Waimea, Hawaii County, Hawaii

Hawaii County

15-78500

Waimea is a census -designated place in the north of the island of Hawaii in the state of the same name. The place is known to avoid confusion with the places of the same name on O'ahu and Kauai also called Kamuela.

Location

The village lies at an altitude of 825 meters in the valley of Waikoloa Stream on a saddle between the Kohala Mountains to the northwest and Mauna Kea to the southeast.

Waimea is the largest settlement in the interior of the island of Hawaii and an important transport hub, since the State Routes 19 and 190 meet. In addition, located south of the town of Waimea - Kohala Airport, which is only of importance in regional traffic.

Population

According to the census of 2000, 7,028 people live in Waimea, giving a population density of about 70 inhabitants / km ² results in an area of 100.5 km ².

History

The rainy, suitable for agriculture area was settled operated from a few thousand subsistence Hawaiians before the arrival of Europeans, a major product was Kapa, ​​which from the local deposits of Wauke ( paper mulberry ) and ' ulu ( breadfruit tree ) were generated. With the arrival of Europeans, the deforestation of the stock of sandalwood began, the area around Waimea was henceforth mainly used for today on regionally important breeding of cattle.

The first cattle were King Kamehameha I. 1793 passed by the British Captain George Vancouver as a gift, which was commissioned by the king in order to tame the now feral herds since 1809, based on the island of John Palmer Parker. Its marriage with Kipikane, the daughter of a local tribal leader in 1815, laid the foundation for the Parker Ranch, the still significant business enterprises of the place. With the flourishing of cattle was accompanied by a significant demographic change, as for the supervision of the herds Latin American settlers were settled as Vaqueros.

Due to the cattle for a Hawaii rather atypical, corresponding to the western United States culture has emerged in Waimea; we find here every year on July 4, the most significant Rodeo of the entire state instead.

During the Second World War was on the edge of the village, a military camp, the airfield today forms the airport; other buildings, such as the Kahilu Theatre, also created in this framework. In the course of these years, agricultural production has been intensified and widened; the cultivation of corn, cabbage, turnips and other vegetables increased by about 500%.

The diversification of the economic foundations of the place began with the establishment of the headquarters of the Keck Observatory and the Canada -France - Hawaii Telescope in the last three decades of the 20th century.

Sons and daughters of the town

• S. Neil Fujita (1921-2010), graphic designer