In the early 1900s, when the Karangahake and Waihī mines were busy, Paeroa, at the junction of the Ōhinemuri and Waihou rivers, saw a lot of river commerce. Machinery and supplies for the mines was landed at the Junction Wharf, near the confluence of the Waihou and Ōhinemuri rivers, about two miles west of Paeroa. Light freight and passengers were conveyed by horse tram to the centre of the town, while the heavy equipment was hauled directly from the wharf to the mines. The completion of the railway link from the main trunk line to Waihī in 1905 limited river traffic, and as the rivers gradually silted up with mining sludge, the wharf was shifted further down the Waihou River in 1910.