This month’s historical walk through is in the town of Waialua. We will visit most of the iconic places in this sleepy town, including going to Waialua Sugar Mill, which opened in 1865 and was the last sugar mill to close on Oahu on October 4, 1996.
I also added foodie stops in this video and added chapters if you are not interested in a certain part since the video is quite long. This video was also cut into 2 parts as I could not upload it into one video on YouTube for some reason. Look for part 2 in the link at the end screen.
See the drone footage of the original Saint Michael’s Church at Thompson’s Corner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvqZQbKDOEM
0:00 Intro
2:46 T. Otake Store
3:26 Waialua General Store Poke
6:00 Old Bank of Hawaii Building
6:36 Waialua Sugar Mill
8:44 North Shore Soap Factory
13:04 Waialua Hongwanji Mission
16:15 Old Abandoned Waialua Sugar Mill Building
17:00 History of Saint Michael’s Church
T. Otake Store
66-212 Farrington Hwy
Waialua, HI 96791
Waialua General Store
67-272 Goodale Avenue
Waialua, HI 96791
(808) 637-3131
North Shore Soap Factory
67-106 Kealohanui Street
Waialua, HI 96791
(808) 637-8400
Music from Epidemic Sound.
17 Comments
I learn soo much from your walking tours. Keep em coming, you're doing a great job!
Wow, you’re video is very interesting .nice!!!!
Aloha, this was very interesting to watch, mahalo for sharing, I'm going to watch part 2 now 🙂
I love Hawaii so your tours are really interesting – thank you so much!!
FYI…That King-sized upside down at Waialua Sugar Mill was once sugar storage silo. Grew up in Waialua/Haleiwa/North Shore area & these videos have me Waxing Nostalgic…Keep Them Coming!
Hey keep up the great work.
I would like to provide a voice in honor of those who came from afar to work the sugar plantations-
[ While we can hardly overstate the sugar industry’s power, the idea that it ushered in a “harmonious melting pot” obscures Hawaii’s true history of capitalist conspiracies, worker uprisings, and one ill-conceived attempt to contrive a whiter working class, all set against the backdrop of ongoing Native Hawaiian resistance.
Even the industry’s mid-nineteenth century origins were rooted in conflict and colonization: haole owners built plantations on dispossessed Native Hawaiian land, and mainland sugar gluts resulting from the Civil War, as well as the westward encroachment of white settlers during the California Gold Rush, contributed to their success.
The ensuing decades of industrialization, relaxed export taxation, annexation, and, later, territory status, made sugar increasingly profitable. By 1870, five major plantations had consolidated their power. Gary Okihiro, author of a seminal text on Hawaii’s sugar-cane history, has noted that this cohort of producers — known as the Big Five — held enormous political and economic sway over the island for the better part of a century. [1]
Equal Pay for Equal Work
During the peak of their reign, a mere eighty individuals — many of them haole elite who boasted ties to the sugar industry — owned close to half the land area of all the Hawaiian islands. The sugar mongers controlled many of the businesses and public services associated with their industry, from banks and insurance companies to transportation and utilities. [2]
But King Sugar needed cheap labor to fuel its profits. With only 20 percent of Hawaii’s original population remaining by the time the United States annexed the islands 1898, many of those workers had to come from elsewhere. Despite a mandate from Washington to “develop the Territory on the traditional American lines” — read: to whiten the island — the plantations began importing men and women from Asia.
Plantation owners first brought workers to Hawai‘i from China, but the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 inspired planters to seek out new sources of labor. They turned to Japan, where they recruited thousands with the promise of lucrative, short-term contracts. Between 1885 and 1894, an estimated twenty-nine thousand Japanese immigrants arrived to serve as contract workers on Hawaiian sugar plantations. By the turn of the century, they had become the largest ethnic group on the islands.
Upon arrival, any dreams of prosperity were immediately dispelled. Workers encountered unforeseen hardships, inhumane conditions, and deplorable wages. [3] They worked twelve-hour days for less than six cents an hour. Overcrowded barracks and poor diets led to surges in illness. Those who attempted to run away would be beaten and jailed for breaking their contracts.
Devastated by the harsh reality of their new lives, women workers channeled their anger into song. They created a genre of music called holehole bushi that they would sing together while working the fields.
Hawai‘i, Hawai‘i
I saw as in a dream
Now my tears are flowing
In the canefields. [4]
In an interview for the documentary, “Canefield Songs” one of the early plantation workers, Katie Asakura, told the filmmakers, “Just like the song says, I cried all the time in the canefields.” [5]
https://densho.org/strikers-scabs-sugar-mongers-immigrant-labor-struggle-shaped-hawaii-know-today/
Felix and Amanda Eat just got some Rode Wireless Go Mics with windscreens that sound awesome. I thought you might be interested in checking them out and seeing if they work for you. It was their recent Q&A video. — This is another great video, keep it up!
Me too, not so much a furikake person, except in a zip pack.
That would be most likely be unagi sauce on the pokē..🤙🏽
That’s a lot of driving. I’d be poop’d at the end. Thank you
So I loved the intro. Also that 4runner you can take that thing everywhere. How was the soap??
Great virtual tour…👌
Keep up the hardwork… Stay safe and stay connected❤️❤️Greetings from Dubai 🇦🇪
An intriguing look at a less frequented town…well done! Enjoyed the format of this vlog, especially the footage of the relaxing drive and various scenes
of the surrounding landscape, and the rustic charm of the old buildings as a backdrop. Thank you for giving us a different perspective of Hawaii by featuring several unique places to experience through your lens. I've driven past many of these old-time businesses without exploring, but after seeing this video, I will definitely make time to visit those places of historic relevance.
Now THAT was super interesting‼️😃
If you look on Google Earth, you can see the location of the ruins of the original Saint Michael’s church and nearby cemetery.🤓
Thank you for another great video Misty! ❤️🙏🏻😊 I would love to try the soap from the soap factory. How did you like it?
My family and I returned from a couple week vacation in Waialua near Mokuleia, and I am so glad I found your channel. Other than just relaxing and swimming, we had a lot of fun exploring the small community, eating poke at the general store (which was amazing), snow fluffies at PKB and much more. We really loved exploring the Ka'ena Point State Park and just enjoying life in a more rural area. Thank you for all the recommendations and off-the-beaten path content. Subscribed!