Looking at this Koloa Sugar Mill today it is hard to believe that 18 years ago it was in full production and is a testament to how quickly b...
Looking at this Koloa Sugar Mill today it is hard to believe that 18 years ago it was in full production and is a testament to how quickly buildings can be consumed by the environment here. What was to later become Koloa Plantation, life started as the firm of Brinsmade, Ladd and Hooper. Arriving on Kauai on July 27, 1833, on the Brig Velocity, Peter Allan Brinsmade, was 25 and accompanied by his wife and child; William Ladd, 26, with his wife and child, and William Hooper, 24, was single. The first two were from Hallowell, Maine, and Hooper from Boston, Massachusetts. The name of the firm was changed in 1835 to Ladd & Company, and ran the plantation for 12 years. In addition to the enterprise at Koloa, Kauai, the company ran a profitable mercantile operation in Honolulu. A 30-foot stone and brick smoke stack and partial foundation is all that remains of the original Ladd & Co Sugar Mill Before 1833, life in Hawaii had changed very little since the Polynesians first made their way to the islands. Some foreigners (i.e. former whalers, missionaries, and so forth) had set up residence. For the most part, their influence was minimal. In 1833, the three men from the Eastern United States formed a mercantile trade company in Honolulu called Ladd & Co. These three would set in motion events that would change Hawaii forever. Prior to 1835, most sugar cane grew wildly in the islands. Production sites were small and were run by families and tribes. On 13 September 1835, Ladd & Co., began the first major Hawaiian sugar plantation. Hooper, Brinsdale, and Ladd managed to do something that no one else had previously done in Hawaii. With the help of missionary settlers, they obtained the first major land lease in Hawaiian history. The lease comprised 980 acres in Koloa, Kauai, which was set aside for sugar cane production. The lease ran 50 years at $300 a year. The missionaries were bent on making farmers of the Hawaiian natives. Ladd & Co. fell nicely into those plans. By employing Hawaiian natives, they would be teaching them the skills missionaries felt were so necessary. Koloa was seen as the perfect place for a sugar plantation. Wild cane already grew in Koloa so they knew it could be cultivated there. The land was fertile and the area got plenty of rain. These were the right conditions for major sugar cane production. Less
