Kauai

Stormy Cozad

• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Year: 2008
• Print ISBN: 9780738556444
• eBook ISBN: 9781439620168
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

Explore the beautiful island of Kauai through this magnificent collection of photographs. Capt. James Cook stood on his ship gazing at the coastline of Kauai and the Hawaiian village of Waimea in 1778. Kauai was its own kingdom then, and King Kaumualii - the king of Kauai who challenged Kamehameha and managed to keep Kauai from being conquered by him - would not be born for two more years. The oldest and northernmost of the main Hawaiian Islands, Kauai did not see well-meaning missionaries until 1820. From the moment Cook put Kauai on the map, it has gathered admirers from all over the world who come to experience its exquisite beauty and wonder. Fortunately, many photographers have had their own love affairs with Kauai, leaving a vast amount of documentation.

Nine

KAIKIOEWA AND LIHUE

Lihue never was an ahupuaa. It is in the Puna moku and was the dream of two very different men. First was Kaikioewa, the first governor of the Kauai after the death of King Kaumualii. He was sent over to put down the uprising of the king’s son, George Humehume. After he accomplished this, he was appointed governor. Being a warrior first, he ruled Kauai with an iron hand. As he aged, and as he came more under the missionaries’ influence, his demeanor softened. Some time between 1835 and 1838, he had a home and church built in the Lihue area. It is thought that he named it after another Lihue near Wahiawa on Oahu. Lihue, meaning “cold chill” or “gooseflesh,” has little to do with Kauai’s Lihue. The area where the house and church stood is now near the present Lihue Post Office and the Bank of Hawaii. He planned to grow sugarcane there but died unexpectedly in 1839. Any further plans he had for the area were never realized. The second dreamer was a New Englander from a Boston merchant family, Henry Augustus Peirce. He went to sea at 18, seeking opportunities everywhere from the Gold Rush in California to Canton, China. It was on a stopover on his way to China that Peirce first dreamed of a sugar plantation in the sleepy village. With Honolulu friends Charles Bishop and Judge William Lee as partners and $16,000, Henry A. Peirce and Company was formed in 1849. The very first crop produced 108 tons of sugar and 25,847 gallons of molasses. In 1859, the name was changed to Lihue Plantation Company. Paul Isenberg joined the plantation in 1858 and became manager in 1862. He was manager for 20 years. Once only 3,000 acres, the plantation increased to over 50,000 acres owned or leased by 1878. By 1933, Lihue Plantation owned the Makee Plantation, Ahukini Railway Company, Nawiliwili Transportation Company, East Kauai Water Company, Princeville Ranch, Waiahi Electric Company, and pineapple lands leased to Hawaiian Canneries. None exist today. The plantation closed in 2000 due to economic changes.

Theodore Severin took these photographs around 1890. Above is the Alekoko Fishpond along the Hulaia River. Modern anthropologists believe the fishpond was used as far back as 1350 A.D. The beauty of a fishpond was that it easily provided fresh fish of many types at all times, in all seasons, and all climatic conditions. Fishponds showed a chief’s ability to provide for his subjects. The horses in the foreground are in an area covered by mangroves today. Below, Niumalu, an area near the Alekoko Fishpond, is shown as quite barren. The area now is lush with plants and vegetation. (Both courtesy Kauai Museum.)

The most changed area near Lihue is around Nawiliwili. In 1915, it had the look of a small fishing village. After it was dredged for a deepwater harbor in the late 1920s, nothing looks familiar. (Courtesy Kauai Historical Society.)

Senda took this view of Nawiliwili Harbor in the late 1950s. The quaint fishing village is gone and replaced by an industrial area. One of the new buildings is Club Jetty (lower center), a favorite nightspot. Club Jetty was opened in 1946 by Emma “Mama” Ouye. Among her famous clientele was John Wayne. Hurricane Iniki destroyed it in 1992. Mama Ouye died in 2007 at age 99. (Courtesy Senda family.)

This c. 1913 photograph shows Rice Street coming up from Nawiliwili in a quieter ...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• One - KING KAUMUALII AND WAIMEA
• Two - HANAPEPE
• Three - MISSIONARIES AND THE PORT OF KOLOA
• Four - SUGAR, PINEAPPLE, AND RICE
• Five - A QUEEN, A SCOT, AND AN ARCHITECT
• Six - MODES OF TRANSPORT
• Seven - A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW
• Eight - YOU CAN’T GET THERE FROM HERE
• Nine - KAIKIOEWA AND LIHUE