The Hawaiian Colony of Aberdeen
Facing economic displacement by Chinese labor in Honolulu, a group of islander families seeks a new start as farmers in the forests of Grays Harbor.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
For several months past Mr. Edward Lycan, formerly of Honolulu, but now of Aberdeen, has been making his headquarters here while looking out for land in the vicinity suitable for small farms. Mr. Lycan came here from Honolulu, on the Sandwich Islands, having been sent as the business manager of a colony of the inhabitants of the islands who, having found it impossible to compete with the Chinese labor there, decided to leave en masse for some locality where the laboring man could get a proper return for his work. The colony as at present comprises families, the average being five to a family. As a class, they are represented as being economical, industrious and honest. They are, in the main, farmers and fishermen, so that most of the land purchased for them is farming land not far from the seashore. Between 1,000 and 1,500 acres have been purchased, and will be divided into small farms of ten acres or less. The Hawaiian government is much opposed to such a wholesale depopulation of the islands, and are doing everything possible to prevent the colonists from leaving, having gone so far as to commence the construction of a railroad to the volcano in order to increase the demand for laborers. Mr. Lycan expects to leave San Francisco for Honolulu about the 20th of June and will return with sixty families some time in August.
“They are, in the main, farmers and fishermen, so that most of the land purchased for them is farming land not far from the seashore.”
This 1889 account highlights the mid-Pacific impact of global labor competition, showing how the mid-19th-century boom in the Pacific Northwest drew migrants from across the ocean. Today, the demographic map of the Pacific Northwest continues to be shaped by deep, historic maritime connections between Washington and the Hawaiian Islands.
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