Waimanalo has been the home of native Hawaiians even before the arrival of foreigners. The descendants of the Polynesian and Tahitian settlers have been taking advantage of the areas as well as the place’s conducive climate for the cultivation and planting of crops. Soon, the Europeans arrived and Waimanalo began thriving with the new technology and methods the foreigners have introduced to the locals.

John Cummins, owner of the sugar plantation that first built the landing at Waimanalo, was born in 1835. He was the son of High Chiefess Kaumakaokane Papali’ai’aina and Thomas Jefferson Cummins Jr. His mother was a cousin of King Kamehameha I.  His father first developed the land in the 1840s as a cattle ranch and horse ranch. It wasn’t until the 1880s in the face of the diminishing return of the cattle market that his son, John, began to grow sugar cane in place of cattle. This plantation was known as the Waimanalo Sugar Company (WSC). 

The sugar industry became a huge success and thus, gave way to other innovations in the area. For instance, the use of railway tracks and locomotive were due to the boom of the sugar business. Soon after, the prevalence of the sugar industry attracted not only the local workers of Hawaii, but also of other places, near the Hawaiian islands and even as far as Asia. In fact, a significant number of immigrants from Asia and other places arrived to take advantage of the opening of mills and farms. The arrival of these Catholic immigrants helped in the spread of Christianity in Waimanalo. One chapel called Saint George Catholic Chapel is among the oldest parishes in Waimanalo. This was built in 1842 and it has a sizable congregation for the Portuguese and the Filipino workers of the sugar company.