Keomuku

Keomuku, on Lanai's eastern coast, is another village which has long been uninhabited. This plantation settlement lost its only source of income at the beginning of 1900 when the Maunalei Sugar Company's factory closed as a result of the unprofitable sugar cane industry in this area. Today, only a half-ruined church and a nearby small heiau remain, Keomuku's houses having been completely torn down in the 1970s. The stones from Kahea Heiau were used by the Maunalei Sugar Company to build a new short-lived railway. The Hawaiians saw this as the reason for the failure of the sugar business - in their opinion, the temple had been desecrated and a taboo broken. Only the ruins of the sugar company are to be seen.