Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Whitney Laboratory of Seismology

The trustees of the estates of Edward and Caroline Whitney gave to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) $25,000 for a memorial fund; the principal and interest were to be expended at MIT’s discretion for research or teaching in geophysics, especially seismology. Investigations in Hawaiʻi were recommended. MIT gave Thomas A Jaggar a leave of absence; he arrived at Kilauea on January 17, 1912.

Work then started on what would be the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. A cellar excavation on the north rim of Kilauea caldera started on February 16, 1912, marking the beginning of permanent facilities for the Observatory – the basement housed the seismometers; it was known as the Whitney Laboratory of Seismology. On February 11, 1940, the nearby Volcano House burned to the ground, and this led to the relocating of the Observatory facilities. (The present Volcano House opened for business in November 1941.)

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Unexpected Partners

Lorrin Andrews Thurston was born on July 31, 1858 in Honolulu. His father was Asa Goodale Thurston and Sarah Andrews (he was grandson of Asa and Lucy Thurston; on his mother’s side, he was grandson of another early missionary, Lorrin Andrews.) Thurston led the Annexation Club and participated in the revolution and overthrow of the constitutional monarchy (1893.)

George Lycurgus left his native Sparta in Greece around 1876, when he was about 17 years old. Lycurgus opened the California Wine Company in Honolulu. Lycurgus was a royalist and was implicated with other counter-revolutionists in supplying arms (1895.) Thurston and Lycurgus were instrumental in getting the volcano recognized as Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.

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Thomas Augustus Jaggar, Jr

In 1906, already a much-published, respected, well-known geologist, writer and lecturer, he became head of MIT’s department of geology. Jaggar saw the need for full-time, on-site study of volcanoes. He left MIT, moved to Kilauea to start the observatory, and devoted the remainder of his life to a study of volcanoes.

When he came to the Islands, he joined the efforts of George Lycurgus (operator of the Volcano House) and newspaperman Lorrin Andrews Thurston who were working to have the Mauna Loa and Kilauea Volcanoes area made into a National Park. Jaggar retired in 1940 and continued his research at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa until his death on January 17, 1953.

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Boles Field

On August 1, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the country’s 13th national park into existence – Hawaiʻi National Park (Kilauea and Mauna Loa;) eventually, Kilauea Caldera was added to the park. On-the-ground administration of the park began with the arrival of Superintendent Thomas R Boles in April 1922.

A military landing field called Sand Spit Horst was located just south of Halemaʻumaʻu crater. It was referred to as Kīlauea Airfield. In 1925, a new Army field was under construction on the bluff between Uwekahuna and Kilauea Military Camp (it was named for Boles.) By 1945, the airfield was determined incompatible with NPS policy.

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Kīlauea Military Camp

What once began as an idea by Hilo Board of Trade members for a training ground for the National Guard and an Army “vacation and health recruiting station” has become one of Hawaii’s most unique resorts for the military. (KMC) Let’s look back. In 1898, Lorrin Thurston owner of Volcano House and head of the […]