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HC&S History- The Beginning
CONTENTS:The Beginning
The Big Ditch
HC&S
Drip Irrigation
Energy, Environment
EMI
Historical Evolution
All photos click to enlarge
The Beginning
Land. Water. Perhaps no more striking juncture of these two worlds exists than in Hawaii. More distant from the world's continents than any other islands, Hawaii has for centuries caught the imagination of man: first from the far corners of Polynesia and, since Captain Cook's "discovery" in 1778, from around the entire world.
This is the story of how a company, born 130 years ago in the partnership of two young men, cultivated Hawaii's land and mastered the water - both rainfall and ocean - to become one of America's leaders in agriculture, ocean transportation, and land stewardship and development. It is also the story of that company's growth, in tandem with the communities it serves, and the benefits this brought both to the company and to the people of Hawaii.
They met in Lahaina, Maui in 1843, two sons of missionaries who would become the founders of Alexander & Baldwin - A&B. Samuel Thomas Alexander, age 7, had just moved there with his family from Hanalei, Kauai, so that his father could run Lahainaluna School. Henry Perrine Baldwin, always a "Maui boy," was born August 29, 1842 in Lahaina.
Together the two boys grew up under the warm, stimulating influence of the bustling whaling port of Lahaina. They were similar in character - intelligent and energetic - yet different enough to make their future partnership a dynamic one.
Alexander was the more outgoing and adventurous of the two. He would become the idea man - and the one who usually raised the necessary money. Baldwin was more reserved. He would assume the role of "doer," the partner who would see projects conceived by Alexander through to completion. And he would become the first "head of the house" of Alexander & Baldwin.
As the two boys grew, life took them in different directions for a while. Alexander went twice to the mainland, first to California to work in farming and gold mining, and then to New England to attend college. Baldwin stayed behind and, in 1863, began working for his brother raising sugar cane in Lahaina. By this time, Alexander had returned to Maui to teach. A sugar cane and banana growing project with his students brought him the offer of a job as manager of the sugar plantation at Waihee, near Wailuku. He soon hired Baldwin as his assistant, beginning a lifelong working relationship.
By 1869 the young men - Alexander was 33, Baldwin, 27 - were ready to launch their own business. While still working at Waihee, they jointly invested in 12 acres of land some distance away, in the area between Paia and Makawao. This they quickly augmented with the purchase of an additional 559 acres, and in 1870 the partners planted sugar cane on their land - a venture that marked the birth of what would become A&B.
The year 1870 also witnessed a further strengthening of the bond between the two men. Baldwin married Alexander's sister, Emily. The couple would eventually have eight children. From among them - and Alexander's five children - and their spouses and descendants - would come many individuals who, in their time, would play key roles in the business of A&B.
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