 In the aftermath of the war, as improved road and rail links with other towns resulted in a rapid growth of population and economic stability, the town became a major exporting port for dairy produce from the Taranaki district and the administrative centre for Taranaki's petro-chemical industry.The area where New Plymouth was founded had for centuries been the home for several Māori iwi (tribes).From about 1823 the Maori began having contact with European whalers as well as traders who arrived by schooner to buy flax.