[4] Tokanui has a fire station,[5] public halls, school, store, garage, pub, recycling area[6] and a Rugby Club.

[7] There have been several archaeological finds on the coast south of Tokanui and a couple further up the valley,[8] including an adze (Māori: toki) at Quarry Hills.

[15] Around 1880 work started on draining what had been a wetland area and, in 1883, a road was built linking Fortrose and Waikawa, thus facilitating government sales of land to settlers.

[36] A woodchip mill started in the 1980s,[37] using kāmahi and beech[38] and, from 1985, replaced the native trees as its feedstock, with locally grown eucalyptus.

[47] The line was extended 8 mi 11 ch (13.1 km) and with gradients as steep as 1 in 50,[48] from Waimahaka to Tokanui, the official opening being on Wednesday 20 September 1911, initially with trains on Saturdays and Tuesdays.

[55] A 1910 contract for the station buildings at Te Peka and Tokonui was won by P A Lyders of Dunedin for £1827.

[58] Most of the rocks in the area are of the early Middle Jurassic Ferndale Group, a part of the Murihiku Terrane, mainly sandstone deposited in shallow water, with mudstone and conglomerate.

[60] Tokanui is a name made up of the Māori words for rock (toka) and large, or many (nui).

It is used for 6 locations in North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui),[61] including Tokanui, Waikato, though there the name is thought to be a corruption of tāiko nui, a large petrel.

[62] On 3 February 1912 a proposal was made to change the name of the railway station from Tokonui to Tokanui.

[67][68] Since then buildings have been enlarged and altered and driveways added, but the pattern of development remains similar.

[77] Children are brought to the school on 4 bus routes, serving the south coast from Fortrose to Waikawa and north to Fortification.

[81] In 2013 meshblock 309671, which covers a large area, to the edge of Tokanui, had a population of 69 and meshhblock 3096800, to the south of the main road, had 18.