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April 23, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Maui No Ka Oi

West Maui was considered a ‘window to the world’ because this area has seen the comings and goings of rival chiefs, kings, missionaries, whalers, government officials, the military, sugar and pineapple plantation owners, early labor immigrants, celebrities and travelers for centuries.

This ‘window’ is a metaphor. As a ‘window to the world,’ the stories of West Maui give a bigger perspective of the world, than we would otherwise have, and helps us to expand our view and broaden our understanding of the world.

History tells us much about a community – what it is and where it has come from. West Maui has a rich history dating back to the times of: Pre-contact Hawaiʻi; Hawaiian Monarchy; American Protestant Missionaries; Whaling industry; Sugar and Pineapple Plantations; and Evolution of the West Maui Community.

Each successive passage of an era has added to the cultural richness of the community. And through the tireless efforts of numerous organizations and individuals in the community, much has been done to preserve the historic character of West Maui town and to restore historic sites.

The island of Maui is divided into twelve moku; Kāʻanapali, Lāhainā, Wailuku, Hāmākuapoko, Hāmākualoa, Koʻolau, Hāna, Kīpahulu, Kaupō, Kahikinui, Honuaʻula and Kula. Two of these, Kāʻanapali and Lāhainā make up West Maui.

Probably there is no portion of our Valley Isle, around which gathers so much historic value as West Maui. It was the former capital and favorite residence of kings and chiefs.

After serving for centuries as Royal Center to ruling chiefs, West Maui was selected by Kamehameha III and his chiefs to be the seat of government; here the first Hawaiian constitution was drafted and the first legislature was convened.

Hawai‘i’s whaling era began in 1819 when two New England ships became the first whaling ships to arrive in the Hawaiian Islands. Over the next two decades, the Pacific whaling fleet nearly quadrupled in size and in the record year of 1846, 736-whaling ships arrived in Hawai’i.

Although Honolulu was originally the port most favored by the whalers, West Maui often surpassed it in the number of recorded visits, particularly from about 1840 to 1855.

Lāhainā Roads, also called the Lāhainā Roadstead is a channel between the islands of Maui and Lānaʻi (and to a lesser extent, Molokaʻi and Kahoʻolawe) making it a sheltered anchorage. The central location of the Hawaiian Islands between the continent and Japan whaling grounds brought many whaling ships to the Islands. Whalers needed food and the islands supplied this need from its fertile lands.

Between the 1820s and the 1860s, the Lāhainā Roadstead was the principal anchorage of the American Pacific whaling fleet. One reason why so many whalers preferred West Maui to other ports was that by anchoring in a roadstead from half a mile to a mile from shore they could control their crews better than when in a harbor.

Another factor to affect the change, growth and social structure of West Maui was the arrival of the first missionaries in the islands during 1820. The first missionaries to be established at Lāhainā, the Rev. CS Stewart and the Rev. William Richards, arrived in 1823. They came at the request of Queen Mother Keōpūolani, who moved to live in Lāhainā that year.

The great event of 1823 was the death of Keōpūolani at Lāhainā. Within an hour before “joining the Great Majority” she had been baptized as a Christian, an occurrence which proved a great stimulus to increasing the influence of the missionaries. King Kaumuali’i of Kauai, at his special request, was buried beside Keōpūolani in 1824. (NPS)

In 1831, classes at the new Mission Seminary at Lahainaluna (later known as Lahainaluna (Upper Lahaina)) began. The school was established by the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions “to instruct young men of piety and promising talents” (training preachers and teachers.) It is the oldest high school west of the Mississippi River.

Per the requests of the chiefs, the American Protestant missionaries began teaching the makaʻāinana (commoners.) Literacy levels exploded.

From 1820 to 1832, in which Hawaiian literacy grew by 91 percent, the literacy rate on the US continent grew by only 6 percent and did not exceed the 90 percent level until 1902 – three hundred years after the first settlers landed in Jamestown – overall European literacy rates in 1850 had not been much above 50 percent.

Centuries ago, the early Polynesian settlers to Hawaiʻi brought sugar cane with them and demonstrated that it could be grown successfully.

It was not until 1823 that several members of the West Maui Mission Station began to process sugar from native sugarcanes for their tables. By the 1840s, efforts were underway in West Maui to develop a means for making sugar as a commodity.

Starting in the 1850s, when the Hawaiian Legislature passed “An Act for the Governance of Masters and Servants,” a section of which provided the legal basis for a contract-labor system, labor shortages were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America.

