1900s Detail

The 1900's (1900-1909)

The 1900s, from 1900 to 1909, was a period of development and entrepreneurship. The Hakalau Plantation, owned by Claus Spreckels, with agent Irwin and Company, continued to grow. Manager George Ross resigned due to poor health and was succeeded by his brother John M. Ross who held the position for the next 37 years. Twenty seven percent of the camp dwellings were built in this period. Owner Spreckels lost interest in conducting business in Hawaii. Agent Irwin and Company, interested in reducing business responsibilities, created the ideal opportunity for C. Brewer and Company to expand its sugar holdings through merger, becoming the agent for Hakalau Plantation. Major building blocks were established to enable Hawaii businesses to control sugar interests and profits in Hawaii.

The major focus of the decade was the building of the Kohala-Hilo Railway, necessary for the movement of sugar and other goods as well as people. Development activities entailed promotion, raising capital, land acquisition, surveying, engineering and much more. Of course, there were many challenges along the way.

1900

Photo courtesy of Susan Forbes. Map from the Edmund Olson Trust Archive

A new map of the Hakalau Plantation was published. Hakalau and Honohina were sparsely populated.

Hakalau 1900

Honohina 1900

Shipping of passengers and freight to Hakalau and other locations was frequently mentioned in newspaper notices, advertisements and articles.

The Hawaiian Star, January 6, 1900, accessed via Newspapers.com.

Reports on progress in building a railway between Kohala and Hilo dominated newspaper coverage. This article is perhaps a bit overly optimistic, suggesting that the route to Hakalau would be complete by January 1901...The reality was that the railroad service to Hakalau began in 1911.

Our contracts call for trains to be running between Hilo and Hakalau by January 1, 1901, and we propose to keep up within the contracts. There is no scarcity of funds with us, there is no lack of energy nor is there a scarcity of men in the field. (Excerpt from Hawaii Herald article, July 12, 1900)

Read the Article

Hawaii Herald, July 12, 1900, accessed via Newspapers.com.

Hakalau leads other Big Island plantations in sugar output for the year.

Hilo Daily Tribune, November 3, 1900, accessed via Newspapers.com

Forests were burned to clear the land for growing sugar at the Hakalau Plantation. The sugar industry played a major role in deforestation.

The Hawaiian Star, October 1, 1900, accessed via Newspapers.com.

More about Deforestation

Methods of communication as well as transportation were key topics of the year.

Hawaii Herald, December 20, 1900, accessed via Newspapers.com.

Hakalau Store ads were common throughout the year and the decade, with special emphasis on merchandise for the Christmas season.

Hilo Daily Tribune, December 8, 1900, accessed via Newspapers.com.

1901

The precarious process of shipping sugar is described .
The promise of a railroad offered a welcome alternative to ocean transportation from the plantation to the port.

Evening Bulletin, November 30, 1901, p. 22, accessed via Newspapers.com

Photo courtesy of Wayne Subica, The Hawaii Plantation Museum

Tennis was popular with the Scots, along with golf and soccer. The birthday of Japan's emperor is cause for a holiday, and plantation managers take this opportunity to play tennis.

Hilo Daily Tribune, November 8, 1901, accessed via Newspapers.com.

New business ventures abound. Imagine sending your dirty laundry from Hakalau to Honolulu by steamer...Really?

1902

The City Directory of 1902 describes the Hakalau Plantation Company:

HAKALAU PLANTATION CO, George Ross manager, W G Irwin & Co Ltd agents, Honolulu, yield for 1901 11,932 tons of sugar, 80 ton mill, 800 men, Hakalau

Well, the Kohala-Hilo railroad was not up and running to Hakalau on January 1, 1901. Nevertheless, some optimism remains. The potential positive impacts of the railroad and the breakwater on commerce and the economy of Hilo are immense. Capitalism at work. The entrepreneurs were risk takers and cheerleaders.

Hawaii Herald, October 16, 1902, accessed via Newspapers.com.

Hawaii Herald, October 9, 1902, accessed via Newspapers.com.

Disputes over cane lands were common.

The Hawaiian Star, February 14, 1902, accessed via Newspapers.com.

Storms continued to wreak havoc for the Hakalau Plantation. This time, flumes were the victims.

Evening Bulletin, March 10, 1902, accessed via Newspapers.com

Hakalau continued to import labor, primarily Japanese in this period.

Hilo Daily Tribune, April 4, 1902, accessed via Newspapers.com.

The Hakalau Store continued its active advertising program, becoming a popular source of Christmas presents even among those living in Hilo.

Hawaii Herald, November 13, 1902, accessed via Newspapers.com.

1903

John M. Ross, Head Overseer for the Hakalau Plantation returned to Hakalau after marrying Georgiana Stewart in Buffalo, New York.

Evening Bulletin (Honolulu, Hawaii), Jan 5, 1903, Page 1, accessed via Newspapers.com.

1904

The Hamakua area was dubbed the "Scotch Coast" because of the large number of Scots living there.
The migration of Scots to Hawaii started earlier, with the Reciprocity Treaty of 1875. Scotsmen, facing economic adversity at home, found the prospects of Hawaii's growing sugar industry attractive. Much of the sugar machinery was manufactured in Scotland and some Scots already had experience in the British West Indies.
Hakalau had its fair share of Scots.

Hilo Daily Tribune, July 8, 1904, accessed via Newspapers.com.

Progress reported in building the railroad. At this point, a new survey had been completed that covered the territory from Hilo almost to Hakalau.

Those in Hilo were particularly enthusiastic about the potential growth in business and addition of new businesses.

Evening Bulletin, July 26, 1904, accessed via Newspapers.com.

The Hawaiian Gazette, July 12, 1904, accessed via Newspapers.com.

