Lihue or Līhue is an unincorporated community, census-designated place (CDP) and the county seat of Kauai County, Hawaii, United States. Lihue (pronounced ) is the second-largest town on the Hawaiian island of Kauai after Kapaa. As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a population of 6,455, up from 5,694 at the 2000 census. History In ancient times, Lihue was a minor village. Līhue means "cold chill" in the Hawaiian language. Lihue is in the ancient district of Puna, the southeastern coast of the island, and the land division (ahupuaa) of Kalapaki. Royal Governor Kaikioewa officially made it his governing seat in 1837, moving it from Waimea; he named the town after land he owned on Oahu by the same name. With the emergence of the sugar industry in the 1800s, Lihue became the central city of the island with the construction of a large sugar mill. Early investors were Henry A. Peirce, Charles Reed Bishop and William Little Lee. The plantation struggled until William Harrison Rice built the first irrigation system in 1856. Subsequent plantation owner Paul Isenberg helped German people emigrate to Lihue starting in 1881, with the first Lutheran church in Hawaii founded in 1883. Services were held in German well into the 1960s. By the 1930s, George Norton Wilcox became one of the largest sugarcane plantation owners, buying Grove Farm from Hermann A. Widemann. The Wilcox family home, Kilohana, has been converted into a restaurant and gift shop. The surrounding plantation now grows crops and livestock. A narrow-gauge tourist railroad with vintage diesel locomotives from Whitworth and General Electric offers tours of the plantation; horse-drawn carriage tours are offered as well. The grounds are also the site of luaus, many of which are offshore excursions booked through NCL America. Lihue also houses the Kauai Museum, which details the history of Kauai. Geography and climate Lihue is on the eastern side of the island of Kauai, bordered by Hanamaulu to the north and Puhi to the west. Its shorefront on the Kauai Channel of the Pacific Ocean extends from Hanamaulu Bay in the north to the larger Nawiliwili Bay to the south. Hawaii Route 50 leads west from Lihue to Kalaheo and beyond to the western side of the island, while Hawaii Route 56 leads north to Kapaa and onwards to the northern side of the island. According to the United States Census Bureau, the Lihue CDP