It is not likely anyone then foresaw the impact this would have on the cultural and social structure of the islands. The sugar industry is at the center of Hawaiʻi’s modern diversity of races and ethnic cultures. Of the nearly 385,000-workers that came, many thousands stayed to become a part of Hawai‘i’s unique ethnic mix. Hawai‘i continues to be one of the most culturally-diverse and racially-integrated places.

Pioneer Mill Company was one of the earliest plantations to use a steam tramway for transporting harvested cane from the fields to the mill. Cane from about 1000‐acres was flumed directly to the mill cane carrier with the rest coming to the mill by rail. (The Sugar Cane Train is a remnant of that system.)

In 1859, an oil well was discovered and developed in Titusville, Pennsylvania; within a few years this new type of oil replaced whale oil for lamps and many other uses – spelling the end of the whaling industry.

By 1862, the whaling industry was in a definite and permanent decline. The effect of West Maui was striking. Prosperity ended, prices fell, cattle and crops were a drag on the market, and ship chandleries and retail stores began to wither.

Historically Maui’s second largest industry, pineapple cultivation has also played a large role in forming Maui’s modern day landscape. The pineapple industry began on Maui in 1890 with Dwight D. Baldwin’s Haiku Fruit and Packing Company on the northeast side of the island.

West Maui’s roots in the historic pineapple industry began in 1912, when of Honolua Ranch manager, David Fleming began growing pineapple there; almost overnight the pineapple industry boomed. The ranch was soon renamed Baldwin Packers; at one time they were the largest producer of private label pineapple and pineapple juice in the nation.

One of the first hotels in West Maui was the Pioneer Hotel – founded in 1901. George Freeland arrived in the Lāhainā roadstead on a ship that had just come from a long voyage through the south seas; he noted a need for a hotel.

It remained the only place for visitors to stay on Maui’s west side until the early-1960s. Tourism exploded; West Maui is a full-fledged tourist destination second only to Waikīkī.

Lāhainā’s Front Street, offering an incredible oceanfront setting, people of diverse cultures, architecture and incredible stories of Hawaiʻi’s past, was recognized as one of the American Planning Association’s 2011 “Great Streets in America.”

By whatever means (vehicle, transit, bicycle or on foot,) exploring West Maui, and embracing the scenic beauty, natural features, historic sites, associated cultural traditions and recreational opportunities, will give the traveler a greater appreciation and understanding of Hawai‘i’s past and sense of place in the world.

Click HERE to view/download for more information on West Maui’s place in the Islands and world.

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Humpback_Whale-Maui-(Stan_Butler-NOAA)-WC
Humpback_Whale-Maui-(Stan_Butler-NOAA)-WC
Olowalu-Petroglyphs
Olowalu-Petroglyphs
Bathing scene, Lahaina, Maui, watercolor, by James Gay Sawkins-1855
Bathing scene, Lahaina, Maui, watercolor, by James Gay Sawkins-1855
Port-of-Lahaina-Maui-1848
Port-of-Lahaina-Maui-1848
Whale-ships at Lahaina-(vintagehawaii)-1848
Whale-ships at Lahaina-(vintagehawaii)-1848
Edward_T._Perkins,_Rear_View_of_Lahaina,_1854
Edward_T._Perkins,_Rear_View_of_Lahaina,_1854
Whales from McGregor Point-(cphamrah)
Whales from McGregor Point-(cphamrah)
Pioneer Mill
Pioneer Mill
McGregor_Point-Norwegian-Monument
McGregor_Point-Norwegian-Monument
Lahaina_from_offshore_in-1885
Lahaina_from_offshore_in-1885
Lahaina_Boat_Landing
Lahaina_Boat_Landing
Lahaina,_West_Maui,_Sandwich_Islands2,_watercolor_and_pencil,_by_James_Gay_Sawkins-1855
Lahaina,_West_Maui,_Sandwich_Islands2,_watercolor_and_pencil,_by_James_Gay_Sawkins-1855
Lahaina,_Maui,_c._1831
Lahaina,_Maui,_c._1831
Lahaina, Front Street 1942
Lahaina, Front Street 1942
Lahaina Tunnel Dedication (1951)
Lahaina Tunnel Dedication (1951)
Lahaina Roads
Lahaina Roads
Lahaina Harbor before harbor perimeter retaining wall built-ca 1940
Lahaina Harbor before harbor perimeter retaining wall built-ca 1940
Lahaina Courthouse-fronting beach-(now Lahaina Small Boat Harbor)
Lahaina Courthouse-fronting beach-(now Lahaina Small Boat Harbor)
Banyan Tree located in courthouse square in the center of Lahaina
Banyan Tree located in courthouse square in the center of Lahaina
Baldwin Packers Cannery (kapalua)
Baldwin Packers Cannery (kapalua)
1837 Map of the Islands; made by students at Lahainaluna School (Mission Houses)
1837 Map of the Islands; made by students at Lahainaluna School (Mission Houses)

