Kapalua Resort honors its plantation heritage by reaching to its past for inspiration. A sense of wellness and sustainability permeates everyday life, illustrated by eco-friendly development practices, pristine natural beauty and holistic farming.
The Evolution of Kapalua Resort
In the beginning, all Hawaiian lands were divided into ahupua‘a, pie slices going from forest to sea, giving each person access to various elevations for different crops, and an outlet to the ocean for fishing. The seven ahupua‘a of Honolua, Honokahua, Honokowai, Honokohau, Kahana, Mahinahina and Mailepai, with their perfect bays and beaches, later were joined to form Honolua Ranch, and what is now known as Kapalua Resort.
Its modern history began in 1836 when Dr. Dwight Baldwin came to Hawaii and settled on Maui. After 17 years of serving the land and people, he was rewarded a royal grant of 2,675 acres, the lands of the Mahinahina and Kahana ahupua‘a, for farming and grazing. Through additional grants, purchases, and mergers, the land known as Honolua Ranch grew to 24,000 acres by 1902.
Between 1889 and 1902, Dwight's son, Henry Perrine Baldwin, tapped the area's rich agricultural potential with the help of a Scotsman named David Thomas Fleming, an avid horticulturist. They planted acres of coffee, taro, aloe and mango. It was Fleming who planted the majestic Cook and Norfolk pines along Kapalua's roads.
In 1912, Fleming and H.P. Baldwin's son, Harry, planted the first 20 acres of pineapple fields. Over the next three decades, the Honolua Ranch became Honolua Plantation.
In 1932, Maui Pineapple Company was founded and headed by J. Walter Cameron, husband to H.P. Baldwin's granddaughter, Frances. Their son, Colin Cameron, envisioned Kapalua Resort and created the enduring legacy of Pu‘u Kukui Preserve, backdrop to Kapalua Resort, and home to plants and animals found nowhere else on the planet.
Colin Cameron and Maui Land & Pineapple granted nearly 9,000 acres of West Maui to The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii in 1992, creating the largest privately owned nature preserve in the state.
Today, more than a century after Henry Perrine Baldwin cast his eyes on Honolua, Kapalua Resort and Maui Land & Pineapple Company continue to change and grow, looking to the future while embracing and honoring Hawaiian heritage.
