Lihue Plantation | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

April 16, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Līhuʻe

Līhuʻe, Kauai (literally translated as ‘cold chill’) dates from the late-1830s when Kaikioʻewa, governor of Kauai, moved his home from the traditional seat of government, Waimea, to the hilly lands overlooking Nawiliwili Bay on the southeastern side of Kauai in the ahupuaʻa of Kalapaki.

He named this area Līhuʻe in memory of his earlier home on Oʻahu. The name, Līhuʻe, was unknown on Kauai before then; the ancient name for this area was Kalaʻiamea, “calm reddish brown place.” (Līhuʻe on Oʻahu is in the uplands on the Waianae side of Wahiawa; Kūkaniloko is situated in Līhuʻe.) (Fornander)

In 1849, Henry A Peirce & Co, a partnership between Charles Reed Bishop, Judge William L Lee, and Henry A Pierce established a suar plantation (on the site Kaikioʻewa chose for it on the Nawiliwili stream (water power was used to drive the mill rollers.)) (In 1859, a new partnership was formed and the name was changed to the Līhuʻe Plantation Company.) (HSPA)

The Plantation had several innovations. “(T)he first important (irrigation) ditch was dug at Līhuʻe, Kauai, in 1851 … other ditches on Maui soon followed.” (Louisiana Planter) In 1859, the first steam engine used to power a sugar mill in Hawaiʻi was installed at Līhuʻe. (LOC)

In 1851, a frame courthouse was built on a site just above Kalapaki Bay and Nāwiliwili Harbor. The Lihue Plantation Store was built in the 1860s on the grounds of the plantation manager’s residence and moved in 1876 to a hill across the mill valley (where the present County Executive Offices are situated.) The store later served as the area’s mail distribution hub.

A cluster of homes and stores around it was the start of the town of Līhuʻe. During most of the nineteenth century, Līhuʻe served as the center of island government. Sugar planting to feed the plantation and mill changed the landscape.

“The country was undergoing the process of denudation. Non-resident landlords, large landholders, have in most cases leased out their lands by long leases to vandal-like tenants, who are making the most of their time and their bargain by cutting down the forests, and supplying the sugar mills, shipping, and even Honolulu with wood.”

“Sixteen years ago, where beautiful kukui groves gladdened the scene, is now a barren plain.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 27, 1867)

Līhuʻe Plantation expanded in 1910 with the purchase of controlling interest in Makee Sugar Company. Expansion again occurred in 1916 when Līhuʻe Plantation and WF Sanborn purchased the 6,000 acre Princeville Plantation.

In 1922, American Factors, Ltd (AmFac,) successor company to H Hackfield & Co, acquired control of Līhuʻe Plantation Company. The Līhuʻe Mill was one of the longest sugar mills in service in the Islands (1849-2000.)

The Fairview Hotel (initially opened by Charles W Spitz in 1890) was the first full-fledged hotel on Kauai providing rooms and a restaurant. William Hyde Rice’s oldest son William Henry Rice took over the operation in 1894 and eventually changed the name to Lihue Hotel; it grew over the years to 68-rooms.

In those days, an operation had to be self-sufficient and a farm behind the hotel raised cattle, pigs and chickens along with fruits and vegetable grown for the restaurant. After Rice’s death in 1946, the family sold the hotel to Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company; the name was changed to Kauai Inn. (Kauai Museum)

Following annexation (1898,) the Territorial government passed the County Act (1905,) establishing county governments. Līhuʻe became the county seat of Kauai and the County Commissioners held monthly meetings in the 1851 courthouse.

In 1913, the present County Building was erected, the first structure in the territory built expressly to house a county government. Its Chambers have served the Kauai County Council ever since.

That year, a new Līhuʻe Store replaced the old. The County Building and Līhuʻe Store were the earliest buildings on Kauai constructed of concrete and presaged a new era in the development of Lihue. With the completion of the County Building, the 1851 courthouse was razed and a school built on its site.

The school was interchangeably referred to as Līhuʻe High School and Kauai High School. It was the fifth high school in the Territory of Hawaiʻi and the first high school on the island of Kauai. Kauai High sits on a hill often referred to as “Ke Kuhiau” (meaning “high point” – it’s also the name of the school yearbook.) (KHS)

The partially-rock-faced Albert Spencer Wilcox Memorial Library, the island’s first library, was dedicated on May 24, 1924 (Albert’s birthday – it was funded by Emma Mahelona Wilcox in memory of her husband.) (A new library was built in Līhuʻe in 1969 – the Wilcox Building is now the Kauai Museum and home to the Kauai Historical Society.)

