Spreckelsville, Hawaii
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Spreckelsville is an
unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
on the northern coast of the island of Maui in the U.S. state of
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
.


Geography

It lies to the west of Paia and to the east of
Kahului Airport Kahului Airport is the main airport of Maui in the State of Hawaii, United States, located east of Kahului. It has offered full airport operations since 1952. Most flights into Kahului Airport originate from Daniel K. Inouye International Ai ...
. It is the home of the Maui Country Club. , the population was 461.


Climate

Spreckelsville has a tropical rainforest climate, also known as an equatorial climate, is a tropical climate usually (but not always) found along the equator. Tropical rainforest climate is a type of tropical climate in which there is no dry season - all months have mean precipitation values of at least 60 mm (2.36 in). Tropical rainforest climates have no pronounced summer or winter; it is typically hot and wet throughout the year and rainfall is both heavy and frequent. One day in an equatorial climate can be very similar to the next, while the change in temperature between day and night may be larger than the average change in temperature between "summer" and "winter". The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Af". (Tropical Rainforest Climate). The average amount of precipitation for the year in Spreckelsville is 22.6" (574 mm). The month with the most precipitation on average is January with 4.0" (101.6 mm) of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is June with an average of 0.4" (10.2 mm). There are an average of 112.0 days of precipitation, with the most precipitation occurring in March with 13.0 days and the least precipitation occurring in June with 6.0 days. http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather-summary.php3?s=886815&cityname=Spreckelsville%2C+Hawaii%2C+United+States+of+America&units=


History

Spreckelsville was founded in 1878 as a company town by German-American businessman
Claus Spreckels Adolph Claus J. Spreckels (July 9, 1828 – December 26, 1908) (his last name has also been misspelled as Spreckles) was a major industrialist in Hawai'i during the kingdom, republican and territorial periods of the islands' history. He also i ...
, who later founded the
Spreckels Sugar Company The Spreckels Sugar Company is an American sugar beet refiner that for many years controlled much of the U.S. West Coast refined sugar market. It is currently headquartered in Brawley, California. History The Spreckels Sugar Company was founded b ...
. Spreckels already ran the most successful sugar refinery in California. He arrived in Maui in 1876 after the passage of the
Reciprocity Treaty of 1875 The Treaty of reciprocity between the United States of America and the Hawaiian Kingdom ( Hawaiian: ''Kuʻikahi Pānaʻi Like'') was a free trade agreement signed and ratified in 1875 that is generally known as the Reciprocity Treaty of 1875. T ...
, which gave freer access to market for sugar exported to the United States. Spreckels initially opposed the treaty, fearing that low tariffs on sugar would be detrimental to his business. After its passage, he resolved to establish his own plantations instead. At the time, his rivals
Henry Perrine Baldwin Henry Perrine Baldwin (August 29, 1842 – July 8, 1911) was a businessman and politician on Maui in the Hawaiian Islands. He supervised the construction of the East Maui Irrigation System and co-founded Alexander & Baldwin, one of the " Big Fiv ...
and
Samuel Thomas Alexander Samuel Thomas Alexander (October 29, 1836 – September 10, 1904) co-founded a major agricultural and transportation business in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Early life In November 1831, the Reverend William Patterson Alexander (1805–1884) and Mary A ...
were building the Hamakua ditch to irrigate their plantation in nearby Haliimaile. Spreckels intended to compete with them, but had neither any land nor any water rights. Spreckels was able to purchase and lease of land and became friends with Walter M. Gibson, adviser to King
Kalākaua Kalākaua (David Laʻamea Kamananakapu Mahinulani Naloiaehuokalani Lumialani Kalākaua; November 16, 1836 – January 20, 1891), sometimes called The Merrie Monarch, was the last king and penultimate monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, ...
. Together, they made arrangements where Spreckels would loan the king money and in return, he and Gibson would increase the Spreckels' land holdings. Furthermore, the king had the Hawaiian legislature grant use of royal lands in fee. The royal government initially denied Spreckels' request for water rights, but Kalākaua dismissed his ministers and replaced them with others who would obey his orders. Spreckels then made a financial gift and loan to the government in return for water rights for 30 years. These political machinations on his behalf earned Spreckels the nicknames "the sugar king of Hawaii" and "His Royal Saccharinity". He was also granted the rights to the Hamakua ditch if Baldwin and Alexander could not complete it on schedule (they did). Spreckels then incorporated the Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company (HC&S) with
Hermann Schussler Hermann Schüssler or Schussler (August 4, 1842 – April 27, 1919) was a German civil engineer and designer of dams, famous for designing the Crystal Springs Dam and Comstock water system. Early years Hermann Schussler was born in what is ...
, chief engineer of California's Spring Valley Water Works, and others, which joined the " Big Five" to become one of the most powerful entities in Hawaii. The HC&S built the "Haiku ditch" to deliver gallons ( liters) of water over daily to his plantation lands, crossing ravines several hundred feet deep, surpassing the Hamakua ditch in volume and scope. Other technological advancements included using electric lighting to allow the plant to operate deep into the night, construction of a sugar mill that was capable of processing of sugar per hour, and being the first plantation to use
rail Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' ( ...
to transport sugarcane from the fields to the mill. The Haiku ditch, the Hamakua ditch, and the Lowrie ditch (built in 1900 for the plantation) are part of the East Maui Irrigation System, which has been recognized as a Historical Civil Engineering Landmark by the
American Society of Civil Engineers American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
. By 1892, Spreckelsville was the largest sugarcane
plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
in the world, and employed thousands of immigrant farm laborers from Japan, Korea, China, and other countries, who often lived in squalid conditions. These camps no longer exist and the land they were on has been reclaimed for sugar crops. However, Spreckels began suffering setbacks after falling out of Kalākaua's favor in 1886. Besides
Alexander & Baldwin Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. is an American company that was once part of the Big Five companies in territorial Hawaii. The company currently operates businesses in real estate, land operations, and materials and construction. It was also the last ...
(A&B), the HC&S faced new competition from the
California and Hawaiian Sugar Company California and Hawaiian Sugar Company (C&H Sugar) is an American sugar processing and distribution company. Originally organized as a co-operative in 1921, it encountered a severe decline in sugar markets and passed through a series of owners in ...
, which grew to become one of largest sugar refineries in the world. Other problems included deterioration of the Spreckelsville facilities and the annexation of Hawaii by the United States, which brought an end to contract laborers. A&B then gained control of the HC&S in 1898, forcing Spreckels out. Eventually, A&B sold off the desirable coastal lands to
real estate developers Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to others. R ...
, and those houses and vacation rentals are the ones that now make up the community.


