Coffee

Ke kope hoʻohia ʻā maka o Kona.
(The coffee of Kona that keeps the eyes from sleeping.)

The only place in the United States where coffee is grown commercially is in Hawaiʻi.

Don Francisco de Paula y Marin recorded in his journal, dated January 21, 1813, that he had planted coffee seedlings on the island of Oʻahu.  The first commercial coffee plantation was started in Kōloa, Kauaʻi, in 1836.

Coffee was planted in Mānoa Valley in the vicinity of the present UH-Mānoa campus; from a small field, trees were introduced to other areas of O‘ahu and neighbor islands.

John Wilkinson, a British agriculturist, obtained coffee seedlings from Brazil. These plants were brought to Oʻahu in 1825 board the HMS Blonde (the ship also brought back the bodies of Liholiho and Kamāmalu who had died in England) and planted in Mānoa Valley at the estate of Chief Boki, the island’s governor.

In 1828, American missionary Samuel Ruggles took cuttings from Mānoa and brought them to Kona.   Henry Nicholas Greenwell grew and marketed coffee and is recognized for putting “Kona Coffee” on the world markets.

At Weltausstellung 1873 Wien (World Exhibition in Vienna, Austria (1873,)) Greenwell was awarded a “Recognition Diploma” for his Kona Coffee.  Greenwell descendants continue the family’s coffee-growing tradition in Kona. (Greenwell Farms)

Writer Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) seemed to concur with this when he noted in his Letters from Hawaiʻi, “The ride through the district of Kona to Kealakekua Bay took us through the famous coffee and orange section. I think the Kona coffee has a richer flavor than any other, be it grown where it may and call it what you please.”

Hermann Widemann introduced the ‘Guatemalan’ variety (known as ‘Kona typica’) to Hawaiʻi in 1892. He gave seeds to John Horner, who planted an orchard of 800 trees in Hāmākua, comparing 400 trees of this new variety with 400 of the then-current variety known as ‘kanaka koppe,’ the so-called ‘Hawaiian coffee’, probably from 30 plants brought from Brazil by Wilkinson.  (CTAHR)

“’Coffee-trees are often planted with a crowbar,’ it is said. Strange as this may seem, it is nevertheless true. A hole is drilled through the rock, or lavacrust, and the soil thus reached; the tree, a small twig dug up from the forest, is planted in this hole, and it grows, thrives, and yields fruit abundantly.”  (Musick, 1898)

In 1892 it was estimated there were probably 1,000-acres in old coffee throughout North and South Kona; 150-acres new set out by the two companies then under way there, with expectation of setting out fifty more; 170-acres in the Hāmākua and Hilo districts and about 100 in Puna.  (Thrum)

“Hardly a mail arrives from abroad but brings further enquiry for coffee lands and information as to area; how obtainable; situation; prices, etc., and the usual multitudinous questions pertaining thereto, all of which gives evidence of the readiness of foreign capital to come in and push forward the reviving industry with vigor.  (Thrum, 1892)

More than 140,000 Japanese came to Hawai‘i between 1885 and 1924, with 3-year labor contracts to work for the sugar plantations; when their contract expired, many decided that a different lifestyle suited them better.  Many moved to Kona to grow coffee.

By 1905, only a few large plantations were left. At first, they attempted to operate on a share-crop basis, but eventually the land was divided and leased to tenant farmers.  (Goto)

This trend was adopted by others, and 5+/- acre parcels were leased primarily to first-generation Japanese families. The downsizing revolutionized and rescued the Kona coffee industry. (Choy)

By the 1890s, the large Kona coffee plantations were broken into smaller (5+/- acres) family farms.  By 1915, tenant farmers, largely of Japanese descent, were cultivating most of the coffee.

The 1890s boom in coffee-growing in North Kona was encouraged by rising prices.  Although sugarcane plantations expanded with US annexation in 1898, coffee-growing grew in Kona because of its adaptability to land that was too rocky for sugarcane.

During the early coffee boom, Portuguese and then Japanese laborers had filtered into Kona.  As one coffee plantation after another gave up when coffee prices fell and sugar plantations became more attractive, these plantations were broken up into small parcels (3 to 5-acres) and leased to these laborers.

