Hamakuapoko

Hawaii · United States · School

A sugar town between Paia and Haiku, with the mansions of the planters. All of it is gone except the old high school, now a research station.

Hamakuapoko on Maui was a land division and then a plantation town, between Paia and Haiku, complete with the houses the sugar men built for themselves.

All of it has been razed. The only structure left is the former Maui High School, now used as a research facility.

Those who know this coast say the area holds great power, and that is the phrasing they use rather than anything borrowed from the mainland.

That distinction matters. Hawaiian tradition has its own long established understanding of place, of ancestors and of ground that should be approached in a particular way, and it is not a version of American ghost lore. It predates the plantations by many centuries.

The sugar industry that built and then abandoned this town brought in labourers from Japan, China, Portugal, Puerto Rico and the Philippines, and their descendants are Maui.

The land is a mix of private property and agricultural land.

FAQ

Where is Hamakuapoko located?

Hamakuapoko is in Hawaii, United States.