Princeville is a 9,000-acre (3,600 ha), upscale, unincorporated, master-planned community of vacation homes and condos on the north shore of the island of Kauai inKauai County, Hawaii. The population was 1,698 in the 2000 census. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Princeville as a census-designated place (CDP). The census definition of the area may not precisely correspond to local understanding of the area with the same name.
The area was named in honor of an 1860 visit by Prince Albert Kamehameha, son of King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma. It was then a plantation owned by Robert Crichton Wyllie.[3] He named another part of the plantation Emmaville, but that name never stuck.[4] Originally the land was planted with coffee which was not suited to the wet lowlands. It was then planted with sugarcane. Wyllie’s nephew inherited the land but committed suicide in 1866. In 1867 it was purchased by Elisha Hunt Allen and later became a cattle ranch.[5] It was sold for development in 1968 and became a golf course and resort called Princeville at Hanalei.[6]
