Wai Pahū

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First, a bit of history.  "Waipahu" comes from two Hawaiian words: "Wai" meaning water; "Pahū" meaning gushing.  It was named in honor of the natural springs still present today.  

In 1899, the Oahu Sugar Company harvested its first crop of sugar cane.  At the time the company started, the town was a Native Hawaiian village called Aualii.  This was renamed Waipahu.

 
Waipahu became a sugar plantation town, with some German and Native Hawaiian workers joined by those from the Philippines, Japan, China, Portugal, and Norway.
 
 For my friends on the contiguous states, the word "plantation" means something different than in Hawai'i.
 
As production decreased and eventually closed, the town transitioned into what it is today.  
 
This blog will focus mostly on today's Waipahu.  
 
Still, as we will see, the history of this community is present everywhere.  The last photo shows the YMCA in Waipahu, which has repurposed some of the old sugar refining buildings. 
 
YMCA — Constructors Hawaii Inc. | Honolulu-Based General Contractors  










 

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