Okato
historyOkato is a small township in rural Taranaki, New Zealand. The population was 531 in the 2006 Census, an increase of 12 from 2001. It is situated about 25 minutes drive around the coast from New Plymouth on State Highway 45. Oakura is 12 km to the north-east, and Warea is 9 km to the south-west. The place offers popular rocky surfing spots around coastal beaches. Okato has a rich art community, with names like Dale Copeland, Alby Carter, Graham Kirk, Peter Lambert, Waldo, Paul Hutchinson and many others being from there.
Okato has all the elements of a vibrant New Zealand rural community: with sporting facilities (rugby grounds, bowling club, squash courts, tennis courts and swimming pool), Coastal Taranaki School, a local police station, and a volunteer fire brigade.
Okato was also notable as the home of Okato Cheese which was manufactured by the Okato Co-operative Dairy Company. This manufacturing site closed some years after merging to Egmont Co-operative Dairy.
Activities in the Okato area include the Stony River walkway which affords a number of locations from which to take photos of Mt Taranaki.
Education
Coastal Taranaki School is a coeducational composite (years 1-15) school with a decile rating of 5 and a roll of 311. The school was formed in 2005 from the merger of Newall School, Okato Primary School, Okato College and Warea School. It was initially called Okato Area School but changed its name.
Further reading
General historical works
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Arts and literature
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:* One suspects that the date of this title (from the National Bibliographic Database) is very likely mistaken.
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:* One suspects that the date of this title (from the National Bibliographic Database) is very likely mistaken.
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- The diaries of the local farmer Alexander Cassie are held at Access to them is restricted, but they contain the reminiscences of veterans of the New Zealand Wars and the Parihaka incident. See
- Okato man Malcolm Belcher published the following item:
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- The diaries of the local farmer Alexander Cassie are held at Access to them is restricted, but they contain childhood reminiscences and incidents from the 1910s. See
- Some papers of the Okato doctor H. M. Levinge are held at the They are concerned with his research into the chemical properties of the wood of the northern rata (Metrosideros robusta). See
- The Okato doctor Tom Mulholland has published the following books:
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- The papers of the local historian and farmer Marc Voullaire are held at . This collection contains research carried out on the Taranaki dairy industry, the missionary station of Johann Riemenschneider (and other matters), and can be seen at
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