Many worked on the newly formed sugar plantations and worked their coffee orchards as side lines.  As the coffee prices remained low, the Portuguese abandoned the coffee orchards, and by 1910, the Japanese were about the only growers left to tend the coffee trees.    (NPS)

Coffee production was so important to the Kona community; in 1932, the local high school’s ‘summer’ vacation was shifted from the traditional Memorial Day to Labor Day (June-July-August) to August-September-October, “to meet the needs of the community, whose chief crop is coffee and most of which ripens during the fall months.” (It lasted until 1969.) (Ka Wena o Kona 1936; HABS)

At the turn of the last century there was coffee on all the major Hawaii islands.  By the 1930s there were more than 1,000 farms and, as late as the 1950s, there were 6,000-acres of coffee in Kona.  Today, there are about 700 coffee growers statewide, 600 of them on the Big Island.  (Hughes)

The Kona Coffee Cultural Festival (in its 44th year) starts today and runs through November 16, with activities held throughout West Hawaiʻi.

This Festival has created a cultural experience in Hawaiʻi that showcases Kona’s nearly 200-year coffee heritage, culinary delights and the working Kona coffee farmers who work to preserve, perpetuate and promote Kona’s famous harvest.

The image shows Hawaiʻi coffee.  In addition, I have added other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Summertime

In a lot of respects, with or without kids, school vacation schedules seem to set how we operate our lives.

Until the middle of the 19th century, Americans used the word vacation the way the English do, the time when teachers and students vacate the school premises and go off on their own.  (Siegel; NPR)

Summer … Memorial Day to Labor Day, right?  Well, maybe before, but why?

A first thought is the historic reason for the season of summer vacations is so kids can go work on the family farm.  There are a number of reasons summer vacation came about, but the farming calendar isn’t one of them.

There used to be two basic school schedules – one for urban areas and the other for rural communities.

In the past, urban schools ran year-round. For example, in 1842 New York City schools were in class for 248 days. Rural schools took the spring off to plant, and the autumn off to harvest. (The summer actually isn’t the busiest time in agriculture.)

Short school years with long vacations are not the norm in Europe, Asia, or South America. Children in most industrialized countries go to school more days per year and more hours per day than in America.

Rural schools typically had two terms: a winter term and a summer one, with spring and fall available for children to help with planting and harvesting. The school terms in rural schools were relatively short: 2-3 months each.  (Taylor)

In addition, in rural areas, the summer term was considered “weak.” The summer term in rural neighborhoods tended to be taught by young girls in their mid- to late-teens. On the other hand, schoolmasters, generally older males, taught the winter terms. Because of this, the summer terms were seen as academically weaker.  (Lieszkovszky; NPR)

It’s hot in the summer. The school buildings of the 19th-century weren’t air-conditioned. Heat during the summer months would often become unbearable.    (Lieszkovszky; NPR)

In 1841, Boston schools operated for 244-days while Philadelphia implemented a 251-day calendar. In the beginning of the 19th-century, large cities commonly had long school years, ranging from 251 to 260 days.  During this time, many of these rural schools were only open about 6-months out of the year.  (Pedersen)

In the 1840s, however, educational reformers like Horace Mann moved to merge the two calendars out of concern that rural schooling was insufficient and then-current medical theory and concerns over student health in the urban setting.

“(A) most pernicious influence on character and habits ... not infrequently is health itself destroyed by over-stimulating the mind.”  (Mann)

This concern over health seemed to have two parts.  As noted above, there was the concern that over-study would lead to ill-health, both mental and physical; the other concern was that schoolhouses were unhealthy in the summer (heat, ventilation, etc.)  (Taylor)

Attendance became another problem.  The city elite could afford to periodically leave town for cooler climates.  School officials, battling absenteeism, saw little advantage in opening schools on summer days or on holidays when many students wouldn’t show up. Pressure to standardize the school calendar across cities often led campuses to “the lowest common denominator” - less school.    (Mathews; LA Times)

In the second half of the 19th-century, school reformers who wanted to standardize the school year found themselves wanting to lengthen the rural school year and to shorten the urban school year, ultimately ending up by the early 20th-century with the modern school year of about 180 days.  (Taylor)

Summer emerged as the obvious time for a break: it offered a break for teachers, generally fit with the farming needs and alleviated physicians’ concerns that packing students into sweltering classrooms that would promote the spread of disease.  (Time)

While it’s clear historically that 3-month layoff from school was not based on farming needs – for most of the country – in Hawaiʻi there was a farm-based reason for the break from studies, at least from 1932 to 1969.

