Map - Pahala, Hawaii (Pāhala)

Pahala is a census-designated place (CDP) in Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States. The population was 1,403 at the 2020 census.

Pahala was created by a sugarcane plantation. The area selected to house the sugar refinery had several key features: In Hawaiian, Pāhala refers to the ashes of leaves from the hala tree (Pandanus tectorius). Long ago, when cracks were found in the sugarcane fields, workers would stuff them with hala leaves and burn them.

* a flat plateau on a sloping mountainous region

* direct access to a water well

* a strategic central location to sugarcane fields

For years, Pahala consisted of a manager's house, several plantation homes, a general store, and the sugar refinery. Many of the sugarcane workers were housed in small camps in and around Pahala and in camps situated throughout the outlying sugarcane fields. Many of these camps were self-sufficient. They consisted of eight to twelve plantation dwellings with a small store. Some camps had specialty shops such as a blacksmith or a simple barbershop. As time passed some installed gas stations.

In 1881, the first public school in the district of Kau was established in Kapapala. The humble campus consisted of just two buildings. Some years later the school and its two buildings were relocated to Pahala and called Pahala High and Elementary School. In 1959, as Hawaii Territory became the state of Hawaii, the last class of the Pahala High School held commencement ceremonies. The school then became Kaū High and Pahala Elementary School. It is the second oldest public school in the state of Hawaii, behind Lāhaināluna School in Lāhainā. Still in use today at Kaū High is Kapono Building, the oldest public school building west of the Rocky Mountains. The only other public school in the district of Kaū is Nāālehu Elementary. Nāālehu once had a high school. Today, students attend grades kindergarten through 6th grade in Nāālehu.

As time progressed, Pahala became the focal town of the northeastern side of the district of Kaū; Nāālehu became the other focal town to the south of the district. Businesses from outer camps migrated to Pahala to set up shop. With social and economic changes came the demands for convenience. Soon, more stores opened up. A bank and gas stations were built. For leisure, a town hall or "Club House" was built and used by the plantation and the community to hold meetings and parties. In the early 1940s Pahala Theatre was built.

By the early 1960s, C. Brewer & Co. had decided to phase out all of the camps and move homes and other structures to Pahala. At this time C. Brewer explored other alternatives to diversify into, eventually settling on macadamia nuts. Considered a weed in their native Australia, macadamia trees flourished into a new niche market for Hawaii.

The early 1970s demonstrated how influential the world's economy can be to Pahala. The 1970s brought about fuel shortages, and developing nations began to produce cheaper sugar. During the 1970s C. Brewer proposed the perfect opportunity to diversify. A gentleman by the name of Bob Shleser had proposed to Doc Buyers (then CEO of C. Brewer) the idea and technology to convert the Pahala Sugar Mill to produce ethanol fuel from sugarcane. Shleser also proposed that Hawaii County pass a bill that would require 25% of all vehicles on the island to be retrofitted to use ethanol by 1985. Doc Buyers, however, decided against it.