Filed Under: General, Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Buildings, Economy, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings, Hawaiian Traditions, Military, Place Names, Prominent People, Schools, Sailing, Shipping & Shipwrecks Tagged With: Maui, West Maui, Hawaii

June 27, 2015 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

West Maui

Maui captured “Best Island in the World” honors in the annual Conde Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards Poll nearly twenty-years in a row. Readers rave about this “veritable paradise,” calling it a “combination of tropical ambience and American comforts.”

Maui is known for its beaches and water activities, and the west side boasts some of the most beautiful shores in Hawaiʻi, and it also has the distinction of having some of the most beautiful sunset views on the planet.

West Maui is the second most visited place in Maui – (behind the beaches) – a combination of natural scenic beauty, white sandy beaches, lush green uplands, and near-perfect weather, rich culture and a good serving of Hawaiian history in its sunny shores.

In West Maui, you can head to the beach, be captivated by the beauty of its natural scenes and marine life, visit the different historical attractions, and immerse yourself in the local art and culture.

West Maui has experienced six major historical eras, from its days as an ancient Hawaiian Royal Center, capital and home of the Hawaiian Monarchy, home to Missionaries, Landing/Provisioning for Whalers, the Sugar and Pineapple Plantation era and now Tourism.

All of these historical eras are still visible in West Maui today.

West Maui has played an important role in the history of Maui and the neighboring islands of Molokai, Lānaʻi and Kahoʻolawe, with West Maui serving as the Royal Center, selected for its abundance of resources and recreation opportunities, with good surfing and canoe-landing sites being favored.

Probably there is no portion of the Valley Isle, around which gathers so much historic value as West Maui. It was the former capital and favorite residence of kings and chiefs.

After serving for centuries as home to ruling chiefs, West Maui was selected by Kamehameha III and his chiefs to be the seat of government; here the first Hawaiian constitution was drafted and the first legislature was convened.

Hawai‘i’s whaling era began in 1819 when two New England ships became the first whaling ships to arrive in the Hawaiian Islands. Over the next two decades, the Pacific whaling fleet nearly quadrupled in size and in the record year of 1846, 736-whaling ships arrived in Hawai’i.

West Maui was the port of choice for whaling ships. Central among the islands, West Maui was a convenient spot from which to administer the affairs of both Hawaiian and foreigner.

Since the anchorage was an open roadstead, vessels could always approach or leave it with any wind that blew. No pilot was needed here. Vessels generally approached through the channel between Maui and Moloka‘i, standing well over to Lanai, as far as the trade would carry them, then take the sea breeze, which would set in during the forenoon, and head for the town.

In November 1822, the 2nd Company from the New England missionaries set sail on the ‘Thames’ from New Haven, Connecticut for the Hawaiian Islands; they arrived on April 23, 1823 (included in this Company were missionaries Charles Stewart, William Richards and Betsey Stockton – they were the first to settle and set up a mission in West Maui.)

The Christian religion really caught on when High Chiefess Keōpūolani (widow of Kamehameha I and mother of future kings) is said to have been the first convert of the missionaries in the islands, receiving baptism from Rev. William Ellis in West Maui on September 16, 1823, just before her death.

In 1831, classes at the new Mission Seminary at Lahainaluna (later known as Lahainaluna (‘Upper Lahaina’)) began. The school was established by the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions “to instruct young men of piety and promising talents” (training preachers and teachers.) It is the oldest high school west of the Mississippi River.

Per the requests of the chiefs, the American Protestant missionaries began teaching the makaʻāinana (commoners.) Literacy levels exploded.

From 1820 to 1832, in which Hawaiian literacy grew by 91 percent, the literacy rate on the US continent grew by only 6 percent and did not exceed the 90 percent level until 1902 – three hundred years after the first settlers landed in Jamestown – overall European literacy rates in 1850 had not been much above 50 percent.

