Did the Missionaries Really Stop Surfing in Hawaiʻi? Open any book or read any article about surfing in Hawaiʻi and invariably there is a definitive statement that the missionaries “banned” and/or “abolished” surfing in Hawaiʻi. OK, I am not being overly sensitive, here (being a descendent of Hiram Bingham, the leader of the first missionary […]
Hawaiian Mission Houses – Frame House (Hale Lā‘au)
The wood-framed Mission House, built in 1821, was one of the first wood-framed buildings built in Hawai‘i. The frame house stands on the grounds of the Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives, near Kawaiahaʻo Church on the makai side of King Street. It is the oldest wood frame structure still standing in the Hawaiian […]
A Million Pounds Of Sandalwood
Built at Salem, Massachusetts in 1816, the brig ‘Cleopatra’s Barge’ was America’s first oceangoing private yacht. At the time, the concept of a ship built for pleasure was unknown on the western side of the Atlantic, where ships were built only for trade or war. The yacht was built of solid oak as a schooner […]
Laniākea – Home of Missionaries Asa and Lucy Thurston
Reverend Asa and Lucy Thurston were in the first company of American Christian Missionaries to the Hawaiian Islands, arriving in Kailua-Kona on the Thaddeus in 1820. They made their home in Kailua Village, in a home the Hawaiians named Laniākea. Thurston received Laniākea, a 5.26 acre homestead parcel as a gift from Governor Kuakini. As […]
Kamehameha’s Attempts to Conquer Kauaʻi
In 1784 Kamehameha I began a war of conquest, and, by 1795, with his superior use of modern weapons and western advisors, he subdued all other chiefdoms, with the exception of Kaua‘i. Kaua‘i and Niʻihau were ruled by King Kaumuali‘i. He was born in 1780 at the sacred royal Birthstone at Holoholokū Heiau in Wailua. […]