Economy | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

May 29, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kewalo Basin

The Island of Oʻahu has three of the State’s nine commercial harbors – Kalaeloa Barbers Point, Kewalo Basin and Honolulu Harbor.

Kalaeloa Barbers Point Harbor, on the leeward, westerly side of the island, is in the vicinity of the growing city of Kapolei, while Kewalo Basin and Honolulu Harbor are located on the leeward, south shore, in the only well-sheltered area available for commercial purposes.

Kewalo Basin harbor was formerly a shallow reef that enclosed a deep section of water that had been used as a canoe landing since pre-Contact times and probably was used since the early historic period as an anchorage.

In 1899, Gorokichi Nakasugi, a Japanese shipbuilder, brought a traditional Japanese sailing vessel (called a sampan) to Hawai‘i, and this led to a unique class of vessels and distinctive maritime culture associated with the rise of the commercial fishing industry in Hawai‘i.

Japanese-trained shipwrights adapted the original sampan design to the rough waters of the Hawaiian Islands. The fishermen used a traditional live bait, pole-and-line method of fishing and unloaded their catches of aku (bonito, skipjack) and ahi (yellow-fin tuna) at Kewalo Basin. (It’s interesting that the Japanese aku boat fishing closely resembles the traditional Hawaiian technique.)

The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were a time of intense development of the coasts of Honolulu, Kaka‘ako, and Waikīkī.

In 1919, the Hawai‘i Government appropriated funds to improve the small harbor of Kewalo for the aim of “harbor extension, in that it will be made to serve the fishing and other small craft, to the relief of Honolulu harbor proper”.

A number of land reclamation projects dredged offshore areas to deepen and create boat harbors, and used the dredged material to fill in the former swampy land. Kaka‘ako became a prime spot for large industrial complexes, such as iron works, lumber yards and draying companies.

Since the area chosen for the harbor was adjacent to several lumber yards, such as the Lewers and Cooke yards, the basin was initially made to provide docking for lumber schooners.

Dredging of the Kewalo Channel began in 1924 (the harbor is approximately 55-acres including ocean acreage;) ; but by the time the wharf was completed in 1926, the lumber import business had faded, so the harbor was used mainly by commercial fishermen.

Half of the bulkhead along the mauka side of Kewalo Basin was built in 1928. The remainder of Kewalo Basin’s mauka bulkhead was constructed in 1934.

During the 1920s (before Ala Moana Park,) a channel was dredged through the coral reef to connecting Kewalo Basin to the Ala Wai Boat Harbor, so boats could travel between the two (later, the channel extended to Fort DeRussy.)

Part of the dredge material helped to reclaim swampland on the ʻEwa end of Waikīki (filled in with the dredged coral.)

Later, when it became a very popular swimming beach, the parallel coastal channel was closed to boat traffic.

The sampan aku fleet relocated to Kewalo Basin by 1930, and the McFarlane Tuna Company (later known as Hawaiian Tuna Packers) built a shipyard there in 1929 and a new tuna cannery at the basin in 1933.

Kewalo Basin’s Waikiki bulkhead was constructed in 1951. In 1955, workers placed the dredged material along the makai (seaward) side to form an eight-acre land section protected by a revetment—now the Kewalo Basin Park.

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May 28, 2020 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kamehameha’s Haoles

At the time of ‘contact’ (the period of Captain Cook’s arrival (1778,)) the Hawaiian Islands were divided into four kingdoms: (1) the island of Hawaiʻi under the rule of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who also had possession of the Hāna district of east Maui; (2) Maui (except the Hāna district,) Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and (4) Kauaʻi and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

“At that time Kahekili was plotting for the downfall of Kahahana and the seizure of Oahu and Molokai, and the queen of Kauai was disposed to assist him in these enterprises.”

“The occupation of the Hana district of Maui by the kings of Hawaii had been the cause of many stubborn conflicts between the chivalry of the two islands, and when Captain Cook first landed on Hawaii …”

“… he found the king of that island absent on another warlike expedition to Maui, intent upon avenging his defeat of two years before, when his famous brigade of eight hundred nobles was hewn in pieces.” (Kalākaua)

Then, in 1782, Kamehameha started his conquest to rule the Islands. After conquering the Island of Hawaiʻi, he moved on to defeat the armies in Maui Nui and concluded his wars on Oʻahu at the Battle of Nuʻuanu in 1795. After failed attempts at conquering Kauaʻi, he negotiated peace with Kaumualiʻi and the Island chain was under his control (1810.)

