Alexander & Baldwin history

By 1876, the partners had expanded their sugar acreage and begun to seek a reliable source of water for their crop.

1878: An irrigation project called Hamakua ditch is completed, bringing much needed water to the growing plantation.

In 1883, Alexander and Baldwin formalized their partnership by incorporating their sugar business as the Paia Plantation, also known at various times as Samuel T. Alexander & Co., Haleakala Sugar Co., and Alexander & Baldwin Plantation.

In 1894, A&B launched its own sugar agency, based in San Francisco.

A & B had in fact purchased a controlling interest in HC & S in 1898.

By 1899, A&B was serving as agent for a formidable collection of companies, including the Paia and Haiku plantations, the Hawaiian Sugar Company, and the Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company (HC&S) and its subsidiary, Kahului Railroad Company.

By the spring of 1900, A&B had outgrown its partnership organization and plans were made to incorporate the company to increase capitalization and facilitate expansion.

Another new entity, the Maui Agricultural Company (MA Co.), was founded in 1903, in order to offset the effects of the Organic Act, which limited the amount of land a new corporation could hold to 1,000 acres.

Shortly after, in 1904, Samuel Alexander passed away on one of his adventures.

In 1908, the two companies jointly formed the East Maui Irrigation Company (EMI) to manage the extensive system of irrigation ditches that was in development.

In 1909, the company became a minority shareholder in Matson Navigation Company, which had been handling most of A&B's shipping between Hawaii and San Francisco for years.

-- 1910: Matson introduces passenger service.

-- 1911: Baldwin dies at age 68 from failing health.

-- 1913: A&B stock is publicly listed on the Honolulu Stock and Bond Exchange.

In 1917, MA Co. built a distillery for producing alcohol from molasses, the first such facility in the United States.

By 1920, the division was acting as agent for several established insurance companies, including Home Insurance Company, German Alliance Insurance Association, and the Commonwealth Insurance Company, all based in New York.

-- 1926: Matson acquires the Moana Hotel in Waikiki, and a year later builds the Royal Hawaiian Hotel to serve tourists arriving on Matson ships.

The Alexander Dam, located at the company's McBryde plantation, cost over $360,000 to build and was the site of a 1930 mud slide that killed several people.

In 1932, the company completed construction on the Alexander Dam, one of the largest hydraulic fill earth dams in the world.

Both HC&S and MA Co. switched from steam plows to tractors around this time, and HC&S began mechanical harvesting on a large scale in 1937.

A&B sold its Hawaiian Sugar Company plantation in 1941.

In 1945, Waterhouse was replaced as president of A&B by J. Platt Cooke, who served for a year before turning over the office to Frank Baldwin.

In 1948, the HC&S and MA Co. plantations merged, creating one large plantation operating under the HC&S name.

1949: Company moves into property development with formation of a subsidiary called Kahului Development Co., Ltd.

-- 1957: Matson buys 1,500 acres of Wailea land to expand hotel operations.

-- 1959: Matson sells its four hotels, including the Surfrider and Princess Kaiulani.

In 1962, HC & S was merged into A & B, becoming a division of the company.

-- 1964: A&B acquires controlling interest in Matson.

The insurance division thrived for several decades before it was sold off in 1967.

-- 1968: A&B subsidiary Kahului Railroad Co. becomes Kahului Trucking & Storage Inc. after railroad shuts down.

A&B continued to increase its investment in Matson, and the company eventually became a wholly owned subsidiary of A&B in 1969.

A & B had been developing the beachfront resort since 1970.

-- 1971: A&B partners with Northwest Mutual Life Insurance Co. to develop Wailea Resort on Matson land.

-- 1974: A&B acquires 20 percent stake in Pacific Resources Inc., or PRI.

-- 1985: A&B begins planning 1,000-acre residential community Kukui'ula on Kauai.

In January 1987, A & B got rid of its merchandising division, selling A & B Commercial Company to Monarch Building Supply, Inc., a Honolulu-based company.

Matson formed another subsidiary in 1989, this one called Matson Leasing Company, Inc.

That figure included a $15.8 million charge to cover losses from Hurricane Iniki, which devastated Kauai in 1992.

Also in 1993, Nestlé Beverage Co., successor to Hills Brothers, pulled out of the Kauai coffee joint venture following the devastation of Hurricane Iniki, leaving A & B in full control of what would eventually be called Kauai Coffee Company, Inc.

The takeover of C & H helped propel revenues past the $1 billion mark in 1994, to $1.14 billion.

Other developments in 1995 included a restructuring of C & H, which was operating in the red.

In early 1996 came the start of a planned ten-year trans-Pacific shipping alliance between Matson Navigation and American President Lines, Ltd. (APL). The first step involved APL selling six container ships and some assets in Guam to Matson for $164 million.

Meantime, A & B continued to battle the effects of the prolonged economic malaise afflicting Hawaii, managing in spite of this operating environment to post record revenues of $1.28 billion in 1997 and earnings of $81.4 million, the latter the company's best performance in six years.

In July 1998 Couch took an indefinite medical leave after he began receiving treatment for liver cancer.

Pfeiffer was brought back as chairman temporarily, with Charles M. Stockholm taking over as chairman in August 1999.

Our strength is in our numbers, with a consistently strong balance sheet and cash flow, and strong 2000 performance.

-- 2002: A&B relaunches development for Kukui'ula.

-- 2003: A&B repurchases 270 acres of undeveloped land at Wailea Resort.

-- 2006: Matson launches China service.

-- 2010: Matson doubles China service