Friendship Youth Center
The building currently housing the Friendship Youth Center Preschool in Ewa, Hawaii, is intricately connected to the region’s sugar plantation history, specifically the Ewa Plantation. The plantation, established in 1890, became one of Hawaii’s most significant sugar-producing centers and shaped much of Ewa’s development and community structure.
During its operational years, the Ewa Plantation built numerous facilities, including residential villages, schools, and recreational spaces, to support its workers and their families. These structures reflected a social hierarchy: management and skilled laborers were provided larger, more well-maintained homes and amenities compared to field workers. This stratification was visible in Renton Village, also called “Haole Camp,” where middle-management personnel lived, and Tenney Village, which housed primarily Japanese workers.
many plantation facilities were later repurposed for educational and community services after the plantation ceased operations in 1970. The Ewa Sugar Plantation’s legacy is also preserved in the broader context of historical landmarks in Ewa Villages, such as the plantation manager’s house and community church
Ewa Villages Historical Society
The building’s continued use as a preschool exemplifies the adaptive reuse of plantation-era structures, maintaining their relevance while honoring the historical significance of Ewa’s agricultural past. If you’d like to dive deeper into this legacy, visiting the Ewa Villages Historical Society or other local archives could provide more context.