Providing the Means, as well as Ways to this End, foreigners supported Kamehameha, including John Young, Isaac Davis, Don Francisco de Paula Marin, George Beckley and Alexander Adams (and others.)

One can only speculate what might have happened had these foreigners not aligned with Kamehameha.

However, it is clear, with their help, he became Kamehameha the Great.

John Young (1790)

John Young, a boatswain on the British fur trading vessel, Eleanora, was stranded on the Island of Hawai‘i in 1790. Kamehameha brought Young to Kawaihae, where he was building the massive temple, Puʻukoholā Heiau.

Because of his knowledge of European warfare, Young is said to have trained Kamehameha and his men in the use of muskets and cannons. In addition, both Young and Davis fought alongside Kamehameha in his many battles. With these powerful new weapons and associated war strategy, Kamehameha eventually brought all of the Hawaiian Islands under his rule.

Young was instrumental in building fortifications throughout the Islands, which included the conversion of Mailekini Heiau (below Pu‘ukoholā Heiau) into a fort, which he armed with as many as 21 ship cannons. Young also served as a negotiator for the king, securing various trade and political agreements with many of the foreigners that visited the Islands.

When Captain George Vancouver visited Hawai‘i Island in 1793, he observed that both Young and Davis “are in his (Kamehameha’s) most perfect confidence, attend him in all his excursions of business or pleasure, or expeditions of war or enterprise; and are in the habit of daily experiencing from him the greatest respect, and the highest degree of esteem and regard.”

Kamehameha appointed John Young as Governor of Kamehameha’s home island, Hawai‘i Island, and gave him a seat next to himself in the ruling council of chiefs. In 1819, Young was one of the few present at the death of Kamehameha I.

Isaac Davis (1790)

Isaac Davis (c. 1758–1810) (Welch) arrived in Hawaii in 1790 as the sole survivor of the massacre of the crew of The Fair American. He became one of the closest advisors to Kamehameha I. He was instrumental in Kamehameha’s military ventures.

Davis became a respected translator and military advisor for Kamehameha. Davis brought western military knowledge to Hawai‘i and played a big role during Hawaii’s first contacts with the European powers. His skill in gunnery, as well as the cannon from the Fair American, helped Kamehameha win many battles.

Davis had the King’s “most perfect confidence” and he attended to Kamehameha’s needs on all travels of business or pleasure – and ventured with him during times of war. Davis earned Kamehameha’s “greatest respect and the highest degree of esteem and regard.”

When Kamehameha sought to negotiate with King Kaumuali‘i of Kaua‘i, Kamehameha summoned Isaac Davis to escort Kaumuali‘i to O‘ahu. At Pākākā (at Honolulu Harbor, in 1810,) it was agreed that Kaua‘i would join with the rest of the archipelago, but that Kaumuali‘i would continue to rule that island while acknowledging Kamehameha as his sovereign – reportedly, Isaac Davis assisted in the negotiations, on behalf of Kamehameha.

An observer noted in 1798 that, “On leaving Davis the king embraced him and cried like a child. Davis said he always did when he left him, for he was always apprehensive that he might leave him, although he had promised him he would never do it without giving him previous notice.”

Isaac Davis resided immediately next to Kamehameha. He became one of the highest chiefs under Kamehameha and was Governor of Oʻahu during the early-1800s.

Don Francisco de Paula Marin (1793)

Don Francisco de Paula Marin was a Spaniard who arrived in the Hawaiian Islands around 1793. His knowledge of Western military weapons brought him to the attention of Kamehameha, who was engaged in the conquest of O‘ahu. Marin almost immediately became a trusted advisor to Kamehameha I.

Marin spoke four languages (he arrived fluent in Spanish, French and English, and learned Hawaiian) and was employed by Kamehameha as Interpreter, Bookkeeper and part time Physician (although he had no formal medical training, he had some basic medical knowledge.) He also served as purchasing agent for the arms that proved decisive to Kamehameha’s victory of the Battle of Nu‘uanu (1795.)

In April of 1819, Marin was summoned to the Big Island of Hawai‘i to assist Kamehameha, who had become ill. Marin was not able to improve the condition of Kamehameha, and on May 8, 1819, King Kamehameha I died.

Marin was known for his interest in plant collecting and brought in a wide variety of new plants to Hawai‘i. His gardens were filled with trees, vines and shrubs. Marin was responsible for introducing and cultivating many of the plants commonly associated with the Islands. To name only a few, here are some of the plants he introduced and/or cultivated in Hawai‘i: pineapple, coffee, avocado, mango and grape vines.