Down the hill, construction of the Nawiliwili breakwater began in 1920. This was the first step in creating Nawiliwili Harbor, not completed until 1930. Air fields at Līhuʻe and Hanapepe were constructed and the first airplanes actually flew to Kauai in 1920. By 1929 Hawaiian Airlines established regular flight service. (Strazar)

Kaua‘ made history at this time when it sent the first woman in Hawai‘i to the Territorial House in 1924, Rosalie Keliʻinoi, and the first to the Territorial Senate in 1932, Elsie Wilcox. (Strazar)

During the Depression Era and 1930s, public improvement projects dominated the construction scene in Līhuʻe. Roads were paved and several significant buildings were built.

The area surrounding the County Building developed as the hub of government activities with the construction of the Territorial Office Building (County Building Annex) in 1930 and the County Courthouse in 1938.

Originally the County Courthouse was to be built in the park in front of the County Building; however, public outcry against that location resulted in the construction of Umi Street and the Courthouse on its present site.

Līhuʻe Theater was built in 1931. The Līhuʻe Post Office (1938) was the first and only federally-constructed post office on the island of Kauai (it was expanded in the late-1970s.)

Daily flights led to airmail in 1934 complementing long distance telephone service begun in 1931. During the 1920s and 1930s a belt road connecting main towns was paved, as well. (Strazar)

August 6, 2022 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Hui Kawaihau

When Kalākaua ascended to the throne in 1874, he named his youngest brother, William P Leleiōhoku, the heir apparent.

Leleiōhoku was educated at Saint Alban’s College (forerunner to ʻIolani School.) An accomplished musician, he founded several choral societies. One of them was called Hui Kawaihau.

The Hui Kawaihau name was based on a nickname for an American missionary woman in town who preferred iced water (‘Kawaihau’) over some of the alcoholic libations the others were enjoying.

Leleiōhoku composed several songs, including, Adios Ke Aloha, Aloha No Wau I Ko Maka, Nani Wali Līhuʻe, Moani Ke Ala, Ke Kaʻupu, He Inoa No Kaʻiulani (a different song from the one with the same name by Liliʻuokalani), Nani Waipiʻo, Hole Waimea (this one was co-written with his singing club.)

He also wrote Kaua I Ka Huahuaʻi (Johnny Noble adapted most of the melody and kept most of the same lyrics of this one, and changed the spelling of the title, for his 1926 song Hawaiian War Chant (Taua I Ta Huahuaʻi.))

The Hui Kawaihau choral group had about fifteen members; it was more social than business. When Leleiōhoku died in 1877, King Kalākaua reorganized the Hui into a business group.

Among the twelve hui charter organizers were some well-known names, including King Kalākaua; Governor Dominis, the King’s brother-in-law; Colonel George W. Macfarlane; Captain James Makee; Col. Curtis P. ʻIaukea; Governor John M. Kapena of the Island of Oahu; J. S. Walker and C. H. Judd; and Koakanu, a high chief of Kōloa, on Kauaʻi.

Their first order of business was to sign on more members and contract for the cultivation of sugar cane on land in Kapaʻa, on Kauaʻi.

The twelve organizers signed up thirty-two resident members. About the first of August, 1877, the members of the Hui – over twenty men, with about the same number of women and children – set out from Honolulu, on the steamer “Kilauea,” on the voyage to their new home on Kauaʻi.

At the time, the districts of Hanalei and Līhuʻe shared a common boundary. Kawaihau was set apart by the King, who gave that name to the property lying between the Wailua River and Moloaʻa Valley. A bill was introduced into the legislature and the eastern end of Hanalei District was cut out and Kawaihau became the fifth district on the island of Kauaʻi.

About the time the Hui was started, Captain James Makee obtained a concession from the King to build a sugar mill at Kapaʻa and establish a plantation there. He was the first manager of the Plantation, and had agreed with Kalākaua to grind in his mill all the cane grown by the Hui.

The contract with the Makee Sugar Company (under which each members of the Hui who came to Kauaʻi had signed separately with the plantation) required each of them to plant two hundred and forty acres of cane the first year, and they were to receive, in payment for their cane, two-fifths of the returns from the sale of the sugar obtained from it.

Each planter was required to plow his own portion of the tract and to buy his own seed-cane for planting. A portion of the seed cane came from the neighboring Līhuʻe Plantation, ten miles to the south, and the balance they brought from Lāhainā.

Upon Makee’s death in 1878, his son-in-law, Col. ZS Spalding took over management of the new sugar venture. Spalding also started the neighboring Keālia Sugar Plantation. In the 1880s, Spalding built the “Valley House,” a Victorian-style wooden mansion, one of the finest on the island.