Centuries ago, the early Polynesian settlers to Hawaiʻi brought sugar cane with them and demonstrated that it could be grown successfully.

It was not until 1823 that several members of the West Maui Mission Station began to process sugar from native sugarcanes for their tables. By the 1840s, efforts were underway in West Maui to develop a means for making sugar as a commodity.

Starting in the 1850s, when the Hawaiian Legislature passed “An Act for the Governance of Masters and Servants,” a section of which provided the legal basis for a contract-labor system, labor shortages were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America.

It is not likely anyone then foresaw the impact this would have on the cultural and social structure of the islands. The sugar industry is at the center of Hawaiʻi’s modern diversity of races and ethnic cultures.

Of the nearly 385,000-workers that came, many thousands stayed to become a part of Hawai‘i’s unique ethnic mix. Hawai‘i continues to be one of the most culturally-diverse and racially-integrated places.

Historically Maui’s second largest industry, pineapple cultivation has also played a large role in forming Maui’s modern day landscape. The pineapple industry began on Maui in 1890 with Dwight D. Baldwin’s Haiku Fruit and Packing Company on the northeast side of the island.

One of the first hotels in West Maui was the Pioneer Hotel – founded in 1901. George Freeland arrived in the Lahaina roadstead on a ship that had just come from a long voyage through the south seas; he noted a need for a hotel.

It remained the only place for visitors to stay on Maui’s west side until the early-1960s. Tourism exploded; West Maui is a full-fledged tourist destination second only to Waikīkī.

Lahaina’s Front Street, offering an incredible oceanfront setting, people of diverse cultures, architecture and incredible stories of Hawaiʻi’s past, was recognized as one of the American Planning Association’s 2011 “Great Streets in America.”

For many, it’s more simply stated … Maui No Ka Oi (Maui is the best)

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© 2015 Hoʻokuleana LLC

 

Whales from McGregor Point-(cphamrah)
Whales from McGregor Point-(cphamrah)
Olowalu-Petroglyphs
Olowalu-Petroglyphs
Port-of-Lahaina-Maui-1848
Port-of-Lahaina-Maui-1848
Lahaina,_Maui,_c._1831
Lahaina,_Maui,_c._1831
Bathing scene, Lahaina, Maui, watercolor, by James Gay Sawkins-1855
Bathing scene, Lahaina, Maui, watercolor, by James Gay Sawkins-1855
Lahaina,_West_Maui,_Sandwich_Islands2,_watercolor_and_pencil,_by_James_Gay_Sawkins-1855
Lahaina,_West_Maui,_Sandwich_Islands2,_watercolor_and_pencil,_by_James_Gay_Sawkins-1855
Whale-ships at Lahaina-(vintagehawaii)-1848
Whale-ships at Lahaina-(vintagehawaii)-1848
Lahaina as seen from Lahainaluna
Lahaina as seen from Lahainaluna
Edward_T._Perkins,_Rear_View_of_Lahaina,_1854
Edward_T._Perkins,_Rear_View_of_Lahaina,_1854
Lahaina Courthouse-fronting beach-(now Lahaina Small Boat Harbor)
Lahaina Courthouse-fronting beach-(now Lahaina Small Boat Harbor)
Lahaina_from_offshore_in-1885
Lahaina_from_offshore_in-1885
Lahaina_Boat_Landing
Lahaina_Boat_Landing
Lahaina Harbor before harbor perimeter retaining wall built-ca 1940
Lahaina Harbor before harbor perimeter retaining wall built-ca 1940
Pioneer Mill
Pioneer Mill
Baldwin Packers Cannery (kapalua)
Baldwin Packers Cannery (kapalua)
Lahaina, Front Street 1942
Lahaina, Front Street 1942
Lahaina Roads
Lahaina Roads
McGregor_Point-Norwegian-Monument
McGregor_Point-Norwegian-Monument
Lahaina Tunnel Dedication (1951)
Lahaina Tunnel Dedication (1951)
Banyan Tree located in courthouse square in the center of Lahaina
Banyan Tree located in courthouse square in the center of Lahaina
Humpback_Whale-Maui-(Stan_Butler-NOAA)-WC
Humpback_Whale-Maui-(Stan_Butler-NOAA)-WC
1837 Map of the Islands; made by students at Lahainaluna School (Mission Houses)
1837 Map of the Islands; made by students at Lahainaluna School (Mission Houses)

