A settlement established in the mid-1800s after the collapse of the Òwu kingdom, the town was apparently first settled by a man by the Adéìtán and Ọláító sometime in the mid-1800s. After the collapse of Òwu Ìpóólé, a descendant of the Amọ́roro royal house joined them. During the Ogun Àdùbí in 1918, the town grew as a result of the sugarcane plantation. The first part of the term comes from pápá (“field”), while the second part is said to come from the name Ọláító, ultimately pápá + Ọláító, literally “Ọláító's field”