Marin’s contributions are best noted by Robert C. Wyllie, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, when addressing the Royal Agricultural Society of Hawai‘i in 1850, saying of Marin: “From the brief accounts of the life and works of the don in 1809 to 1820, few of you will doubt that most of the present wealth of these islands is owing to the seeds, roots and plants introduced by Francisco de Paula Marin, and to whom the Hawaiian people are so greatly indebted.”

Captain George Beckley (1804)

George Charles Beckley arrived in the Islands around 1804 and was known as “the English friend and military adviser of Kamehameha the Great.”

Family traditions credit Beckley as being the designer of the Hawaiian Flag (other stories suggest the flag was designed by Alexander Adams, another trusted sea captain of Kamehameha – they may have designed it together (Adams later served as executor of Beckley’s estate and guardian of his children.))

At the birth of the princess Nahiʻenaʻena (Kamehameha’s daughter) at Keauhou, Kona, in 1815, Beckley was made a high chief by Kamehameha, so that he might with impunity enter the sacred precinct, and present the royal infant with a roll of China silk, after which he went outside, and fired a salute of thirteen guns in her honor. (Hawaiian Historical Society)

In 1815, Kamehameha I granted some Russians permission to build a storehouse at Honolulu Harbor. Instead, they began building a fort against the ancient heiau of Pākākā and close to the King’s complex and raised the Russian flag. (Pākākā was the site of Kaua‘i’s King Kaumuali‘i’s negotiations relinquishing power to Kamehameha I.)

When Kamehameha discovered they were building a fort (rather than storehouses,) he sent several chiefs, along with John Young (his advisor) and Kalanimōku, to remove the Russians from Oʻahu by force, if necessary. The partially built blockhouse at Honolulu was finished by Hawaiians who mounted guns in the protected fort.

Beckley was the first commander of the fort (known as Fort Kekuanohu or Fort Honolulu.) Its original purpose was to protect Honolulu by keeping enemy or otherwise undesirable ships out. But, it was also used to keep things in (it also served as a prison.)

Captain Alexander Adams (1811)

Scotsman Captain Alexander Adams arrived in Hawaiʻi 1811. He became an intimate friend and confidential advisor to King Kamehameha I, who entrusted to him the command of the king’s sandalwood fleet. He became the first regular pilot for the port of Honolulu, a position he held for 30-years.

Captain Adams was sent to Kauaʻi by Kamehameha I to remove the Russians from Fort Elizabeth that had been set up in 1817. His words reportedly were “upon arriving they were soon dispatched”. Adams raised the Kingdom of Hawai‘i flag over the fort in October 1817.

Adams stood on the shore with John Young at Kailua-Kona when the first American Christian missionaries anchored off shore in 1820. He helped convince the King to allow the missionaries to come ashore and take up residence in Hawaiʻi. When the HMS Blonde arrived in 1825, Adams helped the Scottish naturalist (James Macrae) distribute some plants he thought would be commercially successful in the tropical climate.

After 30 years of piloting, Adams retired in 1853, grew fruit on his land in Kalihi Valley, and was great host to visitors. He also had a home on what was named Adams Lane (in 1850,) a small lane in downtown Honolulu off of Hotel Street named after him (near the Hawaiian Telephone company building) and had an estate in Niu Valley.

Without these and other foreigners, Hawaiʻi’s history may have been significantly different.

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May 24, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Lomi Lomi Salmon

For some, a lūʻau is not a lūʻau without lomi lomi salmon (salmon cubes, diced tomatoes and onion.)

But Hawaiʻi’s waters don’t teem with salmon; so, how did this become a lūʻau staple get into the compartment of our lūʻau plates?

The answer may be found in the export records of the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC,) whose regional headquarters was in the Pacific Northwest in the mid-1800s.

Back near the turn of the last century, the most valuable commercial fisheries in the world, excepting only the oyster and herring fisheries, were those supported by salmon. (Cobb)

Of these the most important, by far, were the salmon fisheries of the Pacific coast of North America (California, Oregon, Washington and Alaska, including also British Columbia.)

Salmon was a mainstay of life of the Northwest Coast Indians. Fresh or preserved salmon, in turn, became a staple food for HBC posts west of the Rocky Mountains.

With the HBC opening of their offices in Honolulu in 1829, the company’s focus turned to marketing two of its home-region’s primary resources, salmon and timber.

