Lānaʻi is the sixth-largest
of the Hawaiian Islands and the smallest publicly accessible inhabited island in the chain. It is also known as Pineapple Island because
of its past as an island-wide pineapple plantation.
http://minethere.blogspot.com/2012/10/r ... tions.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanai
On display @ HG hypergrid.org:8002:Epiphany in the Metropolis Grid
Lānaʻi is somewhat comma-shaped with a width
of 18 miles (29 km) in the longest direction. The land area is 140.5 square miles (364 km2), making it the 42nd largest island in the United States.
The highest point in Lanai is Mount Lanaihale. It is an inactive volcano near the center
of the island and to the east
of Lanai City. The elevation
of Mount Lanaihale is 3,366 ft., or 1026 meters. [virtually 34m]
The name Lānaʻi is
of uncertain origin, but the island has historically been called Lānaʻi o Kauluāʻau, which can be rendered in English as "day
of the conquest
of Kauluāʻau." This epithet refers to the legend
of a Mauian prince who was banished to Lānaʻi for some
of his wild pranks at his father's court in Lāhainā. The island was reportedly haunted by Akua-ino, ghosts and goblins. Kauluāʻau chased them away and brought peace and order to the island and regained his father's favor as a consequence.
In 1922, James Dole, the president
of Hawaiian Pineapple Company (later renamed Dole Food Company), bought the island and developed a large portion
of it into the world's largest pineapple plantation.
With Hawaii statehood in 1959, Lānaʻi became part
of the County
of Maui.
In 1985, Lānaʻi passed into the control
of David H. Murdock, as a result
of his purchase
of Castle & Cooke, then owner
of Dole.
In June 2012, Oracle Corporation CEO Larry Ellison purchased Castle & Cooke's 98 percent share
of the island. The state owns the remaining 2 percent. The sale price was not revealed, but the Maui News previously reported the asking price was between $500 million and $600 million. Ellison reportedly plans to invest as much as another $500 million to add to and improve the island's infrastructure and to create an environmentally friendly agricultural industry.
