Comm 25-020 re Sugg. 25-01 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Comm. 25-020 The 1889 description contrasts with Ellis' in which he documented a small village in the area of the project just sixty-six years earlier. The 1889 description suggests a depopulation along the majority of the Puna near -coastal area- In both descriptions, the people in this area appear to have lived somewhat inland, between the coast and the inland gardens. In 1889 people were cultivating small patches of kale, mva, and coffee as well as other food items in the inland gardens. The patches were placed in pockets of soil in holes amidst the lava flows. Additionally, sweet potatoes were grown on rock mounds. By 1889, it appears that very few people lived along the Old Government Road ( Maly 1999:6). The Surveyor General stated, The old sea coast road cannot be kept in repair with the means now at its disposal and its condition each year is becoming more unsafe and ruinous. there is but little travel over it; it has been shown that there is little land capable of cultivation or development either side of it and whatever travel there is now over it would soon be entirely diverted to the upper road (Alexander 1891, cited in Maly 1999:107). The new road being constructed from Hilo through Kea'au to Pahoa was designed to allow access to the more arable inland areas. People who traditionally had lived along the Puna coast were moving toward Hilo and into the more fertile upland areas of Puna in order to find paid work and to produce cash crops for local markets and for export. In particular, people began to work in the inland areas to grow sugarcane. SUGARCANE AND THE RAILROAD By 1901 sugar dominated the island's industry, and Hilo was the epicenter of production and export. Railroads connected sugar mills and sugar plantations in Hilo, the I Iamakua and Puna. The railroad also connected the mills to the wharves at I Lilo Bay. The railroad began operation in the Hilo area in 1899, and was abandoned in 1946 (Kelly et al. 1981). A main railroad line and several feeder lines were constructed in the early 1900s from Kca'au to locations in lower Puna District. The major line ran from Hilo through Kea'au to the Kapoho area. This line passed some distance marika (south) of the current project area (Figure 7). The junction of the I Lilo to Kapoho line and the Pahoa branch was located in Waiakahiula Ahupua'a (sec Figure 7). The trains provided transportation for sugarcane as well as for passengers traveling through Puna and on to other destinations such as I Lilo and the I lamakua coast. 14