In 1906, Albert and Fred Waterhouse were walking over sand dunes along the approximately one-mile wide by two-and-a-half-mile long area between Kawainui Marsh and the ocean, when they envisioned the idea of planting coconut trees there. They “leveled the sand dunes and smoothed out the sand hillocks,” and planted approximately 320-acres with over 130,000-coconut trees.

Many rows of ironwood trees were also planted as a windbreak and a fence had to be built to keep cattle out. It didn’t last. … In 1916, the copra/coconut oil enterprise failed. Later, in 1924, Earl H Williams, of Liberty Investment Co, acquired 200-acres and began the subdivision process (the Coconut Grove Tract.) At the end of World War II, Kailua began a real estate and development boom.