“Dream City”
September 3, 2007 9:13 am > MAUI TODAY, > Maui Yesterdays
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HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY Moe`uhane: Dream |
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HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY “The smoke seen in the dream now rises.” |
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U.S. LABOR DAY - PLANTATION ERA ENDS ON MAUI - September 3, 1953: Homes in what is now called “Dream City,” in Kahului, are being built and sold for $8,000. They often include indoor plumbing, three bedrooms and a small lot, usually one-quarter acre.
This type of home is being sold in 2007 for $550,000 and up. Such homes were a dream come true for low-wage Plantation workers, most of whom had never owned their own places. They had previously lived in “camps” provided by their employer, sugar mill owner Alexander & Baldwin Corporation (A&B). Following World War II and unionization of Plantation workers seeking higher wages, A&B entered the land development and real estate business, forming a new subsidiary, the Kahului Development Co. A&B closed the camps, paid the sugar workers higher wages, then sold them homes in Dream City, the first subdivision on Maui. Owning most of the property on Maui, the company has become more involved in real estate development over the past six decades. Today, the Kahului Development Co. is known as A&B Properties, Inc.
Businesses owned by Alexander & Baldwin, Inc.
- East Maui Irrigation Co., Ltd. (owns irrigation ditches built in the 1870s )
- Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company (sugar growing division)
- Matson Navigation Co., Inc. (shipping company)
- A & B Properties, Inc. (real estate and development company)
- Maui Brand Sugars (gourmet sugar brand)
- Kauai Coffee Company, Inc. (coffee brand and plantation)
- Kauai Commercial Company, Inc. (freight trucking)
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