From 1877 to 1881, Hui Kawaihau was one of the leading entities on the eastern side of the Island of Kauaʻi, growing sugar at Kapahi, on the plateau lands above Kapaʻa.

As part of the infrastructure of the new plantation, the Makee Landing was built in Kapaʻa during the early years of the Makee Sugar Plantation. Today, in place of the old Makee Landing, a breakwater is located on the north side of Mōʻīkeha Canal.

The Hui members all worked their share of the plantation – cultivating, irrigating and weeding the sugar cane under their supervision. But they were all new to the business of growing cane – being mostly city men from Honolulu – all clerks and office men, etc.

The first crop was quite successful, netting the Hui over $17,000, from which was deducted the expense paid by the King for the Hui’s transportation to Kauaʻi, and the preliminary operations there – about $5000, which left enough to pay the members nearly $500 apiece, after paying the expenses.

In spite of the successful opening of the enterprise, it soon encountered dark days. For nearly four years, troubles were increasing.

Colonel Spalding advised them to sell out to the Plantation, and thus end all their troubles; but they would not agree.

By 1881, four years after the favorable opening of the Hui’s plantation efforts, the members, disheartened and discouraged, had all drifted away, their property and leasehold rights, etc., passing into the hands of Colonel Spalding, the successor of Captain Makee as the head and principal owner of the Makee Sugar Company.

The Hui Kawaihau of Kauaʻi had passed into history.

In 1933, the Līhuʻe Plantation Co. purchased all of the outstanding Makee Sugar Co. stock and in the next year the mill was dismantled and combined with the Līhuʻe factory. (Lots of information here from “The Hui Kawaihau” by Charles S Dole and The Friend, April, 1920.)

November 3, 2021 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Blaisdell Hotel

In 1877, Captain James Makee obtained a concession from King Kalākaua to build a sugar mill at Kapaʻa and establish a plantation there. He was the first manager of the Plantation, and had agreed with Kalākaua to grind in his mill all the cane the King and his Hui Kawaihau had in nearby fields.

Upon Makee’s death in 1878, his son-in-law, Col. ZS Spalding took over management of the both plantations – Keālia and Kapaʻa – and renamed the operation Makee Sugar Company. The Kapaʻa mill was closed in 1884, and all processing was done in Keālia.

In 1933, the Līhuʻe Plantation Co. purchased all of the remaining/outstanding Makee Sugar Co stock and in the next year the Keālia mill was dismantled and combined with the Līhuʻe factory. There were several subsequent managers at Makee Sugar Co; one of them was William Wallace Blaisdell.

William (Wm) Wallace Blaisdell, (August 2, 1856 – December 14, 1904) married Cora Ammie Shaw (January 1857-1920) and had 4 children. (One of their sons, William Wallace Blaisdell II, served as fire chief of Honolulu. His son, Wm & Cora’s grandson, Neal Shaw Blaisdell (November 6, 1902 – November 5, 1975,) later became Mayor of the City & County of Honolulu (serving from 1955 to 1969.))

The elder Blaisdell was a “native of Honolulu and spent most of his boyhood and young manhood in the employ of Captain Makee. Later he became an employee and manager of Captain Spalding’s Keālia plantation on Kauai.”

“About ten years ago Mr. Blaisdell left the sugar business and for the last four or five years had been in the insurance line. … Those who did not know him by name will recall him as the inseparable companion of Mr. Colburn, the Princes and of others connected with the Kapiʻolani estate.” (Hawaiian Gazette, December 20, 1904) (John Francis Colburn (1859-1920) was Minister of the Interior for Queen Liliʻuokalani.)

Wm lived on Young street, near Piʻikoi. He died in 1904. It was after that that we start to see references to his widow, Cora. Several notations note she was the proprietress of the Majestic Hotel in ‘uptown.”

“The Majestic Hotel is at the corner of Fort and Beretania Streets. Fort Street cars pass by. It accommodates 125 guests. No meals are served. $1 per day upward; $2.50 to $7 per week; $10 to $25 per month.” (Aloha Guide)

“The Majestic is the down-town home hotel, in the very heart and business center of the city, at the corner of Fort and Beretania streets. A splendid solid stone structure, with cool, spacious rooms. All cars pass the doors. Rooms, $1.00 per day, $10.00 per month up. A place for those who wish to dine at the restaurants. Mrs. Cora A. Blaisdell, phone 2744.” (Mid-Pacific Magazine)

We next see expansion of her operations with a new property. “Mrs. Blaisdell, proprietress of the Majestic Hotel, was a passenger to San Francisco by the S. S. Sierra today. She goes to purchase furnishings and supplies for the new hotel to be built by her on the vacant lot on Fort Street opposite the Convent.” (The Hawaiian Star, May 1, 1912)

The Blaisdell Hotel was designed by Emory and Webb, the noted architectural firm formed in 1909 with the association of Walter L Emory (“the practical building man”) and Marshall H Webb (“in charge of the designing;”) they were prolific and sought after designers.

