Nyahururu was founded as Thomson Falls after the 70 metre high Thomson's Falls on the nearby Ewaso Nyiro River, which drains from the Aberdare mountain ranges. It is on the Junction of Nyeri-Rumuruti road and the Nyeri-Nakuru road. The town grew around a railway from Gilgil opened in 1929 (now effectively abandoned). The town was once an important player in the timber milling industry, and the now defunct National Pencil Company had a factory there. It is also an important milk processing hub
