Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Baldwin High School

It’s situated on the sand dunes midway between Wailuku and Kahului on the main highway … it was named and renamed four different times: Wailuku Junior High School (1928) … Wailuku Intermediate (1932) … Wailuku High School (1936) … Baldwin High School (1939.)

In December of 1924 a resolution was introduced by Supervisor R. A. Drummond to establish a new high school in or near Wailuku. While Maui High School was available for students pursuing a secondary school education (back then, it was located in Pā‘ia,) it was felt a high school should be located near the population center of the island. The school’s namesake, Henry Perrine Baldwin (born August 29, 1842 in Lahaina,) was a son of Dwight and Charlotte Fowler Baldwin, early American Protestant missionaries to Hawai‘i.

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kahului Harbor

During King Kamehameha’s campaign to unify the Hawaiian Islands, the principal military encounter on Maui took place within Kahului Bay. Early development at Kahului Bay started in 1863 with the construction of the first western building, a warehouse near the beach. Kahului Commercial Harbor is a man-made port, dredged from naturally occurring Kahului Bay. Early development at Kahului Bay started in 1863 with the construction of the first western building, a warehouse near the beach.

The harbor complex originated in 1900 when a 400-foot long east breakwater was constructed by the Kahului Railroad Company. In 1901, the rail company purchased its first tugboat, the Leslie Baldwin, to tow lighters to and from vessels. Pier 1 was initially 500-feet in length and was constructed between 1921 and 1924, along with a pier shed that was 374 feet long. The first 627-feet of Pier 2 was constructed in 1927 at the location of the old “Claudine Wharf,” and extended in 1929 by 894-feet.

by Peter T Young 2 Comments

‘Pāʻia High School’

Maui’s first co-educational high school opened in 1913 in a small frame building at Hāmākuapoko, close to bustling Pāʻia town and near the large plantation camps of East Maui, (It was known as Pāʻia High School, Maui High & Grammar School and, more commonly, Maui High School – now, Old Maui High School.)

At its peak, just before World War II, as many as 1,000-students attended Maui High, coming in from throughout central Maui, some even by train. But island demographics changed. “Dream City,” a planned residential community was launched at Kahului. In 1972, the present Maui High School campus opened in the Dream City.

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Ossipoff Meets Mid-19th Century

The Walter Irving Henderson House in Kona was featured in a 1958 edition of Sunset Magazine – they said, “The house is small but takes care of a large number of guests without crowding.” It is a combination of classics – the first floor circa 1864, as a small church or meeting house; then renovated and the second floor was added, for use as a beach house.

An 1892 map shows Kahului Church, along with a nearby structure labeled “Makuakane” (which translates approximately to “father” in English, giving a strong indication that this was likely a Catholic priest’s house.) The structure was modified from the original one-story church form to its existing two-story appearance in 1953; the entire second floor and interior of the first floor were designed by celebrated local architect Vladimir Ossipoff.

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Kanahā Pond

According to archaeologists Tomonari-Tuggle and Welch, changes shown on various maps suggest that the entire coastal area mauka of Kahului Bay was once marsh land, and could have been a natural formation that was only slightly modified by Hawaiians for fish cultivation. Though their early history and even the actual boundaries of the wetlands to […]