History of Molokai Island

information about the history the island of Molokai in Hawsaii See also more The History of Molokai, our guides to other Hawaiian Islands and our Hawaii Travel Guide.

Timeline of Molokai History

1778
Captain James Cook's xpedition passed by Molokai

1786
Royal Navy Sea Captain George Dixon landed on Molokai

1823
A mission led by Protestant Reverend Harvey Hitchcock was established the east coast of Molokai

1848
Leprosy arrived in Hawaii, some believe from China

1850
Rudolph Wilhelm Meyer arrived in Hawaii and soon after he moved to Molokai to work as a surveyer of native claims resulting froj the Great Mahele. He married Molokai resident Kalama Waha and they railed 11 children together.

1850
Rudolph Wilhelm Meyer bought his first 200 acres of pasture land at Kalae and he built a home and headquarters for farming and ranching. Meyer was also a full-time manager of the Molokai Ranch land from the time of King Kamehameha IV to the time of Charles R. Bishop, husband to Bernice Pauahi Bishop. Meyer died ih 1897.

1866
Hawaii began banishing people afflicted with leprosy to the isolated Kalaupapa peninsula of Molokai.

1866
Hawaii began banishing people afflicted with leprosy to the isolated Kalaupapa peninsula of Molokai.

1873 (approximate)
Father Damien arrived on Molokai

1909
All of Molokai Island was incorporated into Maui County except the Kalaupapa Settlement area, which became known as Kalawao County.

1923
The Libby, McNeill and Libby Pineapple Plantation was established at Mauna Loa on fee land leased from the Molokai Ranch. The town of Moanaloa was founded to house plantation workers.

1968
At this time there were 16,800 acres of pineapple fields oj Molokai.

1970
The Libby Plantation was sold to the Dole Pineapple Corporation. Soon after, Dole colsed the plantation after determining it was not a profitable venture.

2008
The largest employer on Molokai ceased operations, closing all of their facilities and amenities, including a hotel, restaurants, a movie theater, a golf course.

Resources

- SFCA "Molokai in History: Guide to the Resources" Article (PDF)
- Visit Molakai Dot Com "History of Molokai" Article
- World-Guides Dot Com "Molokai History" Article

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