LIHU‘E — In the middle of the old Kona district of Kaua‘i, a huge cinder cone rises above the plain. It became a sacred spot dedicated to Lono, guardian of the natural element of rain, clouds, new growth and agriculture.
LIHU‘E — In the middle of the old Kona district of Kaua‘i, a
huge cinder cone rises above the plain.
It became a sacred spot dedicated to Lono, guardian of the
natural element of rain, clouds, new growth and agriculture.
Editor’s note: On Dec. 3, the Kaua‘i Museum celebrates its 50th anniversary. Museum leaders have chosen 50 stories from exhibits, collections and archives of the museum to share with the public. One story will run daily through Dec. 3.
LIHU‘E — In the middle of the old Kona district of Kaua‘i, a huge cinder cone rises above the plain.
It became a sacred spot dedicated to Lono, guardian of the natural element of rain, clouds, new growth and agriculture.
The ancient Hawaiians set up a beacon on the top for seafarers.
Its name, Kukuiolono, translates to “Light of Lono.”
The heiau (temple) there was one of the largest on Kaua‘i.
The ‘anu‘u (prayer) tower’s white tapa sides could be seen from far out at sea during the day, and bonfires at night aided seafarers.
It seems somehow appropriate that, of all the entrepreneurs on Kaua‘i, it became the property of Walter McBryde.
In 1906 McBryde founded the Kaua‘i Fruit and Land Company with a pineapple cannery in Lawa‘i.
He proposed a homesteading scheme using a large tract of land in the upper Kalaheo area that had been held in long lease by the McBryde plantation; the one that his mother helped found and in which he was a major stockholder.
He arranged to have this mauka land turned over to the territorial government with the agreement that it must be given out to homesteaders made up of real agriculturists, not to those who would just sublease the land or, worse, land speculators that would let the land stay fallow.
McBryde held to the belief that real farmers were needed to make the farming concept work.
This was not a popular position in 1906.
Overnight there was a hui (investment group) of professional people from Koloa willing to purchase the homestead lots.
They claimed McBryde’s ragtag group of plantation laborers were under-capitalized and many not even citizens.
Barbs were traded back and forth and the name-calling went all the way up to the governor.
Eventually McBryde won out and he garnered the farmers he envisioned for his Kaua‘i Pineapple Company.
The success allowed more land in Lawa‘i and ‘Oma‘o to be auctioned off to pineapple farmers.
In 1907 McBryde purchased 346 acres of land at public auction, including Kukuiolono.
The property was entailed with the directive that a certain number of trees needed to be planted, and he had a nursery with ironwood, eucalyptus and other exotic trees for those who needed them.
At the time reforestation was in full swing in the territorial government.
From his nursery came the trees for the famous tree tunnel (Maluhia Road) at Knudsen’s Gap.
Meanwhile, McBryde developed his property into a major showcase with a nine-hole golf course and gardens with many beautiful features including a Japanese garden and legendary Hawaiian stones found in area cane and pineapple fields.
The stone entrance gates were constructed in 1926 to honor his mother, Elizabeth McBryde.
In 1930, Walter McBryde died in his home at Kukuiolono at the age of 66.
He had created an irrevocable trust of his 346 acres of land and a considerable sum of money to be used as a recreation area to benefit the public regardless of race or creed for all times.
That area includes Kukuiolono Golf Course, still a nine-hole layout with magnificent views of Ni‘ihau and the South Shore.