It happened in Kona.

By the 1890s, the large Kona coffee plantations were broken into smaller (5+/- acres) family farms.  By 1915, tenant farmers, largely of Japanese descent, were cultivating most of the coffee. Many hours were spent cleaning and weeding the land, pruning the trees, harvesting the crop, pulping the berries and drying them for the mills.

These were truly family farms.  “At that time, we used to work until dark. You see, no matter how young you were, you have to work. Before going to school, we pick one basket of coffee, then go to school. We come home from school and we pick another basket.” (Tsuruyo Kimura; hawaii-edu)

Konawaena was the regional school; it was first established as an elementary school, about 1875.  By 1917, they were pushing to get a Kona high school (at the time, Hilo High, established in 1905, was the only high school on the island.)

In 1920, the Territory acquired land for a new school and in 1921, the new Konawaena accommodated students up to the 9th-grade; classes through the senior year were added by the 1924-25 school year.

Konawaena means “the Center of Kona,” and it lived up to its name.  “Everything possible has been done to make the community feel that the school belongs to them. A Kona Baseball League has been organized and all league games are played on the school diamond” (Crawford, 1933; HABS)

The Kona area was observed as being “different socially from the rest of the Islands” (Crawford, 1933; HABS.)  Coffee farming was the main reason for the difference. This labor-intensive crop thrived best in the steep lava slopes of the Kona districts.

“The labor problem is one that will have to be seriously considered.  As coffee culture increases, the need of a greater supply of labor will be strongly felt, particularly at picking time. A large force is then needed for three or four months, after which, if coffee alone is cultivated, there is need only of a small part of the force required for picking.”  (Thrum)

These labor and  land factors meant a non-industrial, small-farm type of agriculture, very different from the industrial trends in the growing sugar and pineapple plantations that developed in other areas of the Islands.

The school went beyond recreational activities to accommodate the surrounding community.

In 1932, the school’s ‘summer’ vacation was shifted from the traditional Memorial Day to Labor Day (June-July-August) to August-September-October, “to meet the needs of the community, whose chief crop is coffee and most of which ripens during the fall months.” (Ka Wena o Kona 1936; HABS)

In 1935, the legislature recognized the ‘Konawaena Coffee Vacation Plan’ and passed legislation such that “The teachers of the Kona District … shall be paid, under such conditions as the Department of Public Instruction (now DOE) may require, their monthly accruing salaries during the months of September and October of each year during which such plan is in operation.”    (Session Laws, 1935)

This “coffee harvest” school schedule and the “coffee vacation” lasted until 1969 (Honolulu Star Bulletin 1969; HABS.)

And now, in Hawaiʻi and across the country, there are varying arrangements for school schedules and vacations.  Some areas have lost the 3-month layover; but most are trending with a total 180 to 200-days of instruction, with various schedules in arranging the breaks.

The image shows, reportedly, the old Konawaena School and coffee (Kona Historical.)  In addition, I have added other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Pāhoa

Early settlement patterns in the Islands put people on the windward sides of the islands, typically along the shoreline.  However, in Puna on the Island of Hawaiʻi, much of the district's coastal areas have thin soils and there are no good deep water harbors. The ocean along the Puna coast is often rough and windblown.

As a result, settlement patterns in Puna tend to be dispersed and without major population centers. Villages in Puna tended to be spread out over larger areas and often are inland, and away from the coast, where the soil is better for agriculture.  (Escott)

This was confirmed on William Ellis’ travel around the island in the early 1800s, “Hitherto we had travelled close to the sea-shore, in order to visit the most populous villages in the districts through which we had passed. But here receiving information that we should find more inhabitants a few miles inland, than nearer the sea, we thought it best to direct our course towards the mountains.”  (Ellis, 1823)

An historic trail once ran from the modern day Lili‘uokalani Gardens area in Hilo to Hāʻena along the Puna coast. The trail is often referred to as the old Puna Trail and/or Puna Road. There is an historic trail/cart road that is also called the Puna Trail (Ala Hele Puna) and/or the Old Government Road.

