Waialua Sugar Mill facts for kids
The Waialua Sugar Mill was a historic place where sugarcane was grown and processed into sugar. It was also known as the Chamberlain Plantation. This mill was located in the town of Waialua on the North Shore of Oahu, an island in Hawaii. It operated for many years, from 1865 until 1996.
Contents
The Story of Waialua Sugar Mill
Early Days and New Owners
The story of the Waialua Sugar Mill began in 1865. Two brothers, Levi and Warren Chamberlain, started a sugarcane farm in Waialua. However, their farm didn't succeed.
Later, in 1875, a man named Robert Halstead bought the farm. He teamed up with someone named Gordon. After Gordon passed away in 1888, Robert and his two sons, Edgar and Frank, took over the farm. They were known as the Halstead Brothers.
Becoming the Waialua Agricultural Company
In 1898, a big company called Castle & Cooke bought the farm from the Halstead Brothers. Castle & Cooke was one of Hawaii's most important companies, involved in trade and managing sugar businesses. They renamed the farm the Waialua Agricultural Company.
Growing and Making More Sugar
By the end of 1898, a brand new sugar mill was built. The first sugar crop was harvested in 1899, producing 1,741 tons of sugar!
Castle & Cooke also made the farm much bigger. They built a special railway system to help move things around. They also created large systems to collect and store water from the ground and rivers for irrigation. Between 1900 and 1906, four big water collection systems were built. This gave the Waialua sugar farm the largest water storage in all of Hawaii!
Because of all these improvements, sugar production grew a lot. It went from less than 5,000 tons to 20,000 tons between 1900 and 1905. In 1920, machines started to help load the harvested sugarcane, replacing a lot of the manual work. The Waialua farm even started to make its own electricity and sell it to nearby towns. This helped power Hawaii!
The Final Years of Sugar Production
By 1991, the Waialua Sugar Company, which was part of the Dole Food Company, was making eight percent of all the sugar in Hawaii. However, the farm found it hard to grow more sugar per acre.
Sadly, the Waialua Sugar Mill finally closed its doors in October 1996. This was because it was no longer making enough money. It was the very last sugarcane farm on the island of Oahu to close.
What Happened After the Mill Closed?
Even in 1999, some of the former workers, many of whom were from the Philippines, were still living in the sugar workers' camp at the site.
Today, the area where the mill once stood is an industrial park. This means it's a place with many different businesses and workshops for the North Shore of Oahu. In 2020, the 25 acres of land were put up for sale.
