Hawaiian-Philippine Company (HPCo) Sugar Mill
Silay City, Negros Occidental · about 8 km from 3ACs Apartment, Talisay City
Oldest running sugar mill on Negros — still makes muscovado and runs steam trains.
About
A working sugar central in Brgy. Hawaiian, Silay. Besides refined sugar it is one of the few mills in the world still making muscovado the traditional way, and its century-old Baldwin steam locomotives still haul cane during milling season — a dream for rail fans.
History
Founded in 1918 by members of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association; grinding began January 15, 1921. It is part of the 'Sugar heritage of Negros' sites on the UNESCO World Heritage tentative list.
Why visit
See living sugar history — and the last working steam trains in the Philippines.
How to get there
Brgy. Hawaiian, Silay City — north of the city proper.
- Jeepney Bacolod–Silay, then local jeepney
- Grab / taxi
Prices (estimates)
- VisitBy arrangement with the mill
Hours / best time: Working mill — ask ahead; trains run mainly during milling season (about Oct–Apr)
Nearby places
- Bernardino Jalandoni Museum (Pink House) — Silay's 'Pink House' — a 1908 ancestral home kept as it was in the sugar era.
- San Diego Pro-Cathedral — Silay's domed Romanesque church with a luminous cross on top.
- Angel Araneta Ledesma House (Silay Tourism Office) — Heritage house that now holds Silay's culture, arts and tourism office — start your walk here.
- Generoso Gamboa Twin Houses — Two matching heritage houses built by a former Silay mayor for his sons.
- El Ideal Bakery — Since 1920: guapple pie, lumpia ubod and Silay's best merienda.