This path was essentially the main thoroughfare through the Puna district before the late-1800s.  Pāhoa was oʻioʻina (a resting place) on the trail.  (Papakilo)  Then it grew to become the principal town of lower Puna.

The evolving trail (first by foot, then by horse, cart and buggy, and finally by automobile) likely incorporated segments of the traditional Hawaiian trail system often referred to as the ala loa or ala hele.  (Rechtman)

The full length of the Puna Trail, or Old Government Road, might have been constructed or improved just before 1840. The alignment was mapped by the Wilkes Expedition of 1804-41.  (Escott)

People who traditionally had lived along the Puna coast were moving toward Hilo and into the more fertile upland areas of Puna in order to find paid work and to produce cash crops for local markets and for export.

The focus began to shift to the center of the Puna District and the developing sugar and related industries near ʻŌlaʻa, Hilo and the volcano region.

Before the turn of the century, railroad operations began – with lines running into Hilo. A main railroad line and several feeder lines were constructed in the early-1900s from Keaʻau to locations in lower Puna District.

The major line ran from Hilo through Keaʻau to the Kapoho area.  A branch line ran from the ʻŌlaʻa Sugar Mill up past present day Glenwood. A second branch line ran to Pāhoa town.

Some suggest this is how Pāhoa received its name.  “Then the train was put in from Hilo to Puna. One spur went up into Pāhoa; it was like a dagger into the forest. I‘m told this is how Pāhoa got its name. (Pāhoa means dagger.)”  (Edwards; Cultural Surveys)

People began to work in the inland areas to grow sugarcane. The new road, the Pāhoa branch of the railroad, sugarcane agriculture and a logging venture all combined to create Pāhoa as a population center in the region.  (Rechtman)

Macadamia nuts and papaya were introduced in 1881 and 1919; at the turn of the century, large-scale coffee cultivation was attempted.  Over 6,000-acres of coffee trees were owned by approximately 200-independent coffee planters.

This fledgling industry couldn‘t compete with more successful ventures located in other districts, and after a few decades the coffee industry in Puna was abandoned.  (Cultural Surveys, Rechtman)

By 1901, sugar dominated the island’s industry and landscape, and Hilo was the epicenter of production and export. Railroads connected sugar mills and sugar plantations in Hilo, the Hāmākua and Puna. The railroad also connected the mills to the wharves at Hilo Bay.

Early on, one of the major export items transported by the railroad was timber.  Starting in 1907, the Hawaiian Mahogany Company began cutting trees to clear land for sugarcane. The logs were brought to Pāhoa Town to be milled, then sent to Hilo Harbor and eventually shipped to the US Mainland as railroad ties for the Santa Fe Railroad.

The lumber mill facilities and the railroad line that served them were located near the center of town where the Akebono Theater is located.

In 1909, the company was renamed Pāhoa Lumber Company. In 1913, the main mill facilities were lost in a fire; it was rebuilt that year the company was renamed the Hawaiian Hardwood Company.

The company closed down in 1916 when the Santa Fe Railroad ended its contract to buy lumber. The defunct company then leased its mill facilities, buildings and railroad tracks to the expanding ʻŌlaʻa Sugar Company.  (Rechtman)

Today, Pāhoa Town has a main street – the former highway route before the construction of the by-pass road – that still retains much of the original street-wall of plantation-era structures, as well as some significant stand-alone buildings.

Most of the uses are commercial or civic.  The County has acquired a large tract of land within Pāhoa Town, which presents a significant opportunity for community revitalization and a possible catalyst for economic activity.  (Puna CDP)

The image shows Pahoa in 1920.  In addition, I have added others similar images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Mākaha

The ahupuaʻa of Mākaha, between Waiʻanae Ahupuaʻa to the southeast and Keaʻau Ahupua‘a to the northwest, extends from the coastline to the Waiʻanae Range.

Pukui noted Mākaha means “fierce;” Roger C. Green suggests it relates to “fierce or savage people” once inhabiting the valley.

