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HI Destination Management > Maui
The Valley Isle
Approximately two million years ago, two volcanic mountains first appeared above the ocean's surface. Mauna Kahalawai (West Maui Mountains), now extinct, and Haleakala, which lies dormant, last erupted around 1790. A valley formed as a result, giving Maui her nickname…The Valley Isle.
Legend credits the origin of the Hawaiian Islands to Maui, the demigod who supposedly pulled them up from the sea with a magic fish hook. Known as the “god of a thousand tricks,” Maui’s most famous feat is probably when he went atop Haleakala and lassoed the sun. Only when the sun promised to slow its journey, providing more daylight, did Maui set it free.
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Fast Facts |
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Nickname: |
The Valley Isle |
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Size: |
Maui is the second largest of the Hawaiian Islands, with a land
area of 727 square miles. It is 48 miles long and 26 miles across at its
widest point. |
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Highest Point: |
Haleakala Volcano (inactive), 10,023 feet. Through
erosion, two valleys were carved from the summit of Haleakala. Eruption
later refilled these valleys, forming what early Europeans misnamed a
"crater," measuring roughly 7 miles long and 2 miles wide. |
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Miles of Shoreline: |
120 miles |
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County Seat: |
Wailuku |
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Flower: |
Lokelani Rose |
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Color: |
Pink |
The Peopling of Maui
The first human arrivals were seafarers from the Marquesas Islands, approximately 2,000 miles to the South, which arrived by canoes several centuries after the Birth of Christ. Next, in the twelfth century, the Tahitians arrived and their chiefs eventually became the Hawaiian royal class known as Ali‘i.
Battles amongst the Ali‘i lasted for centuries, as chiefs vied against each other for supremacy. In 1550, High Chief Pi‘ilani brought much of Maui under his rule.
The First Westerner on Maui
Although Captain James Cook was the first Westerner to discover the islands in 1778, it was the French explorer, Captain Jean-Francois La Pérouse who was the first Westerner on Maui.
The whaling era began in the 1820s and Lahaina was the most exciting town, as hundreds of ships anchored each year to buy provisions. It was also during this time when Queen Keopuolani brought five Calvinist missionaries to Lahaina. The seamen, accustomed to prostitutes, alcohol and entertainment in Lahaina, began to quarrel with the missionaries.
Agriculture in Hawai‘i
In the 1850s, when oil was discovered, the whaling industry began to decline and Hawaiians were forced to find a new economic activity. Fields of sugarcane began sprouting up all over Maui, with a whaler named George Wilfong starting the first sugar plantation on Maui in Hana.
 Because the islands did not have enough people to work in the fields, plantation owners brought in immigrants from abroad, the first being the Chinese, followed by South Sea Islanders, Japanese, Portuguese, Puerto Ricans, Scandinavians, Scots, Germans, Russians, Spaniards, Italians, Africans, Koreans and Filipinos.
Advent of Tourism in Hawai‘i
The Japanese were the largest immigrant group and by 1925, comprised forty percent of the island’s population. They soon became influential in both business and politics.
After the war, plantation life changed as employees demanded better working conditions and higher wages. Unions became and are still a powerful force in Hawai‘i. As the agricultural industries began to decline, a new economic kid on the block began to emerge… tourism.
Maui – The Place To Visit
Hotel Hana Maui was the island's first resort property, opening in 1946. Kaanapali was the first “master planned resort” in the world, which opened in 1961, followed by Wailea, Kapalua and Makena in the 1970s.
Mark Twain wrote, “I went to Maui to stay a week and remained five. I never spent so pleasant a month before, or bade any place good-bye so regretfully. I have not once thought of business or care or human toil or trouble or sorrow or weariness…and the memory of it will remain with me always.”
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