āhua. Kua tīmata te huri a te tini o ngāi Māori ki te whakapono Pai Mārire. He rangimārie ngā akoranga a te poropiti a Te Ua Haumene, engari nā te kōhurutanga i ngā Pākehā i te Moana a Toi e ngā Hau Hau, ka murua ngā whenua o Ngāti Awa. I muri i te whakaekenga a Te Kooti ki Whakatāne i te tau 1869, ka tīmata anō te kōkiri a ngā kainohonoho Pākehā, me ngā Māori ki te waihanga i te oranga ohaoha, oranga hapori hoki i te tāone.

Kei te 200 tāngata te taupori o Whakatane, i te tīmatanga tuatahitanga rawa o ngā mahi whakatū niupepa. I tīmata te oranga poto o te Whakatane Times and Opouriao Advocate i te tau 1899, engari kāore i rahi ngā kaipānui, te hunga whakatairanga hokohoko rānei e ora ai ia, i tua atu i ōna marama tuatahi e rua. He mea ētita te niupepa e H G Walmsley, ā, he mea tautoko e Daniel McGarvey, tētahi o ngā kairaweke tā i te Southern Cross o Tāmaki-makau-rau.

I te tau 1901 e 781 ngā Pākehā, i waenga hoki i te 3-4,000 ngā Maori i te takiwā o Whakatāne. Nō te taenga ki te tau 1907 kua piki te taupori o te tāone, i āhei ai te Whakatane County Press te whanake, te tū. I whakamahia e ia ngā mīhini o te Times. He rongonui te ingoa o te rangatira a Charles Gibbs Beckett, mō te whakarewa i tēnei mea te niupepa huri noa.

E ai ki te Thames Star i te marama o Hānuere 1907: ‘E kore pea e kore ka rite te rongo o Mr C G Beckett ki tōna hoa tauwhāinga ki a Mr Joseph Ivess hei 'kaiwhakatō' niupepa. Koia te rangatira o te Northern Wairoa Times, o te Whangarei Morning Press me te Waihi Times, ā, i tēnei wā kei te whakatū ia i tētahi mea tuawhā ki Whakatāne, e mōhiotia ai ko te Whakatane County Press. I ngā tau o mua ka whakatūria e Mr Beckett ētahi niupepa i te takiwā o Wairarapa, ā, koia hoki te rangatira o te Inglewood Record mō tētahi wā.’

I muri i te putanga tuatahi o te niupepa i te 14 o Hānuere, ka puta te pūrongo a te Evening Post, i Pōneke, 'he rau double-demy, ā, e mea ana rātou koia te pepa kapa-tahi tuatahi ki te Moana a Toi'. Kia tika ai te kī he pepa ā-takiwā, e kī katoa ana i ngā rongorongo ā-rohe, me ngā kaupapa ā-takiwā.' E toru ōna putanga ia wiki, ā, ka whakaputaina i ngā ata. He niupepa ā-rā mō te wā poto i te tau 1916.

Kotahi te niupepa kāore i kaha rawa te tautoko i tōna whānautanga mai. Nō te marama o Tīhema 1907 ka puta te kōrero a te Bay of Plenty Times: 'E kite ana mātou kei te ngana te Whakatāne County Press ki te tāhae i ngā tuhinga rongo kōrero o tēnei niupepa me te pānui anō i aua tuhinga, ānō nei nāna i tito, i tuhi. Kāore kau mātou e whakahē i ngā niupepa kaha-kore e tārua nei i ā mātou tuhinga, engari me whakaingoa i te puna i kitea ai, kaua e haere mai ki te tāhae i aua tuhinga.'

I waenga i ngā tau 1916-1921 ko Whakatāne tētahi o ngā tāone hohoro rawa ki te tupu i Aotearoa. Ko te take ko te tū o te rangi, he huarere tino mahana, te mōmona o te oneone o ngā raorao, o ngā pārae, ngā hiwi o raro, me te pikinga ake o te mana o te wahapū i Whakatane. He mea tino nui anō hoki te tope rākau, te hī ika, me te mahi kūtētē kau.

Nō te tau 1919 ka hokona te Whakatane County Press e te Bay of Plenty Printing Company, ā, nō te tau 1923 ka hoki anō hei putanga ā-ahiahi. I te tau 1935, ka horomia e ia te East Coast Guardian o Ōpōtiki, ka hurihia te taitara ki te Bay of Plenty Press. I mutu te putanga o te Bay of Plenty Press i te tīmatanga o 1939. E rua marama i muri mai nā F J Reynolds i whakatū te Beacon Printing and Publishing Company, ā, ka riro i a ia ngā mīhini o te Press. I puta mai te putanga tuatahi o te Bay of Plenty Beacon, he toru putanga ia wiki, i te marama o te Āperira 1939.

E kīa ana ināianei ko te Whakatane Beacon. He putanga whārangi whānui ia, ā, e toru ōna putanga ia wiki i te Tūrei, i te Wenerei, me te Paraire hoki. E 8,400 ōna kape ka hokona. Kei te whakaputa te Beacon Printing and Publishing Company i te Bay Weekend, he niupepa ā-papa, ki ia kāinga i te rohe whānui o te Moana ā-Toi ki te Rāwhiti.