Green refers to “…the ʻŌlohe people, skilled wrestlers and bone-breakers, by various accounts [who] lived in Mākaha, Mākua, and Keaʻau, where they often engaged in robbery of passing travelers.”  (Cultural Surveys)

Earliest accounts describe Mākaha as a good-sized inland settlement and a smaller coastal settlement.  These accounts correlate well with a sketch drawn by Bingham in 1826 depicting only six houses along the Mākaha coastline.

Green describes Mākaha’s coastal settlement as “…restricted to a hamlet in a small grove of coconut trees on the Keaʻau side of the valley, some other scattered houses, a few coconut trees along the beach, and a brackish water pool that served as a fish pond, at the mouth of the Mākaha Stream.” (Cultural Surveys)

This stream supported traditional wetland agriculture – kalo (taro) - in pre-contact and early historic periods

Supporting this, Māhele documents note Mākaha’s primary settlement was inland where waters from Mākaha Stream could support lo‘i and kula plantings. Although there is evidence for settlement along the shore, for the most part, this was limited to scattered, isolated residents.

A “cluster” of habitation structures was concentrated near Mākaha Beach, near the Keaʻau side of Mākaha where there is also reference to a fishpond.

John Papa ʻĪʻī described a network of Leeward O‘ahu trails, which in early historic times crossed the Waiʻanae Range, allowing passage from Central O‘ahu through Pōhākea Pass and Kolekole Pass.

The old coastal trail probably followed the natural contours of the topography. With the introduction of horses, cattle and wagons in the 19th century, many of the coastal trails were widened and graded to accommodate these new introductions.  The Pu‘u Kapolei trail gave access to the Waiʻanae district from Central O‘ahu, which evolved into the present day Farrington Highway.

Kuhoʻoheihei (Abner) Pākī, father of Bernice Pauahi, was given the entire ahupuaʻa of Mākaha by Liliha after her husband, Boki, disappeared in 1829.

In 1855, after Chief Pākī died, the administrators of his estate sold the Mākaha lands to James Robinson and Co. Later, in 1862, one of the partners, Owen Jones Holt, bought out the shares of the others.

The Holt family dominated the social, economic and land-use activities in Mākaha until the end of the 19th century. During the height of the Holt family presence, from about 1887 to 1899, the Holt Ranch raised horses, cattle, pigs, goats and peacocks.

Mākaha Coffee Company bought land for coffee cultivation in the Valley, although coffee never caught on. On Holt’s death in 1862, the lands went into trust for his children.

By 1895 the OR&L rail line reached Waiʻanae.  It then rounded Kaʻena Point to Mokuleʻia, eventually extending to Kahuku.  Another line was constructed through central O‘ahu to Wahiawa.

The Holt Ranch began selling off its land in the early-1900s.

In 1908, the Waiʻanae Sugar Company moved into Mākaha and by 1923, virtually all of lower Mākaha Valley was under sugar cane cultivation.  The plantation utilized large tracks of Lualualei, Waiʻanae and Mākaha Valley.

In the 1930s, Waiʻanae Plantation sold out to American Factors Ltd (Amfac.)  They started looking for a water source to increase production of the thirsty crop.  They tunneled for water; Glover Tunnel, named for the contractor, was 4,200-feet long and had a daily water capacity of 700,000-gallons. The water made available was mainly used for the irrigation of sugar.

For a half century, Mākaha was predominantly sugarcane fields.  However, by the middle of the century, the operations were no longer profitable and the plantation started to liquidate.

In 1946, the Dillinghams announced that they were discontinuing rail service, citing decline in tonnage, rising labor costs and tsunami damage in the system. On October 17, 1946 the stockholders of American Factors (owners of the Waiʻanae Sugar Company) voted to liquidate.

Chinn Ho’s Capital Investment Corporation bought the Mākaha lands and looked to resort development in the Valley.  He envisioned a travel destination that would be the next Kaʻānapali or even Waikiki, with golf courses, condominiums and hotels.

When the Mākaha big surf break was discovered and the eventual Mākaha International Surfing Championship was underway, tourists starting coming to Waiʻanae in the 1950s, as pioneer surfers made Mākaha Beach famous.

In 1969, the Mākaha Resort was built, including Mākaha Inn and Country Club, with an 18-hole course with tennis courts, restaurant and other golf facilities was opened for local and tourist use.

