Hanalei Pier is a

pier image:Brighton Pier, Brighton, East Sussex, England-2Oct2011 (1).jpg, Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century. A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of ...

built into

Hanalei Bay Hanalei Bay is the largest bay on the north shore of Kauaʻi island in Hawaii. The town of Hanalei is at the midpoint of the bay. Geography Hanalei Bay consists of nearly of beach, surrounded by mountains. In the summer, the bay offers excel ...

on the northern shore of the island of

Kauai Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest island ...

in the state of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

History

The wetlands of Hanalei Bay were used to grow

taro Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in Africa ...

ancient Hawaii Ancient Hawaii is the period of Hawaiian history preceding the unification in 1810 of the Kingdom of Hawaii by Kamehameha the Great. Traditionally, researchers estimated the first settlement of the Hawaiian islands as having occurred sporadicall ...

ans. By the 1860s, the shrinking population of

native Hawaiians Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaii ...

was being replaced by ethnic

Chinese people The Chinese people or simply Chinese, are people or ethnic groups identified with China, usually through ethnicity, nationality, citizenship, or other affiliation. Chinese people are known as Zhongguoren () or as Huaren () by speakers of s ...

when their contracts expired on

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

plantations in Hawaii, such as the one directly to the north in Princeville. The new crop was rice, which was shipped to

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

to become the second largest export crop of the islands. After the annexation of Hawaii to the US in 1898, Hawaiian rice could not compete with rice grown in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and shipments declined. The pier was originally built of wood before 1892. In the early 1900s work began to extend the pier, and it was eventually lengthened to in 1912. In 1921 the legislature authorized

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

25,000 for a new concrete deck, as the wooden deck was too difficult to maintain in the tropical climate. Conney and Morris were selected as contractors, and finished the construction of the new deck by the end of 1922. A shed roof was constructed at the far end of the pier in the 1940s. The pier has been a gathering place for the citizens of Hanalei since it was abandoned for shipping in 1933. It was also the main filming area for the 1954 film ''

Beachhead A beachhead is a temporary line created when a military unit reaches a landing beach by sea and begins to defend the area as other reinforcements arrive. Once a large enough unit is assembled, the invading force can begin advancing inland. The ...

'' and the 1957 film '' South Pacific''. The pier was added to the

National Register of Historic Places listings in Hawaii This is a list of properties and historic districts in Hawaii listed on the National Register of Historic Places. More than 340 listings appear on all but one of Hawaii's main islands (Niihau being the exception) and the Northwestern Islands, a ...

on September 13, 1979, as site 79000757. The pier was heavily damaged in 1992 as a result of

Hurricane Iniki Hurricane Iniki ( ; Hawaiian: ''iniki'' meaning "strong and piercing wind") was the most powerful hurricane to strike Hawaii in recorded history. Forming on September 5, 1992, during the strong 1990–1995 El Niño, Iniki was one of eleven Centr ...

. In 2012–13, the canopy at the end of the pier was restored. The Hanalei Rotary Club raised over $170,000 to restore the neglected canopy in a program coined "Save the Pier." Although originally owned by the state, the land at the base of the pier is a

Kauai County Kauai County ( haw, Kalana o Kauaʻi) (officially known as the County of Kauai) is a county in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It consists of the islands of Kauai, Niihau, Lehua, and Kaula. As of the 2020 Census the population was 73,298. The county ...

park known as Black Pot Beach. It is located at the end of Weke Road north of Route 560. Adjacent to the north is the mouth of the Hanalei River, where a public boat landing provides recreational and commercial access.

References

External links

* {{NRHP in Kauai, Hawaii Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Hawaii Transport infrastructure completed in 1912 Buildings and structures in Kauai County, Hawaii Tourist attractions in Kauai County, Hawaii Historic American Engineering Record in Hawaii 1912 establishments in Hawaii Piers in Hawaii National Register of Historic Places in Kauai County, Hawaii Piers on the National Register of Historic Places Transportation buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Hawaii Hawaii Register of Historic Places in Kauai County, Hawaii