The advent of the sugar cane industry in Hawaii . . .

Come to move into your new Kaanapali condo or just to vacation on Maui, and one of the first things you will notice as you fly over the island are miles upon miles of lush green sugar cane stretching across the island landscape. This is how it all began . . .

In 1849 George Wilfong built a plantation in Hana called Ka’uiki Hill’s Sugar Cane Mill. Encompassing 60 acres of sugar cane, the Ka’uiki Hill’s mill had been quite successful locally until 1852, when a fire destroyed the mill, prompting Wilfong to exit the sugar business. Soon after, a pair of missionaries sons, Samuel Alexander and Henry Baldwin, started planting acres of sugar between Pa’ia and Makawao.

For years Alexander and Baldwin also attained success in the local sugar industry. In 1875 however, the Reciprocity Treaty was introduced; allowing Hawaii to sell sugar to the United States without paying duties or taxes. This brought about a new, much higher demand for refined sugar, prompting the planting of thousands of acres of cane in central Maui. However, as Central Maui land was dry and arid with little rainfall, they had to find a way to get water to their thirsty new crops.

In 1876 Alexander created an irrigation system that would bring water from mountain streams and rivulets to irrigate 3,000 acres of cane (both Alexander and Baldwin's plantations, and those of their neighbors as well). Alexander and Baldwin continued their expansion throughout Maui, with no real competition for many years. Until the day the Spreckels Sugar Company came to Hawaii. Spreckels entered the Hawaiian sugar industry, forming the company HC&S. Alexander and Baldwin sparred with Spreckels over market share until Alexander and Baldwin decided to buy a controlling interest in HC&S, subsequently naming Baldwin their president. As the years went by, HC&S became the largest sugar cane producers in the world. The rise of sugar in Hawai’i lasted until the 1960’s when tourism surpassed it as the states number one industry.

Whalers Realty Inc. is the largest independent real estate firm on the island of Maui, specializing in West Maui's Kaanapali Beach Resort oceanfront real estate communities of Lahaina, Kaanapali, Kapalua, Napili, and Kahana. Call us today for all your Maui real estate needs!

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