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Location
Spreckelsville is seven minutes past Kahului on Hana Highway
on the way to Hana.
Information & History
A wealthier and more famous
German fortune seeker in Hawai'i was Claus Spreckles, a
California sugar refiner, who found his business greatly
threatened by the Kingdom of Hawai'i's reciprocity treaty
with the United States signed in 1876. The treaty allowed
Hawaiian sugar to come into the U.S. duty free and cut
Spreckles' profits.
Rather than fight the treaty, Spreckles sailed to Hawai'i
aboard the City of San Francisco immediately and purchased
half of the sugar crop of 1877 just before its value
skyrocketed. Between 1878 and 1882 the sugar baron enhanced
his Hawai'i fortunes with the outright purchase of 41,000
acres in and around Wailuku, Maui. East of Wailuku he built
Spreckelsville and constructed a $4 million sugar mill,
creating the world's most modern, efficient, and biggest
sugar factory. His innovations set the direction for
Hawai'i's sugar planters and included steam plows, electric
lights, railroads for hauling cane, and controllable
irrigation.
In the 1880s Spreckles almost took control of Hawai'i. He
owned the Oceanic Steamship Company, which carried sugar to
his refifinery at San Francisco. King Kalakaua was
personally in debt to him. Spreckles even minted Hawaiian
money in 1883. All this put the Hawaiian Kingdom in deep
obligation to the German business baron, Claus Speckles, and
the Hawaiians named him Ona Miliona, or "One Million,"
nicknaming him for his wealth. The newspapers referred to
him as "His Majesty Spreckles."
Links:
Maui Map
North Shore Maui Museums & Landmarks
North Shore Maui Beaches
North Shore Maui Hiking & Camping
North Shore Snorkeling & Scuba
Diving
North Shore Watersports
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