By 1830, the HBC was preserving salmon on the Columbia River and at Fort Langley on the Fraser River as well, mainly to feed Company personnel, but with some 200 to 300 barrels of Columbia River salmon exported that year, presumably all to Hawai’i.

Preserved salmon found a ready market on O’ahu, particularly among native Hawaiians.

Just when that notable dish, lomi lomi salmon, first made its appearance is unknown, but if it was in fashion by the 1830s, the HBC can take credit for being the main provider of its principal ingredient.

During the 1830s, HBC sold several hundred barrels of salmon a year in Honolulu. The 1840s saw a major increase in sales; in 1846, 1,530 barrels were shipped to Hawaiʻi and HBC tried to increase salmon exports to 2,000 barrels annually.

The peak year was in 1849, with 2,610 barrels exported to Honolulu.

The Company itself did not fish for salmon, but instead entered into a symbiotic relationship with the Northwest Indians, whereby the latter with their long expertise were the fishermen.

Company records do not give a precise description of the method of salmon preservation, although it is clear they were pickled, the earliest commercial method used on the Pacific Coast. Writing in 1910, Cobb described the method as follows:

“In dressing salmon for pickling the heads are removed, the fish split along the belly, the cut ending with a downward curve at the tail.”

“The viscera and two thirds of the backbone are removed, and the blood gurry, and black stomach membrane scraped away. The fish are then scrubbed and washed in cold water.“

“They are next placed in pickling butts with about 15 pounds of salt for every 100 pounds of fish. The fish remain here for about one week, when they are removed, rubbed clean with a scrub brush and repacked in market barrels, one sack of salt being used for every three barrels of 200 pounds each.”

Of the five species of North Pacific salmon, sockeye salmon was preferred for export, in conformity with Hawaiian tastes. Native Hawaiians also expressed a preference for Fraser River, rather than Columbia River salmon.

The Company exchanged trade goods for their salmon.
Sugar, molasses, coffee and salt were Island products regularly sent to provision the HBC posts. Hawaiian salt was used in preserving the salmon destined for Hawaiian consumption.

The source of the salt shipped by HBC to the Northwest Coast could have come from the Moanalua salt lake on Oʻahu, whose salt was considered the best for salting provisions and as a table salt in Honolulu.

The Honolulu office of HBC during the 1850s began to feel increasing competition of salmon imports from the Russian American Company at Sitka and of American imports from Puget Sound.

The 1853 smallpox epidemic that decimated the Hawaiian population caused a great falling off of salmon sales.

The Hudson’s Bay Company decided to close its Honolulu operations in 1859, and eventually closed a couple years later.

However, the islands’ love of lomi lomi salmon continues today.

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May 22, 2020 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Evolution of Honolulu Harbor

Coral doesn’t grow in freshwater. So, where a stream enters a coastal area, there is typically no coral growth at that point – and, as the freshwater runs out into the ocean, a coral-less channel is created.

In its natural state, thanks to Nuʻuanu Stream, Honolulu Harbor originally was a deep embayment formed by the outflow of Nuʻuanu Stream creating an opening in the shallow coral reef along the south shore of Oʻahu.

Honolulu Harbor (it was earlier known as Kuloloia) was entered by the first foreigner, Captain William Brown of the English ship Butterworth, in 1794.

They called the harbor “Fair Haven” which may be a rough translation of the Hawaiian name Honolulu (it was also sometimes called Brown’s Harbor.) The name Honolulu (meaning “sheltered bay” – with numerous variations in spelling) soon came into use.

Tradewinds blow from the Northeast; the channel into Honolulu Harbor has a northeasterly alignment. Early ships calling to Honolulu were powered only by sails. The entrance to the harbor was narrow and lined on either side with reefs. Ships don’t sail into the wind. Given all of this, Honolulu Harbor was difficult to enter.

Boats either anchored off-shore, or they were pulled into the harbor (this was done with canoes; or, it meant men and/or oxen pulled them in.)

It might take eight double canoes with 16-20 men each, working in the pre-dawn calm when winds and currents were slow. In 1816 (as stories suggest,) Richards Street alignment was the straight path used by groups of men, and later oxen, to pull ships through the narrow channel into the harbor. (Richards Street was named for a man selling luggage to tourists in his shop on that street.)

A few years after, in 1825, the first pier in the harbor was improvised by sinking a ship’s hull near the present Pier 12 site. As Honolulu developed and grew, lots of changes happened, including along its waterfront. What is now known as Queen Street used to be the water’s edge.

