Utica grew up when the Burlington & Missouri Valley Railroad extended to the site; its exact founding year isn't firmly documented, though an 1879 cemetery and 1884 bank building point to a founding in the mid-to-late 1870s. Sources disagree on the name's origin — Wikipedia traces it to Utica, New York, while a University of Nebraska local-history project instead credits “Chief Utica,” a Mohawk figure.

Part of the Lincoln metro area and home to Centennial Public School, Utica had a 2020 population of 840. Notable natives include U.S. Representative Doug Bereuter and evangelist F.F. Bosworth.