Positioned approximately 150 metres (490 ft) above sea level, Tututawa is nestled in a valley amongst high sandstone and greywacke ridgelines.

Rivendell Gardens, a notable feature of Taranaki's Rhododendron Festival, is located on Tauwharenikau Road.

The name is likely to have been ascribed by the Inuawai hapū of the Ngāti Ruanui tribe, who once dwelt along the Mangaehu Stream and its tributaries.

Richard Taylor visited these settlements in December 1846 and described a place called Makama – "a small open plain with two cottages in it".

Charles Brown negotiated the private purchase of the Toko, Huiakama and Pohokura blocks, and sold these to Thomas Bayly in June 1884.

Parts of the Mangaotuku, Toko and Huiakama blocks, in the area south of Ōhura Road between Douglas and Strathmore, were sold to the association.

[5] In July 1898 Robert Bennett Brickell and G. Moir lobbied the government for subsidies to improve Mangaotuku Road.

In 1900 a 44-section township, with sites for school, creamery, police, government building, cemetery and recreation reserve, was surveyed by William Theodore Morpeth and originally named Mangaehu.

A community hall was opened on 13 December 1903, and soon a post office, telephone facilities, a store, a butcher and a blacksmith were also operating in the village.

The Tututawa Domain Board was formed in 1931, contributing to the construction of tennis courts and attractive amenities surrounded by shrubs and lawns.

Decline in the school roll led to consolidation with Douglas in 1969, helped by improvements to Mangaotuku Road over the Tututawa Saddle.