Kilauea began as a company town, built for the Kilauea Sugar Plantation. The first 3 miles of railroad built on the island of Kauai were built here in 1881 to work the plantation. Although the last crop of sugar cane was harvested at the Kilauea Sugar Plantation in 1971 the old company store, now Kong Lung Trading, and other plantation buildings remain in the modern town. - AsNotedIn