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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Wellington Provincial District]
[Utiku]
About ten miles beyond Mangaweka, on the main coach road to the Hot Lakes District, Utiku first became a settlement in 1893, when a body of co-operative labourers, engaged on railway construction, was located there. Surrounded by native land, it was named after the original owner, Utiku Potaka. At the recent census the population of the village was sixty-six. Utiku, which is in the County and Electoral District of Rangitikei, has a sawmill, two boardinghouses, and a few homesteads. Mails are received and made up twice weekly, for both north and south, by the local postmaster. The township has already secured a public hall, and there is a comfortable accommodation house.