The first efforts to deepen Honolulu Harbor were made in the 1840s. The idea to use the dredged material, composed of sand and crushed coral, to fill in low-lying lands was quickly adopted.

In 1854 the first steam tug was used to pull sail-powered ships into dock against the prevailing tradewinds.

The old prison was built in 1856-57 at Iwilei; it took the place of the old Fort Kekuanohu (that also previously served as a prison.) The new custom-house was completed in 1860. The water-works were much enlarged, and a system of pipes laid down in 1861.

Between 1857 and 1870, the coral block walls of the dismantled Fort edged and filled about 22-acres of reef and tideland, forming the “Esplanade” or “Ainahou,” between Fort and Merchant Streets (where Aloha Tower is now located.) At that time, the harbor was dredged to a depth from 20 to 25-feet took place.

By the 1880s, filling-in of the mud flats, marshes and salt ponds in the Kakaʻako and Kewalo areas had begun. This filling-in was pushed by three separate but overlapping improvement justifications.

The first directive or justification was for the construction of new roads and the improvement of older roads by raising the grade so the improvements would not be washed away by flooding during heavy rains.

Although public health and safety were prominently cited as the main desire (and third justification) to fill in Honolulu, Kewalo, and then Waikīkī lands, the fill ultimately provided more room for residential subdivisions, industrial areas and finally tourist resorts.

In the early part of the twentieth century, Kakaʻako was becoming a prime spot for large industrial complexes, such as iron works, lumber yards, and hauling companies, which needed large spaces for their stables, feed lots and wagon sheds.

An 1887 Hawaiian Government Survey map of Honolulu shows continued urban expansion of the Downtown Honolulu area.

In 1889, the Honolulu Harbor was described as “nothing but a channel kept open by the flow of the Nuʻuanu River;” a sand bar restricted entry of the larger ocean vessels. In 1890-92, a channel 200-feet wide by 30-feet deep was dredged for about 1,000-feet through the sand bar.

Piers were constructed at the base of Richards Street in 1896, at the site of Piers 17 and 18 in 1901 to accommodate sugar loading and at Piers 7 and 12 in 1907.

After annexation in 1898, the harbor was dredged using US federal funds. The dredged material was used to create a small island in the harbor in order to calm the harbor and avoid constructing a breakwater. This island became what is now known as Sand Island.

In 1904, the area around South Street from King to Queen Streets was filled in. The Hawaiʻi Department of Public Works reported that “considerable filling (was) required” for the extension of Queen Street, from South Street to Ward Avenue, which would “greatly relieve the district of Kewalo in the wet season.”

A series of new piers were constructed at the base of Richards Street in 1896, at the site of Piers 17 and 18 in 1901 (to accommodate sugar loading) and then at Piers 7 and 12 in 1907. Further dredging was conducted at the base of Alakea Street in 1906.

With the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 and anticipated increased trans-Pacific shipping, government and business planned to further enlarge Honolulu Harbor by dredging Kalihi Channel and Kapālama Basin.

However, because of military concerns, the Reserved Channel connecting Honolulu Harbor to Kapālama Basin was dredged instead. This is known as the Kapālama Channel. Honolulu Harbor expanded into the Kapālama Basin and by the early 1930s Piers 34 had been constructed. Pier 35 was constructed in 1931 to provide dedicated facilities for inter-island pineapple shipments.

On September 11, 1926, after five years of construction, Aloha Tower was officially dedicated at Pier 9; at the time, the tallest building in Hawaiʻi.

Today, Honolulu Harbor continues to serve as Hawai‘i’s commercial lifeline for goods to/from Hawaiʻi and the rest of the world.

The image shows Honolulu in 1854, in a drawing done by Paul Emmert. It shows Honolulu just before these changes and the expansion of land in the downtown area (you can see people standing on the reef on the right.)

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Interior_of_the_Fort,_Honolulu_Harbor-1830s-1840s

Honolulu Harbor-Ships pulled by canoes-Henry Walker-1843

Battle_of_Honolulu-Dolphin-(Massey)-1826

View_of_Honolulu_Harbor_and_Punchbowl_Crater._(c._1854)

Downtown_Honolulu-sites-uses_noted-(1870_roads_in_red)-Map-1810

'Entrance_to_Honolulu_Harbor'-William_Alexander_Coulter-1882

Honolulu_Harbor_(taken_from_prison_in_Iwilei)

Honolulu_Harbor-Downtown-(DAGS0237)-early-1850s

Honolulu_Harbor-InteriorDept-(Wall-Reg_1119)-1886

Honolulu_reproduced_from_map_drawn_by_Lt_CR_Malden_of_HBMS_Blonde-1825

Map Detail of Honolulu Harbor-C. R. Malden_Reg640 (1825)

May 20, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Immigration Station

By the middle of the 19th century the Hawaiian population had declined drastically through the impacts of disease and epidemics and the dispersal of the young men of the Kingdom on whaling ships and seeking their fortunes in the California gold fields.

