Puʻunēnē ( haw, Puunēnē) is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in the central part of

Maui The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...

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 ...

, United States, near

Kahului Kahului () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Maui County in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It hosts the county's main airport (Kahului Airport), deep-draft harbor, light industrial areas, and commercial shopping centers. The population was 26,337 ...

with a population of around 50. Although the land is fairly level, the

Hawaiian language Hawaiian (', ) is a Polynesian language of the Austronesian language family that takes its name from Hawaii, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language o ...

name means " goose hill".

Background

Puʻunēnē's primary industry was growing, harvesting and

processing Processing is a free graphical library and integrated development environment (IDE) built for the electronic arts, new media art, and visual design communities with the purpose of teaching non-programmers the fundamentals of computer programming ...

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 ...

for over a century but production ceased in 2016. In 2019, a field of potatoes was planted by Mahi Pono where sugar cane used to be grown. This initial planting was the beginning of using these fallow lands to increase local food production. The

Alexander & Baldwin Sugar Museum Alexander & Baldwin Sugar Museum is located in the small sugarcane growing and milling community of Puʻunene, Hawaii, Kahului, Maui. The museum exhibits the history of Hawaiian sugarcane plantations and Alexander & Baldwin and its role in the su ...

is housed in the former residence of the superintendent of Puʻunene Sugar Mill, which the Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company (a division of

Alexander & Baldwin Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. is an American company that was once part of the Big Five companies in territorial Hawaii. The company currently operates businesses in real estate, land operations, and materials and construction. It was also the last ...

) operated across the street since 1901. Its mission is "to preserve and present the history and heritage of Hawaii's

sugar industry The sugar industry subsumes the production, processing and marketing of sugars (mostly sucrose and fructose). Globally, most sugar is extracted from sugar cane (~80% predominantly in the tropics) and sugar beet (~ 20%, mostly in temperate cli ...

, and the multi-ethnic plantation life which it engendered." Also located in Puʻunēnē is the Puʻunēnē School, which is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. About three miles to the south of Puʻunēnē is the site of a former Naval Air Station (1940–1947),. This would later be known as Pu’unēnē Airport, and was the site for the second Maui Airport, after Maalaea, and part of the struggle to achieve an adequate landing strip of the Island of Maui for Hawaiian Airlines to use. An old runway is now used as a drag strip for Maui Raceway Park. Puʻunēnē's ZIP code is 96784. The mill is located at , just east of Mokulele Highway,

Hawaii Route 311 MOS 0311 is the United States Marine Corps (USMC) Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) code for infantry rifleman. It is the primary infantry MOS for the Marine Corps. General information A rifleman may employ the M4 carbine, the M203 grenade lau ...

Gallery

File:Maui-Puunene-Sugar-Museum.JPG,

, former Puʻunene Mill manager's house File:Maui-Puunene-Mill-wide.JPG, Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company Mill, view from Old Puʻunene Road coming from former Puʻunene Camp File:Maui-Puunene-Congregational-Building-1910.JPG, Puʻunene Congregational Church (1910), the first Japanese Christian church in Maui, now to be demolished or moved File:Maui Raceway Park aerial.jpg, Aerial view, from the south, of Puʻunēnē with the old airstrip that is now the dragstrip at Maui Raceway Park

References

External links

Maui Humane Society (based in Puʻunene)
Unincorporated communities in Maui County, Hawaii Sugar plantations in Hawaii Populated places on Maui Unincorporated communities in Hawaii Company towns in Hawaii Alexander & Baldwin {{hawaii-geo-stub Closed installations of the United States Navy