Haiku Mill

Haiku Mill
Location Haiku Road,
Haʻikū, Maui
Coordinates 20°55′32″N 156°19′44″W / 20.92556°N 156.32889°WCoordinates: 20°55′32″N 156°19′44″W / 20.92556°N 156.32889°W
Area 1.9 acres (0.77 ha)
Built 1861
Architect D.M. Weston
Governing body Private
NRHP Reference # 86000189[1]
Added to NRHP February 6, 1986

The Haʻikū Sugar Mill was a processing factory for sugarcane from 1861 to 1879 on the island of Maui in Hawaii.

History

The northeastern coast of Maui had a small village named Haʻi kū which literally means "sharp break" in the Hawaiian language.[2]

The Haiku Sugar Company was chartered on November 20, 1858 by the Kingdom of Hawaii. It was one of the first ten companies to go into the sugar business in the Hawaiian Islands. The investors, the Castle & Cooke partnership, contracted with Isaac Adams of Boston and D. M. Weston for a milling machine and boiling house with total cost of US$12,000. The first crop was processed in December 1861. In 1871 Samuel T. Alexander became manager of the mill. He formed Alexander & Baldwin with his partner Henry Perrine Baldwin, and organized an irrigation system from 1876 to 1878 that allowed more steady crops to be grown in more leeward areas of the island. This mill was abandoned in 1879.[3]

In 1881 Kahului railroad allowed cane to be carried to larger mills near the town of Kahului. In 1905 the Haiku plantation merged with another to become Maui Agricultural Company, and later became the Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company division of Alexander & Baldwin with one remaining mill at Puʻunene. The Haʻikū area later became a pineapple plantation. The former cannery at 810 Haiku Road is now a shopping center called the Haiku Marketplace.[4]

Only the walls of the mill were left standing when it was added to the National Register of Historic Places listings in Hawaii on February 6, 1986 as site 86000189. It is state historic site 50-046-1622.[5] The owner Sylvia Hamilton Kerr left the roof open, but decorated the inside to be used as a photo location and wedding site. It was used for one of the 2008 models in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.[6][7]

The mill is located at 250 Haiku Road, 20°55′32″N 156°19′44″W / 20.92556°N 156.32889°W. The home of the Haiku plantation doctor is now a bed and breakfast hotel.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13.
  2. ↑ Pukui and Elbert (2004). "lookup of haiku". on Place Names of Hawai'i. Ulukau, the Hawaiian Electronic Library, University of Hawaii. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
  3. ↑ Robert M. Kiger (May 27, 1985). "Haiku Mill nomination form". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
  4. ↑ "Visit us in Haiku". web site. Kopa Haiku. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
  5. ↑ "National and State Register of Historic Places on Maui". web site. Hawaii State Department of Land and Natural Resources. June 2009. Retrieved 2010-01-12.
  6. ↑ "Haiku Mill – Wedding Location and Coordination". web site. Haiku Mill. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
  7. ↑ "Haiku Mill". web site. Maui wedding club. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
  8. ↑ "The Inn's Rich Heritage and Architecture". web site. Haiku plantation Inn. Retrieved 2010-01-18.