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Several small towns on Kauai promote themselves as being "historic." We found all of them to be interesting, but only have images of Hanapepe in this article. The very earliest economic endeavor in the immediate vicinity of town appears to have been small scale farming and the collection of salt. It is our understanding that most urban development on the island prior to World War II was undertaken by the big sugar plantations. Hanapepe claims to have had a different origin. It was built in the early decades of the twentieth century by immigrant entrepreneurs from various parts of Asia. Labor union organizers, unwelcome in plantation company towns, were welcome here. During World War II, the town flourished when nearby Army facilities, training soldiers for action in the Pacific theater of war, provided customers for bars, restaurants, bowling alleys, and roller-skating rinks (two of them). In those days it was known as "Kauai's Biggest Little Town."
Today, most of the structures in town are occupied by various fine art galleries and the local business community claims that there are more art galleries in Historic Hanapepe than in any other town on the island. There is also a great old swinging bridge that everybody just seems to take for granted and Talkstory Bookstore just might be not only the most westerly independent bookstore in the country, but also one of the very last of it's kind anywhere west of San Francisco. There is an annual Orchid & Fine Art Festival and the local business community dreams of restoring their old "Art Nouveau" Movie Theater. It reminds us of many other small towns in America that are attempting to establish themselves as a mecca for fine art. It is off to a great start and we wish Hanapepe well in maintaining it's renaissance.
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