James Dole - Legacy

Legacy

About 8.5 acres (3.4 ha) of the original estate, including surrounding horticultural gardens, was kept in the Dole family until 1972. Although his original three-room house collapsed in 1971, a kitchen house from 1901, and a prefabricated building constructed in 1905 and expanded around 1909 for his growing family, remained but was deteriorating. In the late 1970s, the new owners developed the land into suburban residences. The remaining structures were removed from Wahiawa for the new subdivision. The Waipahu Cultural Garden in Waipahu, Hawaii at 21°23′7″N 158°0′43″W / 21.38528°N 158.01194°W / 21.38528; -158.01194 (Waipahu Cultural Garden) recreated a Hawaiian plantation village.

The tourist attraction known as the Dole Plantation was established in 1950 as a small fruit stand in the middle of Dole's original pineapple fields. In 1989, the fruit stand was transformed into a plantation home mounted on what looks like a hill of red dirt, characteristic of Wahiawa. The plantation home became a living museum and historical archive of the life and work of the industrialist. It is located off of Kamehameha Highway (Route 99), at 21°31′32″N 158°2′15″W / 21.52556°N 158.0375°W / 21.52556; -158.0375 (Dole Plantation).

The plantation features the world's largest maze, grown entirely out of Hawaiian plants. Originally built in 1998, it lost its place in the Guinness Book of World Records until it was expanded in July 2007. The maze covers 137,194 square feet (12,746 m2) and paths are 13,001 feet (3,963 m) long. The "Pineapple Express" is a two mile (3 km) train ride through the plantation that is fully animated, while explaining the history of the pineapple. The plantation garden tour gives information about North Shore, the Hibiscus, native species, the Lei, irrigation, Bromeliads, the Ti Leaf, and Life on the plantation.

In 1991, the Dole Cannery closed its operations and was transformed into a multi-purpose facility with media studios, conference rooms and ballrooms. The lower levels houses a modern shopping center and a 18-screen multiplex cinema owned by Regal Entertainment Group. The actual ginaca machines and cannery storage were preserved and turned into a museum of Hawaiian Pineapple Company history. The cannery is located in the area known as Iwilei, between Honolulu Harbor and Kapālama, at 650 Iwilei Road Honolulu, 21°18′56″N 157°52′13″W / 21.31556°N 157.87028°W / 21.31556; -157.87028 (Dole Cannery), and ballrooms across the street.