Beaches

Spreckelsville Beach is the historic name for approximately in length from Kanaha Beach Park on the west in
Kahului Kahului () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Maui County in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It hosts the county's main airport (Kahului Airport), deep-draft harbor, light industrial areas, and commercial shopping centers. The population was 26,337 ...
to Maui Country Club on the east. The beach is not one continuous stretch of sand, but is broken up into sections by lava, boulders, and groins. The different sections of the beach are now known by separate names. From west to east, they are: * Camp One () is named after one of the sugarcane plantation camps and is located at the westernmost end of Spreckelsville Beach at the end of the Kahului Airport runway. As a result, the
Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...
has banned
kitesurfing Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, or snow surface. It combines aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and wak ...
in this location. It is also where a small number of Maui's homeless population lives. Beachgoers can reach Camp One via an access road off the western end of Stable Rd. * Sprecks Beach () is popular among European
windsurfers Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...
, and as such is also known as Euro Beach. There is a small area where cars may be parked at the end of a dirt road leading from Stable Rd. * Lobster Cove () is only publicly accessible by foot from Sprecks Beach or Sugar Cove. * Sugar Cove () is fronted by private condominiums, but there is a public access path with limited parking at the end of Paani Place. * Baby Beach () was an ancient Hawaiian burial site. It is separated from the rest of Spreckelsville Beach by shoreline features and thus is generally now considered to be distinct from it. In fact, it is the western end of a one-mile (1.6 km) portion of beach that stretches to Baldwin Beach Park in Paia. An exposed reef creates a lagoon that makes the beach popular with families. It is served by a parking area at the end of Kealaka Place.


Footnotes


References


External links

*
Map of the East Maui Irrigation System
(PDF), Hawaii State Department of Agriculture {{Authority control Populated places on Maui Unincorporated communities in Maui County, Hawaii Unincorporated communities in Hawaii Populated places established in 1878 1878 establishments in Hawaii Company towns in Hawaii