The Waialua Sugar Mill, formally known as the Chamberlain Plantation, was a sugarcane plantation and historical

sugar mill A sugar cane mill is a factory that processes sugar cane to produce raw or white sugar. The term is also used to refer to the equipment that crushes the sticks of sugar cane to extract the juice. Processing There are a number of steps in pro ...

, located in the town of

Waialua Waialua () is a census-designated place and North Shore community in the Waialua District on the island of Oahu, City & County of Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. As of the 2020 census, the CDP had a population of 4,062. Waialua was one of the ...

on the North Shore of

Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...

. It was in operation from 1865 until 1996.

History

In 1865, Levi and Warren Chamberlain started a

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 ...

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

in Waialua that ultimately failed,Wilcox 1998, p. 108. and Robert Halstead bought the Chamberlain plantation in 1875 under the partnership of Halstead & Gordon, for $25,000. Gordon died in 1888, and the plantation was managed by the Halstead Brothers, Robert and his two sons, Edgar and Frank.Dorrance & Morgan 2000, p. 42. In 1898, Castle & Cooke, one of Hawaii's Big Five trading and sugar industry management companies, formed the Waialua Agricultural Company and purchased the plantation from the Halstead Brothers.Dorrance & Morgan 2000, pp. 47-49. By the end of 1898, a new mill was constructed, and the first crop harvested in 1899, producing 1,741 tons of sugar. Castle & Cooke also expanded the acreage, built a railway system, and maximized ground and surface water storage and irrigation systems. Between 1900 and 1906, four surface water collection systems were constructed, giving the Waialua sugar plantation the largest water storage capacity in the state of Hawaii.Wilcox 1998, p. 109. As a result of these efforts, sugar production increased from less than 5000 to 20,000 tons from 1900-1905. Mechanical loading of harvested cane began to replace manual labor using self-propelled machines in 1920.Dorrance & Morgan 2000, p. 184. Later, the Waialua plantation would co-generate electricity and sell it to local communities, contributing a small percentage to Hawaii's energy production.Dorrance & Morgan 2000, p. 172. By 1991, the mill was producing eight percent of sugar in Hawaii as the Waialua Sugar Company, a subsidiary of the Dole Food Company.Dorrance & Morgan 2000, pp. 141-142 However, the plantation was unable to increase the tons of sugar per acre yields.Dorrance & Morgan 2000, p. 202. The Waialua Sugar Mill finally closed in October, 1996 due to profit concerns and was the last sugarcane plantation on the island of Oahu to close. By 1999, the site's sugar workers camp was still inhabited by former Filipino laborers.Dorrance & Morgan 2000, p. 133. The area currently serves as an

industrial park An industrial park (also known as industrial estate, trading estate) is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more "heavyweight" version of a business park or office park, ...

for the North Shore of Oahu. In 2020, the 25 acres were put up for sale.

Notes

References

* *{{Citation , last = Wilcox , first = Carol , title = Sugar Water: Hawaii's Plantation Ditches , publisher = University of Hawaii Press , year = 1998 , isbn = 0-8248-2044-4

External links

Waialua Sugar Mill
Defunct agriculture companies of the United States Buildings and structures in Honolulu County, Hawaii Landmarks in Hawaii Sugar plantations in Hawaii Companies established in 1865 Companies disestablished in 1996 Ghost towns in Hawaii Sugar refineries