In addition to the Blaisdell Hotel, they designed the Hawaiʻi Theater, Union Trust Co., Central Union Church, Love’s Bakery, the Palama Theater, the remodeled Liberty House, Castle Hall dormitory at Punahou, Advertiser building, Cooke Art Gallery at Punahou, Elizabeth Waterhouse Memorial Tank (pool) at Punahou, James Campbell building and numerous other buildings connected with Oahu College, the Kamehameha Schools and public institutions.

Upon opening for business, the hotel boasts, “Honolulu’s Newest and Most Modern Hotel, Absolutely fire resisting, 64 rooms, 27 baths, millinery shop, grocery store, barbershop, manicure and hairdressing parlors, hatter, tailor. Telephone in every room.” (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, February 22, 1913)

“The Blaisdell Hotel, a three story, newly completed house, is presided over by Mrs. Blaisdell, a former and well known Kauai woman, being the widow of the late William W Blaisdell, formerly head luna of the Kealia (Makee) Sugar Plantation.”

“The Blaisdell is situated on Fort Street, opposite the convent and in the very heart of the business district of the city and this, in addition to the popularity of the proprietress, makes it one of the most popular houses in the city. A big interisland trade is also a feature of the new house, owing to the wide acquaintance of the proprietress.” (The Garden Island, April 29, 1913)

Modern to its last degree, equipped with every convenience for the comfort of its guests, and, centrally located the Blaisdell hotel represents the last word in Honolulu hostelries, for with all its up-to-date advantages, it is built to suit the climate. Occupying a new concrete building in the very heart of Honolulu, any section of the city may be reached by stepping from its palm hedged lobby to the street cars which pass its door. (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, November 28, 1914)

Operated on the European plan, it is situated within a block of a half dozen of the best restaurants and cafes in the city, several of which supply service to the rooms when desired. The theaters, post office and the principal stores of the city are close at hand. (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, November 28, 1914)

Naturally in a tropical country the bathing facilities are a prime consideration with visitors, and as regards this feature the Blaisdell hotel is without a rival. There has been no stinting as to the number of bath rooms of their equipment. Guests may have private baths, may share with an adjoining room, or may take advantage of the general baths of which there are three on each floor, two for men and one for women. (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, November 28, 1914)

Access to the hotel office and the various floors is given by an electric elevator, in operation until midnight. At the office arrangements may be made for tours of the island and visits to points of interest, and cable or wireless messages for dispatch to the mainland will be received at the desk. (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, November 28, 1914)

Later (1914,) the hotel was leased to and operated by J Francis Child; he opened Child’s restaurant within the facility in connection with hotel in 1920.

Improvements were made that included a modern hotel lobby on the main floor; the office of the hotel, on the second floor, was moved downstairs and the rooms now used as an office were converted into sleeping rooms. (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, February 17, 1915)

Reportedly, in April 1933, following the end of Prohibition the Blaisdell Hotel was the first establishment in Hawaii to obtain a liquor license. The bar became one of the highlights of Honolulu’s nightlife. (HawaiiBusiness)

Later, a later hospitality icon (and no apparent relation to the earlier operator,) Walter Dudley Child, Sr (who first worked in the agriculture industry with the Hawaiian Sugar Planters Association (HSPA,) left HSPA and entered the hotel industry, purchasing the lease on the Blaisdell Hotel in downtown Honolulu in 1938 along with his business partner, Dr Donald Burlingame.

With his start in hospitality with the Blaisdell, Child became a director of InterIsland Resorts, Ltd which grew out of the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company. InterIsland Resorts began to grow into a chain, with the Naniloa, the Kona Inn and the Kaua‘i Inn. In those early days of Hawai‘i tourism, InterIsland Resorts became a pioneer in selling accommodations on the neighbor islands and later expanded with the Surf Resorts. (UH-TIM)

(While the Blaisdell did not have the first elevator in Hawaiʻi (the first were installed in the early 1880s, one was in the Beaver Block, a two-story structure at Fort and Queen Streets, completed in 1882,) it has the last of the manually operated elevators (the “Birdcage” Elevator,) here – the operator cranks a handle back and forth on its semi-circular path, making the elevator move up or down.) (HawaiiBusiness)

Today, in addition to independent shops and offices, the Blaisdell (1154 Fort Street) is part of the Honolulu Downtown campus of Hawaiʻi Pacific University (which in 1968 moved to Fort Street.) Here they house the Sea Warrior Center, 1st Floor; Athletics Training Room, 2nd Floor; Faculty Offices, Suite 204; Kalamalama (Student Newspaper), Suite 314; and Mail Processing and Distribution Center, Suite 319.

