The History of Hana

The origin of Hāna as a community is enveloped by the mists of ancient Polynesian song and story. Safe anchorage for canoes, fertile soil and good fishing made it a natural haven for early Pacific navigators. While accessible by sea, however, Hana was isolated from the rest of Maui until 1927, when the completion of a gravel road from Kahului finally made it accessible by land. 

Hana is associated with Kamehameha I, who united the Hawaiian Islands into one kingdom in 1810 and ruled until his death in 1819. In 1778, with Maui Chief Kalaniopu'u, young Kamehameha I went from Wailua (north of Hana) in a canoe with gifts of fruits, fresh taro and fat pigs. They went to welcome the strange new visitors, whose ships were mistakenly thought to have been the floating heiau (temples) of the Hawaiian god Lono. What a surprise the arrival must have been – the fair-skinned leader, who was in fact Captain James Cook of His British Majesty's Royal Navy, atop his massive sailing ship, the Resolution, whose crew smoked cigarettes and wore clothing with pockets – none of this ever seen before in Hawai'i!

But this historic encounter was not the only one linking Kamehameha I to Hana, for the King's future wife, Ka'ahumanu, was born in a cave at the foot of Ka'uiki Hill. Today near the lighthouse at Kapueokahi (Hana Bay), this cave is marked with a plaque. It was also here, when Ka'ahumanu was a girl, that Kamehameha I as a dashing young military aide fought one of many battles as he pursued the final conquest of all the islands.

Ka'ahumanu became arguably one of Hawai'i's most influential women. She served as Kuhina Nui (Regent) for her husband Kamehameha I and also his sons when they became King, Kamehameha II and Kamehameha III. She became a devout Christian and was largely responsible for allowing the missionaries to set up churches throughout Hawai'i. The first New England missionaries arrived in Hana in the early 1820’s.

Soon after, the people of Hana first planted sugar cane on the present Hotel Hana-Maui and Hana Ranch grounds. The district's rich stretches of lava soil supported some of Hawai'i's earliest cane lands. As early as 1837, explorers found sugar cane growing in Hāna's woods, providing food for the Hawaiians and offerings to the shark god, Mano. 

Begun before 1850, the Hana Plantation became the mainstay of the isolated community. The first Hana Plantation started with a grass shack and a mill operated by four yoke of oxen. As the plantation brought in better equipment, Hana's native school children would run to watch the mill, and barefoot boys would eagerly await their turn to operate the new centrifugal machine.

In following years, the Plantation changed hands and names. Other plantations were started in the vicinity, and later all were consolidated as The Ka'eleku Sugar Company.

Remains of Hana's plantation past can still be seen. The original part of Hana General Store, built in 1930, stands opposite the hotel and currently houses the hotel laundry. Near Hamoa are ruins of an early sugar warehouse. Many of its huge sugar-boiling pots, dating from the early days, now decorate the hotel's entrance gardens.

In 1944, Paul I. Fagan, a retired San Francisco industrialist, purchased the sugar plantation and founded Hana Ranch. Vast areas of the countryside, once covered in sugar cane, were converted to ranch lands for the large, white-faced Hereford beef cattle that have become so vital to the economy. 

Hana's reputation as a romantic hideaway began in 1946, when Paul Fagan established the forerunner to Hotel Hana-Maui, the six-room Ka'uiki Inn. Later known as the Hana Ranch Hotel, the inn expanded over the years, winning recognition as Hawai'i's first bona fide neighbor island resort. Beloved by visitors seeking its unique blend of solitude and natural hospitality, the hotel built a loyal clientele over the years. Today regular guests who return annually include second-, third-, fourth- and even fifth-generation members of families that enjoyed its charm over 50 years ago. Continuity is also reflected in other ways, since both Hana Ranch and the hotel are staffed almost exclusively with employees who were born and raised in Hana, many of whose parents and grandparents also worked with the hotel.

More than a place, Hana is a state of mind, blending past and present, where the old Hawaii that has charmed visitors for generations can be shared by all.