HAKALAU OUR HOME
  • Home
    • Upcoming Events
    • About hakalauhome
    • Contact Us!
  • Yesterday
    • Timeline
    • Camps
    • Schools >
      • Hakalau School
      • John M. Ross School
    • Churches & Cemeteries >
      • Churches >
        • Hakalau Jodo Mission
        • Honohina Hongwanji
      • Cemeteries
    • The Voice of Hakalau
    • Sugar Production >
      • Hakalau Mill & Other Buildings
      • Wailea Milling Company
    • Infrastructure and Transportation >
      • 19th Century Hamakua Roads
      • Bridges
      • The Railroad
  • Today
    • Hakalau Farmers Market
    • Hakalau Jodo Mission Today >
      • Obon Festival
      • Memorial Day
      • Celebrations at Hakalau Jodo Mission
    • Honohina Hongwanji Today
    • Hakalau Reunions
    • Wailea Village Historic Preservation Community >
      • Cemetery Stewardship
      • Reviving Hakalau School
      • Senior Luncheons
      • Mochi Pounding
  • Tomorrow
    • Arsenic Remediation
    • Cliff Failures
    • Hāmākua CDP & the CDP Action Committee
  • Home
    • Upcoming Events
    • About hakalauhome
    • Contact Us!
  • Yesterday
    • Timeline
    • Camps
    • Schools >
      • Hakalau School
      • John M. Ross School
    • Churches & Cemeteries >
      • Churches >
        • Hakalau Jodo Mission
        • Honohina Hongwanji
      • Cemeteries
    • The Voice of Hakalau
    • Sugar Production >
      • Hakalau Mill & Other Buildings
      • Wailea Milling Company
    • Infrastructure and Transportation >
      • 19th Century Hamakua Roads
      • Bridges
      • The Railroad
  • Today
    • Hakalau Farmers Market
    • Hakalau Jodo Mission Today >
      • Obon Festival
      • Memorial Day
      • Celebrations at Hakalau Jodo Mission
    • Honohina Hongwanji Today
    • Hakalau Reunions
    • Wailea Village Historic Preservation Community >
      • Cemetery Stewardship
      • Reviving Hakalau School
      • Senior Luncheons
      • Mochi Pounding
  • Tomorrow
    • Arsenic Remediation
    • Cliff Failures
    • Hāmākua CDP & the CDP Action Committee

Transporting Cane to Market: First Ships, Then Trains and Then Trucks

Transport by Ship (1878-1920)

Transporting sugar and people to and from Hakalau Landing was very dangerous.
The Landing:
Picture
Photo captured from movie dated 1924 from the Ford Educational Library, available through the National Archives, courtesy of Emi Uemura
Picture
The Ships:
Picture
Photo courtesy of Wayne Subica, Hawaii Plantation Museum
The business risks associated with transporting sugar by ship were significant. 
Picture
The Honolulu Advertiser, January 19, 1891, page 2, accessed via Newspapers.com
Picture
The Honolulu Advertiser, February 2, 1895, p. 1, accessed via Newspapers.com
Read the Full Article
Loading and Unloading Sugar and People:
Picture
The Hawaiian Gazette, March 22, 1895, page 8, accessed via Newspapers.com
Picture
The Hawaiian Star, January 6, 1900, accessed via Newspapers.com.
Picture
Hoisting a passenger using a breeches buoy at Hakalau Landing. Photo PP28-11-004 from the Hawaii State Archives, date unknown.
Picture
The Honolulu Advertiser, July 25, 1906, page 3, accessed via Newspapers.com
Picture
Hilo Tribune Herald, September 4, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com.
In a 1989 letter written to the former Ramona Ross*, the transport of both people and cargo is described: 
"Breeches buoy" is a a term I haven't heard before. I've gotten different descriptions of the mechanism that was used to transport people to and from that [Hakalau] landing. Aunty Kate and Aunty Caryrie Patten (when she was pregnant with Eleanor) both have described being in a kind of cage or box. Erling Hedemann has a marvelous picture of a crane-like arrangement hoisting cargo from boat (not sure whether it was large steamer or small boat) to landing, with a Hawaiian riding on top of the netted cargo, as it's suspended in mid-air. But I think the cranes is different from what people rode.
*Ramona, called Mona, was the daughter of William Ross, Hakalau Store manager from 1902-1935(?). Ramona was probably about 18-20 years old in 1935 when her family moved away from Hakalau.

Transport by Rail (1920-1946)

The transition from transport by ship to transport by rail required building two new reinforced concrete warehouses in a different location from the previous warehouse near the Hakalau Landing. Transporting sugar by rail began October 1, 1920.
Picture
Picture
Hakalau Plantation's reinforced concrete warehouses. Photos courtesy of the University of Hawaii-Manoa Hamilton Library, Hawaiian Collection, Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association Plantation Archives.
Picture
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, March 27, 1920, page 4, accessed via Newspapers.com
Picture
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, November 13, 1920, page 1, accessed via Newspapers.com
The Hawaii Consolidated Railway also provided passenger service to Hakalau.
Picture
Hilo Tribune Herald, October 22, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com.
Picture
Hilo Tribune Herald, October 24, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com.

Transport by Truck (1946-1974 when the mill closed)

The Tsunami of 1946 ended the era of transport by railroad. Building roads and purchasing trucks became the priority for the plantation. Within a few days of the tsunami, an article appeared in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin explaining the impact on the transportation and storage systems:
Picture
Picture
April 5, 1946, page 4, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, accessed via Newspapers.com
Read the Full Article
Picture
From the C. Brewer, Ltd. 1948 Annual Report
Picture
C. Brewer, Ltd. Annual Report 1946, page 3.
Picture
Picture
C. Brewer, Ltd. Annual Report 1946, pages 4-5.
For the Hakalau Kuleana, our responsibility is to care for the land, the people, and the culture. We are guided by cultural values of YESTERDAY: Engage in collective effort. Look out for each other. Honor hard work. Show respect for those who came before us. Aloha and Mālama `Aina. In 2021, Akiko Masuda added two more values to the list: Consistently show up. Whatever has to be done, jump in and do it!