The image shows Fort Street and the Blaisdell Hotel. In addition, I have added other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

June 6, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ahukini Landing

By report dated November 25, 1910, Major Eveleth Winslow of the Corps of Engineers provided “a report upon the preliminary examination of the ‘harbors of the island of Kauai, with a view to determining the best location for a port, Hawaii.’”

That report concluded, “it is believed that the present and prospective commercial importance of Kauai is sufficient to justify the United States in developing one good and commodious harbor, if this can be done at a reasonable cost.”

“After a personal inspection of the coast of the island and a careful consideration of all the papers presented by the persons interested in the development of the different harbors, I am convinced that the only ones worthy of more careful study are Nawiliwili, Koloa, and Hanapepe”.

“The improvement of any one of these places will consist merely in providing a harbor for seagoing vessels, and no water power will be created for industrial or commercial purposes.”

Not noted in the final list of prospective landing sites was, apparently, the first deep-water port to be used, and by 1898, the Lihue Plantation Company was using both Ahukini and Hanamaulu for shipping. (KHS)

The Corps report noted “Two landings have been provided in this bay – one on the north shore, formerly known as Hanamaulu, and one on the south shore, formerly known as Ahukini, though sometimes now called Hanamaulu.”

“Both of these landings were formerly in use for handling the sugar grown on their respective sides of the river, but a few years ago a long and high railroad trestle was constructed across the bay, about one-half mile from its mouth, and the sugar from both sides is now handled from the Ahukini landing, on the south side of the bay.”

“Here a warehouse has been constructed on the top of the hill, with mechanical means for handling sugar and carrying it down to a boom located on the end of a wharf and dumping it directly from the boom into the holds of the ships, which are able to come in close enough for this purpose.”

“This bay, however, opens directly onto the northeast trade winds, and the sea inside of the harbor, under ordinary conditions, is too rough to permit vessels to actually lie at a wharf, though they can moor a few feet from it.”

“Within the bay there is a channel extending a few hundred yards above the wharf and having a depth of 5 fathoms over a width of 600 feet, not large enough to handle a large vessel, though ample for smaller vessels.”

“By the use of breakwaters and at no very great expense it is undoubtedly true that a good harbor for interisland traffic could be constructed at this point, but it is believed that the construction of a harbor large enough for ocean liners is not practicable at this point.”

“As regards its location, the harbor is much more favorably situated with regard to the commercial interests of the island than any so far considered, but on account of its small size it is not considered worthy of selection as the best port for development by the United States.” (Congressional Serial Set, House, 62d Congress, 2d Session, 1912)

Nevertheless, Ahukini was chosen by Lihue Plantation, and with the signing of a 50-year lease on July 20,1920 and construction by the Ahukini Railroad Company (formed by Lihue Plantation Company to fulfill this need) supplied the site with a breakwater, concrete reinforced wharf, sugar warehouse, railhead with supporting structures. (KHS)

Lihue Plantation Company originated in 1849 as a partnership between Charles Reed Bishop, Judge William L. Lee, and Henry A. Pierce of Boston. H. Hackfeld & Co. served as agents.

The Līhu‘e Plantation became the most modern plantation at that time in all Hawai‘i. It featured a steam-powered mill built in 1853, the first use of steam power on a Hawaiian sugar plantation, and the ten-mile-long Hanamā‘ulu Ditch built in 1856 by plantation manager William H. Rice, the first large-scale irrigation project for any of the sugar plantations. (Maly)

In 1922, American Factors, Ltd., successor company to H. Hackfeld & Co., acquired control of Lihue Plantation Company with the purchase of stock. (HSPA)

The selection of Nāwiliwili as the harbor of the future on Kauai was preceded by a year’s worth of debate between advocates of Port Allen and Nāwiliwili. By 1924, a total of 1,454 feet of breakwater had been set in place. (Cultural Surveys)

With the construction of Nawiliwili Harbor, the bulk of Kauai’s cargo began moving through Nawiliwili and inter-island service to Ahukini stopped. Port operations at Ahukini closed in 1950. (Soboleski)

State Parks subsequently took over the Ahukini Landing and it now serves as a State Recreational Pier. Seaward of the pier is a Fisheries Management Area; fishing regulations around the pier allow recreational fishing; swimming at and around the pier is prohibited.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger