A Historic Population Center It is clear from studying the historic settlement patterns of Maui that Olowalu has always been a location where people have chosen to live. Prior to Western contact, it is estimated that up to 2,000 Hawaiians were living and thriving in Olowalu. The Olowalu Ahupua‘a had an abundance of natural resources. Hawaiians were able to grow breadfruit and taro in the higher areas and sweet potato and coconuts closer to the shore. The sea provided fish and the forest supplied wood for canoes and housing. A person born in the valley could learn a skill, raise a family, trade, play, and worship within the Olowalu Ahupua‘a. From historic times through the plantations days (see below), Olowalu has been a traditional location for a community. Only in recent times - because of the closure of the sugar mill - did Olowalu see its historic importance as a traditional population center decline. Learn more about Olowalu's history.

Learning from Plantation Days

The core values and principles of small town sustainability and balance were also found in plantation villages. As recently as 1930, Olowalu was a complete thriving plantation town including housing for employees, a school, medical facilities, stores, theater, athletic programs, and places of worship. Olowalu's plantation town integrated multi-cultural practices into daily life and was a multi-generational community where everyone knew each other, shared, and took care of those in need.

	Learning from the Ahupua‘a System Sustainable development is not a new idea at Olowalu. For hundreds of years at Olowalu, a population of several thousand lived and thrived in harmony through the brilliant land and resource management system of ahupua‘a. Our concept is not to recreate an ahupua‘a system, rather to inte­grate some of the sustainable values of the system into the plans for Olowalu Town.