Settled early on by Muaūpoko paramount chief Whātonga who occupied land at either end of the Manawatū Gorge. A Soil Conservation Centre was established at Aokautere in the late 1960s and investigated the impact of soil erosion on pasture productivity in the East Coast, and on Taranaki hill country.
Meaning of place name
Literal translastion is ao: cloud; kautere: floating. However the name came from a Māori chief who lived in the district. At one time it was knonwn as Fitzherbert East, after Sir William Fitzherbert.