In 1850, the Hawaiian population was down to 46,500. At the same time the American occupation of California and Oregon gave the islands a large, relatively close market for agricultural crops.

Starting in the 1850s, when the Hawaiian Legislature passed “An Act for the Governance of Masters and Servants,” a section of which provided the legal basis for contract-labor system, labor shortages were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America.

In 1852, the first group of 200 Chinese labor contract immigrants were brought in to work in the sugar plantations. In the hundred years from 1850 to 1950, over 350,000 labor immigrants were brought in to supply workers for the plantations and to augment a declining population with people of kindred races.

For nearly one hundred years immigrants arriving in Hawaiʻi had their initial processing in the area of the present immigration building at the entrance to Honolulu Harbor.

In the 19th century they came over the channel wharf to be processed at the pavilion and quarters of the Kingdom’s Quarantine and Immigration Depot built in 1879 on what was popularly called Fisherman’s Point.

King Kalākaua, who personally initiated Japanese immigration in a visit to the Emperor, visited the station to greet the initial group of Japanese laborers arriving in 1886. After a hospitable welcome which included entertainment of hula dancers, he invited some of the group to the Palace to display their skill at fencing. (NPS)

The United States government took over immigration matters after annexation and built new structures out over the mud flats (which opened July 4, 1905.)

The buildings were designed to fit the climate and atmosphere of Hawaiʻi and to be an inviting place for immigrants to come through. (This was the first use of terra cotta in Hawaiʻi.)

Although Herbert C. Clayton was the architect who contracted to design the building, it is quite evident that the architect associated with him for this project had the major design role, CW Dickey.

The entrance portico designed by Dickey as the most important architectural feature of the building reflects Hawaiʻi and the Immigration Station function as a bridge between East and West.

The portico is accented by Chinese architectural details and the large bronze compass plaque set in the floor of the entrance lobby shows Hawaiʻi as the crossroads of the Pacific by indicating distances to principle cities on the Pacific rim.

An interview with Mr. Dickey on July 27, 1934 in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin best describes the intent and execution of the complex in the designer’s own words:

“In designing the new immigration station buildings the main objective was a group of buildings expressing the spirit and environment of Hawaiʻi and at the same time maintaining well balanced and well-proportioned masses, graceful lines and a pleasing color effect.”

“This meant a wide departure from the more or less stereotyped stations of the mainland and it required no small amount of persuasion and diplomacy to get such a design accepted….”

“In general the buildings consist of low lying masses of cream colored stucco walls surmounted by graceful sloping roofs of variegated green and russet tiles.”

A special area was designed into the building to provide a “matrimonial” room where Japanese girls, who had been married by proxy in Japan to men living in Hawaiʻi, met their husbands for the first time and were formally married. These picture brides numbered 14,276 between the years 1907 and 1923.

Mr. AE Burnett, for many years the District Director of Immigration, hoped that the buildings would serve as a model for other stations across the nation.

The Dickey designed buildings were placed on the National Register of Historic Places (much of the information here came from those records.)

(By the way, in the existing immigration center, there is a fountain put in by Italian POWs from WWII – unfortunately, it is in a secured area and you can’t get directly to it. However, you can see it through a chain link fence on the back side (makai) of the building.)

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Arrival of Japanese contract laborers at Honolulu Harbor-1893

US-immigration-station-Honolulu-(HSA-S00042)-1905

Fort Armstrong-Immigrations_Station-behind-1910

Japanese immigrants landing at Honolulu Harbor-1893

Chinese_contract_laborers_on_a_sugar_plantation_in_19th_century_Hawaii-(WC)

Filipino_immigrant_family_in_Hawaii,_c._1906

Korean_immigrant_family_in_Hawaii_during_the_19th_century

Portuguese_immigrant_family_in_Hawaii_during_the_19th_century-(WC)

Statue erected on the 100th anniversary of the 1st Japanese immigration to Hawaii-1885-Kepaniwai Heritage Gardens, Iao Valley

Japanese_Picture_Brides-Desert_News-July_8,_1922

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