The Story of Koloa: A Kauai Plantation Town

For the first time ever, the fascinating stories of Koloa, a tiny town of the south shore of Kaua‘i, are recorded as a complete written history. As the site of first contact between the Hawaiians and Captain Cook, Koloa played a monumental role in Hawai‘i’s history. Missionaries arrived in Koloa in 1835, the same year that the first sugar plantation in the Islands was built there. In the decades that followed, the face of this tiny town was forever changed as plantation workers from around the world migrated to Koloa and made their homes there.

The fading oral histories of many Koloa elders are recorded in this invaluable resource, along with early written accounts—including diaries and personal letters—by the first sailors, missionaries, and plantation workers to visit Koloa centuries ago. The last chapter also provides readers with a present-day tour of the historical sites of Koloa and Po‘ipu. Illustrated by early and contemporary photographs of Kaua‘i’s people and places, along with some of the first maps of the area, the history of this tiny town is brought to life.