1955 Map of Olowalu

About this map

Sugar industry remnants and ancient Hawaiian sites characterize the West Maui coastline captured in this mid-century survey. The settlement of Olowalu serves as the focal point, where the presence of Mill (Ruins) and the nearby Olowalu Wharf point to the area's agricultural past. Inland, the landscape is defined by water management infrastructure essential for the cane fields, including the Olowalu Shaft (Well) and several Ukumehame Reservoirs. Cultural significance is noted by the inclusion of a Heiau and a local Cem, reflecting both pre-contact history and the plantation era. The narrow strip of habitable land between the steep mountain slopes and the Coral Reef is traversed by the Honoapiilani Highway, connecting the small clusters at Mopua and Awalua. This map documents a period when Maui's leeward coast still bore the heavy physical architecture of the sugar mills before late-twentieth-century transitions.