Maungakawa is located in the Waipa District, in the present day Te Miro settlement, northeast of the town of Cambridge, New Zealand.It was once the meeting place of the Kauhanganui, the parliament of the Kīngitanga and Waikato Tainui government.[3] In 1868 10,000 acres (4,000 ha) was bought, or leased from Māori owners by Daniel Thornton,[4] and, after his death, a large house was put on what was later called Sanatorium Hill.[5] 'Te Waikato Sanatorium' for tuberculosis was officially opened in 1903 by Liberal Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Ward,[6] as one of the few the Public Health Department hospitals .[5] Closure came in 1921,[7] during the second Massey Ministry, when Health Minister James Parr said half the beds were empty.
Te Waikato Sanatorium at Maungakawa, view of the main building circa 1910–1930
Remnants of the Sanatorium buildings and Mrs. Sophia Thornton's 1890s garden
