It is traditionally recorded that one of the great fighting chiefs of the Ngati Kahupungapunga, Tokoroa by name, was slain by the Ngati Raukawa during the siege of Pohuturoa, a high rocky eminence 27km south of Tokoroa on the main Taupo highway and it is probable that some early surveyor applied the name Tokoroa as a tribute to the old chief's memory.

The name Tokoroa appeared on the early maps of the 1860's referring to the Tokoroa Plains, more clearly defined by the Public Works Department in 1976, as that stretch of country bordered by the Waikato River to the west and the Mamaku Range to the east, the north and south boundaries being Putaruru and Atiamuri respectively as a place name.

A description of the opening of 'A New Tourist Route' to Taupo, written in 1886 says that the journey from Lichfield to Taupo, about 52 miles (83km) is by fair coaching road, the first stage partly traversing the Tokoroa Plains to Atiamuri. The completion of the railway link from Morrinsville to Lichfield in 1886 had cut a stage off the coach trip from Cambridge to Taupo. What is now the Highway South through Tokoroa is the site of the coach road which ran from Lichfield to join up with the old coach road and a short distance south of the present Kinleith mills.

The first sawmill in the district was installed by the Taupo Totara Timber Co. of Putaruru, in 1903 at Kopokorahi, 9.5km south of Tokoroa. The company owned a small area of bush on the hill summit, it was from this area that the logs were snigged and shot down the steep hillside arriving in the vicinity of the mill and tram line.

The same company had large holdings of bush in the Mokai area. To service the area a light railway of 80km in length was built and the logs transported to the Company's sawmill in Putaruru. The first logs over the new railway from Mokai to Putaruru was in 1905, from the year 1908 goods and passengers were carried. With the cutting out of the bush at Mokai dismantling the line was commenced in 1944, The line had played an important part in the farming development of Tokoroa. The Ministry of Works constructed a much heavier line on the site of the light railway to serve the Kinleith mills in 1948.

3561 ha of the Thames Valley Estate in Tokoroa was taken over by a Hawkes Bay Syndicate, the Matarawa Land Company in 1914. Development by the company commenced in 1917. In two years 25 settlers had been placed on 60ha holdings. Settlement had been taking place in Tokoroa since 1910, several families had already settled on the land before the Matarawa Land Company had become operative.

A tree planting company, NZ Perpetual Forests Ltd, commenced their tree planting operations in close proximity to Tokoroa, in 1925, which was to continue until 1935. Vast areas of pine forests were established on three sides of the Tokoroa village perimeter. On account of the 'bush sickness' scourge the land was cheap and available for forest planting at the time.

The establishment in 1953 of NZ Forest Products Limited, timber, pulp and paper mills at Kinleith, 8km south of Tokoroa, was followed by a population growth in Tokoroa. In 1948 the town could boast a population of 1100 which has grown to near city status today.

1935 saw the defeat of the 'bush sickness' through the application of cobatlised superphosphate. The position of the handful of pioneer settlers who had been able to survive was thus greatly ameliorated and unoccupied land was again sought for pastoral settlement.

Tokoroa in the 1980's has become a thriving township of about 18,000 people. The giant pulp and paper mill at nearby Kinleith continues to be the main employer but in recent years a good number of other industries have been attracted to the town, and there is a variety of pastoral farming in the countryside around Tokoroa.

One of the special features of Tokoroa is that people from over 25 different national origins have made their homes in the town giving Tokoroa multi-culturalism that no other New Zealand community can match. Consequently, the range of arts and crafts, clubs and societies, cultural, recreational and sporting activities which are available to the residents of Tokoroa and their visitors is quite extraordinary.

From a tiny classroom and roll of 9 pupils in 1915, Tokoroa now has 9 primary schools, 1 intermediate school and 2 secondary schools. There are 17 churches representing most denominations.