Toko is a small rural settlement 10 kilometres east of Stratford, New Zealand, at the intersection of East Road ( State Highway 43) and Toko Road. It is located on a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

, the

Stratford–Okahukura Line The Stratford–Okahukura Line (SOL) is a secondary railway line in the North Island of New Zealand, between the Marton - New Plymouth Line (MNPL) and the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) Railway, with 15 intermediate stations. It is long thr ...

, the western portion of which was operated as a

branch line A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Industrial spur An industr ...

known as the Toko Branch prior to the line's completion. The Toko Stream flows through the area to join the Pātea River.

Geography

Toko is surrounded by extremely fertile land, being located on the periphery of the

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth D ...

ringplain and adjacent to the Pātea River. The area is drained by the Toko Stream, and its tributaries the Manawaiwiri and Waiwiri Streams. Once covered in wetlands, since settlement the area has been drained to take advantage of the fertile soils. Dairy

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

predominates the surrounding land use, with some

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated ...

and

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantit ...

farming in the steeper hill country.

History

Toko was established in the 1890s, and served as an important centre for the developing hinterland. The settlement took on the nature of a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

, containing a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

, a dairy

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. ...

, a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

, a hall, a

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

, a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

, a trucking depot, a

playcentre Playcentre is an early childhood education and parenting organisation which operates parent-led early childhood education centres throughout New Zealand and offers parents the opportunity to gain a Certificate in ''Early Childhood and Adult Educat ...

, a sports facility, and a number of other businesses and numerous dwellings. Toko School was established in 1893, and located on a site approximately 2 km east of Toko at the intersection of East Road and Wawiri Road. Like other rural centres, Toko went into decline in the latter part of the 20th century. The railway station, dairy factory and sawmill all closed. However the factory buildings are now used for an engineering business, and the church, hall, domain, hotel, trucking depot, and an automotive workshop are still being used for business and social activities.

Demographics

The Toko statistical area, which covers , had a population of 1,350 at the

2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...

, an increase of 78 people (6.1%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 87 people (6.9%) since the

2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. There were 510 households. There were 702 males and 648 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.08 males per female. The median age was 38.1 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 303 people (22.4%) aged under 15 years, 234 (17.3%) aged 15 to 29, 669 (49.6%) aged 30 to 64, and 144 (10.7%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 95.3% European/Pākehā, 7.3% Māori, 1.1% Pacific peoples, 1.3% Asian, and 2.0% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). The proportion of people born overseas was 8.4%, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 49.3% had no religion, 38.7% were Christian, 0.4% were Hindu and 1.3% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 108 (10.3%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 288 (27.5%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $38,200, compared with $31,800 nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 636 (60.7%) people were employed full-time, 174 (16.6%) were part-time, and 21 (2.0%) were unemployed.

Born in Toko

* Jack Walter, All Black and Taranaki rugby football representative *

Toss Woollaston Sir Mountford Tosswill "Toss" Woollaston (11 April 1910 – 30 August 1998) was a New Zealand artist. He is regarded as one of the most important New Zealand painters of the 20th century. Life Born in Toko, Taranaki in 1910, Woollaston attended ...

, New Zealand painter (1910–1998) * Brian Smith, jazz musician (1939 - )

Other notable residents

* Sylvia Ashton-Warner, (as a child) New Zealand writer, poet and educator

Education

Toko School is a coeducational full primary (years 1–8) school with a roll of students as of The school was founded in 1893.

Notes

External links

Toko School website

References

*Church, Ian (1990), ''The Stratford Inheritance''. Heritage Press Ltd., Waikanae, New Zealand.