Infrastructure issues are costly. Roads and bridges along the Hamakua Coast pose a particular challenge.

Hilo Tribune, April 29, 1904, accessed via Newspapers.com

1905

Hawaii sugar planters succeeded in establishing their own co-operative refinery at Crockett, California, now known and C and H Sugar.
The Hakalau Plantation provided one-acre land with no rent or time limit for the Hakalau Jodo Mission.
George Ross provided a monthly stipend from the Hakalau Plantation to the Hakalau Jodo Mission in Hakalau Upper Camp in July 1905. This coincides with the arrival of Minister Soma's wife from Japan.
George Ross resigned as Manager in August 1905 on account of failing health.
John M. Ross becomes Hakalau Plantation Manager, replacing his brother George.

Hawaii Herald, August 31, 1905, accessed via Newspapers.com.

The Japanese language newspaper, Yamato Shinbun, 10/30/1905, reported:

Hakalau Elementary School [Hakalau Japanese Language School] will hold a big celebration on the coming Emperor's birthday followed by the peace celebration. A prayer for the fallen soldiers will be held on the 4th.

(The emperor's birthday was November 3rd. Fallen soldiers are of Russo-Japanese War which ended in September 1905)

1906

Hakalau Plantation Manager's home, built 1897. Photo courtesy of the Lyman Museum.

Hilo Daily Tribune, July 3, 1906, accessed via Newspapers.com.

Passenger travel by steamer to and from Hakalau was a scary and adventurous undertaking.

The Honolulu Advertiser, June 25, 1906, accessed via Newspapers.com

Hoisting a passenger using a breeches buoy at Hakalau Landing. Photo PP28-11-004 from the Hawaii State Archives, date unknown

1907

Homestead lots opened up in Hakalau (Kaiwiki Homesteads). The Osorio Settlement Association, a Portuguese hui, purchased a majority of the lots first offered. Subsequently, prices rose significantly with the intense competition for lots.

Hawaii Herald, June 13, 1907, accessed via Newspapers.com.

The Hawaiian Star, July 19, 1907, accessed via Newspapers.com.

The Honolulu Advertiser, July 22, 1907, accessed via Newspapers.com.

Kaiwiki Homestead III owner, believed to be William Ross and his wife, sometime between 1911 and 1919. By 1920, they were living in Hakalau Up Camp. Photo courtesy of Kim Kohl, granddaughter of William Ross.

William Ross, cousin (actually first cousin twice removed) of Hakalau Plantation Manager John M. Ross, paid a high price for his homestead.

In all instances but three, the original applicants secured their desired lots, but some pretty high prices were paid as there was spirited bidding. The first three lots went at nominal advances over the upset. But when the fourth was offered, Wm. Ross applicant, at $770 for 28.74 acres, the fun began. It took but a couple of minutes to reach $1,000, and the property then went by leaps and bounds to Mr. Ross for !,505, almost double the value fixed for the government. (Excerpt from the July 22, 1907 Honolulu Advertise article, "How Hakalau Lots Went Up".

1908

Finally.

Hilo Daily Tribune, December 22, 1908, accessed via Newspapers.com.

The Evening Bulletin provided a detailed description of the Hakalau Plantation.

Evening Bulletin, March 25, 1909, accessed via Newspapers.com

More Kaiwiki Homestead Lots opened.

The Hawaiian Star, January 20, 1909, accessed via Newspapers.com.

The Hakalau Railroad Extension dominated newspaper coverage related to Hakalau.

Hawaii Herald, March 4, 1909, accessed via Newspapers.com.

Hilo Daily Tribune, July 20, 1909, accessed via Newspapers.com.

The Hawaiian Star, July 21, 1909, accessed via Newspapers.com.

The Honolulu Advertiser, November 1, 1909, accessed via Newspapers.com.

Evening Bulletin, December 8, 1990, accessed via Newspapers.com.

The Hawaiian Star, December 13, 1909, accessed via Newspapers.com.

Japanese sugar plantation workers wanted more money. Plantation managers responded. John M. Ross, Manager of the Hakalau Plantation, provided a reasoned response.

Hawaii Herald, June 3, 1909, accessed via Newspapers.com.

Hawaii Herald, June 24, 1909, accessed via Newspapers.com.

John M. Ross Response

Hawaii Herald, June 24, 1909, accessed via Newspapers.com.

Negotiations between C. Brewer and Irwin and Company in 1909 resulted in a merger effective January 1, 1910.

One day in 1909 Irwin was having lunch at the Honolulu Pacific Club with George R. Carter of C. Brewer and Company, the oldest sugar agency in the islands. Irwin said that he would like to be relieved of some of the burdens of business. Carter then suggested a merger of the two companies.

Irwin answered: "I like the idea and am ready to talk about it." He soon left for San Francisco, and was followed by E. Faxon Bishop, a director of the Brewer Company. They quietly worked out details of the change on the Coast.

There were sound economic and other reasons for the merger. As already shown, the fortunes of the Irwin company were on the decline. Spreckels' interest in Hawaii had waned well before the end of the nineteenth century. Irwin was getting along in years--he was about sixty-five at the time of the merger--and had no son to succeed him. Absentee management from San Francisco was proving burdensome. W.M. Giffard, acting manager while Irwin was away, was also ready to retire.

Brewer and Company doubtless thought it could breathe new life into the interests represented by Irwin and Company, and that the merger would yield economies of large-scale operation. Many of the plantations represented by the Irwin company adjoined those of Brewer and the merger doubled the amount of sugar marketed by Brewer, and gave that firm another outlet for it's retained earnings in the form of investment in plantations previously controlled by Irwin.

(Source: Clause Spreckels: The Sugar King in Hawaii, by Jacob Adler, Mutual Publishing Paperback Series, Tales of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1966, p. 102)

See 1910s Detail