 

Filed Under: General, Place Names, Economy Tagged With: Hawaii, Whaling, Missionaries, Maui, Sugar, West Maui, Pineapple, Visitor Industry

March 4, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kahana

Ka ua leina hua o Kaʻanapali
The rain of Kaʻanapali that leaps and produces fruit
ʻOlelo Noʻeau – Pukui

The song Moloka‘i Nui A Hina, primarily about Molokaʻi starts ‘Ua nani nā hono a Pi‘ilani’ ‘How beautiful are the bays of Pi‘ilani,’ referencing the view across the channel at northwest Maui, the district the ancients called Kaʻānapali.

In the 1500s, Chief Piʻilani (“stairway to heaven”) unified West Maui and ruled in peace and prosperity. His territory included the six West Maui bays, a place he frequented.

There are six hono bays: from South to North, Honokōwai (bay drawing fresh water), Honokeana (cave bay), Honokahua (sites bay,) Honolua (two bays), Honokōhau (bay drawing dew) and Hononana (animated bay).

This area was extensively terraced for wet taro (loʻi) in early historic and later times. Honokahua Valley has been described as having loʻi lands. Sweet potatoes were reportedly grown between the Honokōhau and Kahakuloa Ahupuaʻa.

In this area, between that ahupuaʻa of Honokōwai and Honokeana, was Kahana (cutting or turning point,) another ahupuaʻa of the moku (district) of Kāʻanapali.

Settlement patterns in the region followed patterns elsewhere, permanent habitation around the coastal and near shore lands, as well as the inland valley land. The forested and ridge-top lands were used for gathering forest products, and for forest plantings of various utilitarian Hawaiian plants.

Ancient Hawaiian villages on Maui were generally placed at the mouths of the larger gulches or at least within sight of the sea. Both pre-contact and historic features have been identified in the coastal and nearshore lands region. It can be inferred that the coastal lands were settled since the pre-contact period and extensively used during the historic period. (Cultural Surveys)

Handy notes, “ … the flat coastal plain all the way from Kihei and Māʻalaea to Honokahua, in old Hawaiian times, must have supported many fishing settlements and isolated fishermen’s houses, where sweet potatoes were grown in the sandy soil or red lepo (soil) near the shore.”

“For fishing, this coast is the most favorable on Maui, and, although a considerable amount of taro was grown, I think it is reasonable to suppose that the large fishing population, which presumably inhabited this leeward coast, ate more sweet potatoes than taro with their fish.”

“…the Kahana settlement pattern in AD 1848 consisted of houselots, and at least one small fishpond, extending several miles inland along the banks of Kahana Stream. No houselots were claimed beyond a few hundred feet inland. This pattern also appears to hold for at least the next three ahupuaʻa to the north of Kahana – Mailepai, ʻAlaeloa and Honokeana.” (Engledow)

When chief Kekaulike died, his younger son Kamehamehanui (uncle to Kamehameha I) was named heir to rule Maui. In 1738, Kauhi‘aimokuakama (Kauhi,) his older brother, began to wage war to win the title of ruling chief.

Battles were fought across West Maui. Kamehamehanui engaged the forces of his uncle from Hawai‘i to fight with him, whose troops numbered over 8,000, and Kauhi brought troops of warriors from O‘ahu. (Fornander)

The war ended with the battle Koko O Nā Moku (“Bloodshed of the Islands.”) Over several days, the blood of fallen warriors from both sides flowed from a stream into the shorebreak and caused the ocean to turn red. (Kamehamehanui won.) (Kāʻanapali Historical Trail)

Several socio-economic factors influenced the later evolution of West Maui. Kahana was right in the middle of these changes and played a role in the transformation.

For a couple of decades after 1812 West Maui was an important shipping point for the sandalwood trade. It became a well-known point of call for trading and exploring vessels, whose captains found the open roadstead a safe and convenient anchorage.

In 1819, the first American whaling ships reached the islands, and by 1822 there were 34-whalers making Hawaiʻi a base of refreshment. From that time the number increased rapidly. Although Honolulu was originally the port most favored by the whalers, West Maui often surpassed it in the number of recorded visits, particularly from about 1840 to 1855.

