Waialua Sugar Co. ceased operations after 98 years on Friday, October 4, 1996. The closure marked the end of sugar on the island of O'ahu. This was certainly a sad time for our little sugar town of Waialua. Many of our student's parents worked for Waialua Sugar Co. It's a time of uncertainty for our sugar town. What will happen now? How will our school be affected?
It's a sad sight as the end of the tournahauler parade heads for the mill. Aloha and goodbye Waialua Sugar Co. :(
Here you see the smokestack of the original Waialua Sugar Mill build in the late 1800's. This site sits in the fields below Hukilau Loop.
Correction to the above info. The above stack was associated with a boiler house to power irrigation pumps at the site. Thanks to Doug, Project Engineer of Clayton Group Services, Inc. for providing me with the correct information he obtained from the Dole Co.
Update 01/07/01
The Dole Company has taken over the Waialua Sugar Company and is working hard to make the various crops they are growing to become a success. It is a difficult process though. Is there a market for their products? Can they compete with products from other countries? Dole has also had unnecessary bad luck hit by vandals who destroyed their machinery and crops. Our poor little Waialua town needs the cooperation of everyone to survive. If Dole can't make it because of a few selfish individuals Waialua may slowly become a ghost town. Let's not have more businesses disappear like our old Fujioka Store seeing below.
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