Mililani: How War Grounds Turned into a Lively New Town

       Whenever people go to Mililani, they always tell me they don’t know how to get around. Mililani is huge, it’s easy to get lost. I moved there about 8 years ago and it’s amazing to see how much it has expanded. When i take a walk through the town, I mainly see a bunch of schools and neighborhoods as well as construction going on here and there. It is a very modern area, with 5 elementary schools and too many streets and neighborhoods to count. It’s really considered two towns: Mililani Mauka and Mililani town. Mauka, where I live, is the upper part of Mililani, it is more on the mountain. Mililani Mauka is where most of the construction is taking place, so there is newer housing and newer schools.

      This year, Mililani turned 41, so it is still considered a relatively new town in Oahu. It’s hard to imagine that Mililani was once not so full of civilization. In fact, Mililani used to be war grounds. Kipapa Gulch, an area in Mililani Town, was actually ground zero for the historical battle that happened when the Chiefs of Maui and the Big Island attacked Oahu. It wasn’t until 1850, when the land that makes up Mililani was granted to Big Island Chief John Pap i’i, that Mililani started to modernize. After the chief died in 1870, the lands were put in trust and sold to Castle & Cooke, the developers who still own them today, and named Mililani. The lands were used for farming until the vision for Miilani Mauka real estate came about in the 60s.  

      Mililani is actually Oahu’s first planned community. In just a little over 40 years, it has grown a lot - there are about 50,000 residents resign in 15,000 homes in Mililani. There are also schools, shopping centers and other necessities one needs to live in an area. For example, in these past few years alone the shopping center near my house in Mililani Mauka has added multiple new restaurants and stores such as Gyu-Kaku, Taco Del Mar and a breakfast place. The shopping center in Mililani town also just added Five Guys and is in the process of adding a California Pizza Kitchen.

      When I walk through Mililani, I could never imagine that where I am walking was once lands used for fighting and growing food. It’s actually kind of amazing, there’s so much history to this town and so much to learn about it and i think it’s important to know these things in order to fully appreciate where you live.