Over the decades, the resort has had several starts and stops, as well as a number of transfers of ownership.  Recent reports note the hotel is in foreclosure and closed, however, golf is open for play on the Valley’s two courses.

The image shows a portion of Mākaha Valley.  In addition, I have added other images and maps in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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© 2013 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Kona Coffee Living History Farm

The Kona Coffee Living History Farm (on the former Uchida Coffee Farm) is a 5.5-acre historic coffee farm, first homesteaded in 1900, and is the only living history coffee farm in the nation.

The Uchida Coffee Farm is an intact example of the lifestyle of early Kona Coffee farmers, many of whom were Japanese and brought Japanese customs and culture to Hawai‘i.

Don Francisco de Paula y Marin recorded in his journal, dated January 21, 1813, that he had planted coffee seedlings on the island of Oʻahu.  The British warship H.M.S. Blonde brought coffee trees, to Hawaii, from Brazil in 1825.

Coffee was planted in Mānoa Valley on O‘ahu, and from a small field, trees were introduced to other areas of O‘ahu and neighbor islands.

Reverend Samuel Ruggles moved trees to Captain Cook, Kona in 1828.  Hanalei Valley on the North Shore of Kaua‘i was home to the first coffee plantation.

Between 1868 and 1924, more than 140,000 Japanese came to Hawai‘i with 3-year labor contracts to work for the sugar plantations and, when their contract expired, many decided that a different lifestyle suited them better.

The 1890s boom in coffee-growing in North Kona was encouraged by rising prices.  Although sugarcane plantations expanded with US annexation in 1898, coffee-growing grew in Kona because of its adaptability to land that was too rocky for sugarcane.

During the early coffee boom, Portuguese and then Japanese laborers had filtered into Kona.  As one coffee plantation after another gave up when coffee prices fell and sugar plantations became more attractive, these plantations were broken up into small parcels (3 to 5-acres) and leased to these laborers.

Many worked on the newly formed sugar plantations and worked their coffee orchards as side lines.  As the coffee prices remained low, the Portuguese abandoned the coffee orchards, and by 1910, the Japanese were about the only growers left to tend the coffee trees.

By the 1930s there were more than 1,000 farms and, as late as the 1950s, there were 6,000-acres of coffee in Kona.

At the turn of the last century there was coffee on all the major Hawaii islands, and now 100 years later, there is once again coffee on all the major islands.

The Uchida Coffee Farm illustrates the development of small-scale coffee farming facilities along the Kona coffee belt of the Big Island, now considered a world class coffee.

It serves as an intact example of the structures that typify the coffee farm lifestyle and technology used in the 1900-1950s by Japanese coffee farmers in Kona.

The house is an excellent example of architecture adapted to the climate and needs of a particular family; it demonstrates some of the influences Japanese culture and tradition has had on Hawai‘i's architecture.

The “Living History Farm” brings the coffee pioneer’s story to life by depicting the daily lives of early Japanese immigrants during the period of 1920-1945.

Electricity was installed just before the war in the early-1940s and hot running water wasn't established until the late-1960s, when the modern bathroom was added.  There was never a shower or bath tub, the furo was used.

Although the family did use a gas stove in the last years at the farm, the stone fireplaces, used up until recently for rice and wok cooking, are still in place.

The Farm museum, operated by the Kona Historical Society, is open for tours and 100% Kona coffee sales Monday - Thursday, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm.  There is a small fee for the tour.  Please call for special group arrangements: (808) 323-2006 or email at coffeefarm@konahistorical.org.

Living history gives visitors an opportunity to experience history “brought to life” by costumed interpreters who demonstrate traditional crafts, agricultural activities and the everyday tasks of people from the past.

Visitors may walk through the coffee and macadamia nut orchards, tour the historic farmhouse, talk story with the interpreters and visit with the donkey and chickens.

               

The Kona Historical Society is raising money to expand its award-winning Kona Coffee Living History Farm.  The money raised will be used to create a permanent exhibit space for “The Kona Coffee Story: Along the Hawai`i Belt Road.”

The image shows the mill on the Uchida Farm; in addition, I have included other images on Kona Coffee in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page.

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