History of Maui

In the 14th century, before Westerners began coming to Maui, there were three major tribes or cities. Hana, the Wailuku and Lahaina where all separate until Pillani, the chief of Hana conquered the whole island.

Kahekili (1780s) was the very last of Maui's ruling chiefs who also conquered both Oahu and Molokai. After his demise, King Kamehameha invaded and took Maui under his rule. He established Lahaina as the capital of Hawaii, and it remained the capital until 1845.

Missionaries and Whalers arrived in Lahaina in the early 1820's. Whaling began to decline in the 1870's and soon sugar became the new industry of Maui.

Hawaii's role in World War II enabled it to be granted statehood in the United States in 1959. With the airplane becoming more popular tourism began to boom. Sugar remained Maui's main success until tourism hit in the 1960's.

Now Maui depends largely on the tourism business, and foreign investors. It has been developed over the years, but still remains far less developed than other islands like Oahu and the big island of Hawaii.