Another factor to affect the change, growth and social structure of West Maui was the arrival of the first missionaries in the Islands during 1820. The first missionaries to be established at Lāhainā, the Rev. CS Stewart and the Rev. William Richards, arrived in 1823. They came at the request of Queen Mother Keōpūolani, who moved to live in Lāhainā that year.

It was not until 1823 that several members of the Lāhainā Mission Station began to process sugar for their own use. The first commercially-viable sugar plantation, Ladd and Co., was started at Kōloa on Kaua‘i in 1835. It was to change the face of Hawai‘i forever, launching an entire economy, lifestyle and practice of mono-cropping that lasted for well over a century. By the 1840s, efforts were underway in West Maui to develop a means for making sugar a productive commodity.

James Campbell, who arrived in Hawaiʻi in 1850 ‐ having served as a carpenter on a whaling ship and then operated a carpentry business in Lāhainā ‐ started a sugar plantation there in 1860. The small mill, together with cane from Campbell’s fields, manufactured sugar on shares for small cane growers in the vicinity. His operation became Pioneer Mill.

Historically Maui’s second largest industry, pineapple cultivation, had also played a large role in forming Maui’s modern day landscape. The pineapple industry began on Maui in 1890 with Dwight D Baldwin’s Haiku Fruit and Packing Company on the northeast side of the island.

West Maui’s roots in the historic pineapple industry began in 1912, when of Honolua Ranch manager, David Fleming began growing pineapple there; almost overnight the pineapple industry boomed. The ranch was soon renamed Baldwin Packers; at one time they were the largest producer of private label pineapple and pineapple juice in the nation; it later became Maui Land and Pineapple.

As sugar and pineapple declined, tourism took its place ‐ and far surpassed it. Like many other societies, Hawaii underwent a profound transformation from an agrarian to a service economy. Resorts in Kāʻanapali (1962) and Kapalua (1978) popped up. In 1987, Hawaiian Airlines built the Kapalua Airport (situated within the Kahana ahupuaʻa.)

The visitor destinations of Lāhainā-Kāʻanapali-Kapalua continue to lead the neighbor islands in room occupancy and they lead the state in average daily room (ADR) rates and revenue per available room (ADR x occupancy rate.)

Kahana (situated in the middle of the West Maui resort community) has its share of commercial, condo, timeshare, hotel and other resort improvements along its shore.

West Maui is a full‐fledged tourist resort second only to Waikīkī. Tourism is the activity most responsible for Hawaiʻi’s current economic growth and standard of living.

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Kahana-GoogleEarth
Kahana-GoogleEarth
Kahana Resort Uses
Kahana Resort Uses
maui-kapalua-napili-kahana-map
maui-kapalua-napili-kahana-map
Kauhi's_last_Stand_at_Kaanapali-(HerbKane)
Kauhi’s_last_Stand_at_Kaanapali-(HerbKane)
Baldwin packers cannery-(kapalua-com)
Baldwin packers cannery-(kapalua-com)
Kahana_SOEST-1949
Kahana_SOEST-1949
Kekaa Pt. to Kahakuloa Pt-1912
Kekaa Pt. to Kahakuloa Pt-1912
Kapalua_Airport
Kapalua_Airport
Kapalua_Airport-sign
Kapalua_Airport-sign

Filed Under: Place Names Tagged With: Hawaii, Maui, Piilani, Kahana, West Maui, Kaanapali

August 2, 2013 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Pioneer Mill

The early Polynesians brought sugarcane with them to the Islands.  Kō (sugarcane) was planted as a subsistence crop – with domestic, medicinal and spiritual uses.

In 1802, processed sugar was first made in the islands on the island of Lānaʻi by a native of China, who came here in one of the vessels trading for sandalwood and brought a stone mill and boilers.  After grinding off a small crop and making it into sugar, he went back to China the next year.

It was not until ca. 1823 that several members of the Lāhainā Mission Station began to process sugar from native sugarcanes, for their tables.  By the 1840s, efforts were underway in Lāhainā to develop a means for making sugar as a commodity.  (Maly)

Sugar was being processed in small quantities in Lāhainā throughout the 1840s and 1850s; in 1849, it was reported that the finest sugar in the islands could be found in Lāhainā.  (Maly)

James Campbell, who arrived in Hawaiʻi in 1850 – having served as a carpenter on a whaling ship and then operated a carpentry business in Lāhainā, started a sugar plantation there in 1860. The small mill, together with cane from Campbell’s fields, manufactured sugar on shares for small cane growers in the vicinity.

