In 1848 Kamehameha III proclaimed the Great Māhele, or division of lands between Kamehameha III, the Chiefs, and the Konohiki that was authorized by the Privy Council in December 1847.  The Privy Council of the Hawaiian Kingdom was a constitutionally-created body of advisers to the sovereign of the Hawaiian Kingdom from 1845-1893.  The Māhele is a single transaction that commenced on January 28, 1848 and ended on March 7, 1848.

Sugar planting and refining throughout Hawai’i was established between 1836 and 1861. In 1876, the Hawaiian Reciprocity Treaty with the United States allowed for duty-free admission of Hawaiian sugar to the U.S., resulting in a substantial increase of profits for island growers. With massive growth of the sugar industry, the need for labor grew, resulting in the importation of workers from other countries. The pineapple industry began on Maui in 1890. By 1930, over 28 percent of Maui’s cultivated lands were dedicated to pineapple.

During World War II, the military population on Maui reached approximately 200,000, outnumbering local residents four to one. With a decline of the sugar and pineapple industries after World War II and flourishing economies on Oahu and the U.S. mainland, Maui lost 24 percent of its population between 1940 and 1960. In 1959, the Report of Land Use for the Island of Maui proposed that, to reverse the trend, Maui could work to capture a greater share of Hawai’i’s tourist industry. The need for visitor facilities gave birth to the concept of the resort destination area, and in 1961 Kāʻanapali became the first of its kind in Hawai’i.

As Maui’s population grew, settlement patterns expanded rapidly, spreading out from existing population centers, such as, Wailuku (county seat), Lahaina Hana and Makawao. Central, South, and West Maui have grown significantly in the subsequent decades with the birth of new subdivisions and visitor accommodations. Maui’s rapidly expanding population eventually spread to the Upcountry area of the island, which experienced significant growth in the residential market beginning in the 1970s.

The oldest known Hawaiian settlement is located on the island of Molokaʻi in Hālawa Valley, located at the eastern end of the island. One of the few areas in eastern Molokai suited to agriculture and renowned for the taro root grown there. Hālawa Valley supported hundreds of Hawaiians until disastrous tidal waves (1946 and 1957) destroyed most of the buildings and much of the vegetation.

Kalaupāpā, a small, unincorporated community on the north shore of the island, was established as a leper colony in 1866 for patients seriously affected by Hansen’s disease. When the Isolation Law was repealed in 1969, residents chose to remain living there. With a current population of fewer than 100 people, Kalaupāpā is the only settlement within Kalawao County, and is now part of the Kalaupāpā National Historical Park.

In the late 1800s, King Kamehameha V built a vacation home in Kaunakakai, south central of the island and was responsible for the planting of over 1,000 coconut trees in Kapuāiwa Coconut Grove.

Beginning in 1897 much of the western end of the island was purchased by Molokaʻi Ranch to operate a cattle ranch. From 1923 to 1985 thousands of acres of that land was leased to pineapple producers.

In 2008, community members opposed attempts by Molokaʻi Ranch to expand operations, and what was then the island’s largest employer shut down all operations including hotels, a movie theater, restaurants and golf course, dismissing 120 workers.

Tourism is not as large an industry on Molokaʻi as it is on other islands in the state, as accommodations are limited; residents value the quiet, rural lifestyle, and have resisted attempts to dramatically increase tourism on the island.

In his campaign to unify the Hawaiian Islands under one ruler in the 1700s, Kamehameha I killed much of Lanai’s population, leaving few settlements or inhabitants.

In 1922, James Dole, president of the Hawaiian Pineapple Company, purchased the entire island, and much of the land was used for pineapple plantations. When the pineapple industry started to plateau in the 1980s, the company, by that time called Dole Food Company, was reformed into a new company named Castle & Cooke.

When David H. Murdock bought Castle & Cooke, he gained control over Lānaʻi Island and began developing it as a tourist destination.

In 2012, Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle Corporation purchased 98 percent of the island from Murdock. The Island’s focus on tourism remains.

The Island of Kahoʻolawe was home to a school from 1828 to 1837 and a penal colony from 1832 to 1853.

In 1858, the government issued the first of many ranch leases for the island. Ranching remained a primary use until 1952.

The island was ceded to the United States in 1898 and later taken over by the U.S. military following the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941.

Military use of the island remained significant until 1993, when the island was transferred to the State of Hawaiʻi under a federal act that called for clearance or removal of unexploded ordnance and environmental restoration of the island. The state designated the island as the Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve, to be used solely for preservation of native Hawaiian culture, preservation of historical and environmental resources, rehabilitation of habitat, and education.