The
ancient Hawaiian village in the area was Pāauhau, which means "tribute enclosure" in the
Hawaiian language. In 1878
Rufus Anderson Lyman and his family moved to the
Hāmākua district and opened a
sugarcane plantation. His business partners were
Samuel Parker,
William G. Irwin, and
Claus Spreckels. It was headquartered at coordinates , on a cliff about 300 feet (100m) above the ocean. Fields reached up the slopes of
Mauna Kea, with an innovative transportation system. After the cane was loaded onto a rail car, the full car rolled down to the edge of the cliff by gravity, and pulled an empty car uphill on a parallel track. A small railroad then transported the cane to the mill, along what is now called "Lower Cane Haul Road". It became one of the first fully irrigated plantations in 1911. A small town for worker housing grew up above the mill. The company was sold to Honokaa Sugar Company in 1972, and it shut down in 1994. ==See also==