About Us:
Lihue Plantation, founded in 1849, was one of the oldest sugar plantations in Hawaii. The original investors were Henry Pierce, a Boston businessman, William Little Lee, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Hawaiian Kingdom, and Charles Reed Bishop, founder of Bishop Bank and husband to Bernice Pauahi, noblest of Hawaii's alii. Lihue Plantation was one of the best financed, most expensive and most modern sugar company's in Hawaii.
Sugar is a thirsty crop, It takes approximately 500 gallons of water to produce one pound of sugar. It also takes 1,000,000 gallons of water per day to irrigate 100 acres of sugar cane. Thus, Kaua'i with its abundance of natural resources; land, sun and most importantly, water, was ideal for growing cane. Mount Wai'ale'ale(rippling waters)and Mount Kawaikini(waters or multitude), some of the wettest spots on earth provided enough water to meet the high demand that cane had for water.
In order to tap into Kaua'i's natural water resources, Lihue Plantation had to develop methods of carrying the water from the mountains to the cane fields that stretched, in some cases, all the way to the ocean. Hence, in 1856, Hawaii's landmark ditch, the Rice Ditch, was pioneered on Lihue Plantation by William Harrison Rice. It was the first irrigation ditch project in Hawaii and although it was not the success it might have been, planters no longer had to look for perfect conditions, now they could create them.
