The name Mount Maunganui was a 'rebranding' by early developers, changing it from the previous name of Rakataura, a name chosen by the first town board. Mount Maunganui fought fiercely during the 1950s to retain independence from Tauranga, then failed with the completion of the harbour bridge in 1988.
The former Mount Maunganui Borough Council set records in New Zealand as having never had a deficit in its history, something which Tauranga City Council has never achieved. Critics say the town was built by leveraging the commercial and industrial ratepayers, but Mount Maunganui was a forerunner in some areas and applied the user pays philosophy before it was common in New Zealand.
The founder of Mt Maunganui was Mr. Adams in the early 1900s. His original house (the first home ever built at Mount Maunganui) still stands at 4 Adams Avenue