Soon after the establishment of the new plantation, Henry Turton and James Dunbar joined Campbell. Under the name of Campbell & Turton, the company grew cane and manufactured sugar.

The small sugar mill consisted of three wooden rollers set upright, with mules providing the power to turn the heavy rollers. The cane juice ran into a series of boiling kettles that originally had been used on whaling ships.

When the nearby Lāhainā Sugar Company, a small company founded by H Dickenson in 1861, went bankrupt in 1863, its assets were acquired by Campbell and his partners.

In 1865, the plantation became known as Pioneer Mill Company (that year Dunbar left the company.)  By 1874, Campbell and Turton added the West Maui Sugar Company, a venture of Kamehameha V, to the holdings of Pioneer Mill Company.

The Pioneer Mill Company was extremely profitable, enabling Campbell to build a large home in Lāhainā and to acquire parcels of land on Maui and Oʻahu.

Campbell became known by the Hawaiians as “Kimo Ona-Milliona” (James the Millionaire).  Despite his success in sugar, his interests turned to other matters, primarily ranching and real estate.

Over the years, Campbell acquired property in Kahuku, Honouliuli, Kahaualea and elsewhere, amassing the holdings that eventually became ‘The Estate of James Campbell.’

In 1877, James Campbell sold his half interest to partner Henry Turton for $500,000 with agents Hackfeld & Company holding a second mortgage of $250,000. The company’s charter was dated in 1882, but by 1885, Mr. Turton declared bankruptcy and sold the property back to James Campbell and to Paul Isenberg, who was associated with Hackfeld & Co. Mr. CF Horner was selected to manage the plantation.

With later acquisitions of additional West Maui lands, Pioneer Mill was incorporated on June 29, 1895.  Horner sold his interest to American Factors, formerly Hackfeld & Co., and in 1960, Pioneer Mill Company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Amfac.

Irrigation of Pioneer Mill Company’s fields, an area that eventually extended 14-miles long and 1 1/2-miles wide with altitudes between 10 and 700 feet, was accomplished with water drawn from artesian wells and water transported from the West Maui Mountains. The McCandless brothers drilled the first well on Maui for Pioneer Mill Company in 1883.

Pioneer Mill Company was one of the earliest plantations to use a steam tramway for transporting harvested cane from the fields to the mill. Cane from about 1000-acres was flumed directly to the mill cane carrier with the rest coming to the mill by rail.  (The Sugar Cane Train is a remnant of that system.)

In 1937, mechanically harvested cane was bringing so much mud to the factory that Pioneer Mill Company began the development of a cane cleaner.

Between 1948 and 1951, a rock removal program rehabilitated 3,153 acres of Pioneer land to permit mechanical planting, cultivating, and harvesting. In 1952, the railroad was eliminated and a year later new feeder tables were conveying cane directly from cane trucks into the factory.

Lāhainā Light and Power Company, Lāhainā Ice Company, the Lāhainā and Puʻukoliʻi Stores, and the Pioneer Mill Hospital were associated with the plantation, providing services to employees as well to Lahaina residents.

Faced with international competition, Hawaiʻi’s sugar industry, including Pioneer Mill Company, found it increasingly difficult to economically survive.

At the industry’s peak in the 1930s, Hawaiʻi’s sugar plantations employed more than 50,000-workers and produced more than 1-million tons of sugar a year; over 254,500-acres were planted in sugar.  That plummeted to 492,000-tons in 1995.  A majority of the plantations closed in the 1990s.

Seeing hard times ahead, Pioneer Mill Company took 2,000-acres out of cane during the 1960s to develop Kāʻanapali as a visitor resort destination.

By 1986, the plantation had reduced its acreage down to 4,000-acre (which at its height had 14,000-acres planted in cane.)  After years of losing money, in 1999, Pioneer Mill closed its operations.

Recently, the Lāhainā Restoration Foundation and others worked to preserve the Pioneer Mill Smokestack.  It remains tall above the Lāhainā Community as a reminder of the legacy of sugar in the West Maui community.  (Lots of information here from the UH-Manoa, HSPA Plantation Archives.)

The image shows Pioneer Mill (kapolei-com.)   In addition, I have added other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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© 2013 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Filed Under: General, Buildings, Economy, Prominent People Tagged With: Kaanapali, Pioneer Mill, Hawaii, Maui, Sugar, James Campbell, Lahaina, West Maui, Amfac

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