Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Pahukini Heiau

Pahukini (many drums) is a heiau located on the slopes of Kapa‘a and at one time overlooked the site of an ancient adze quarry. Below the heiau stretches the expanse of the Kawainui wetlands. Said to have been built by 14th century Tahitian Chief Olopana, it has also been listed as being named Moʻokini (many lineages) and also Makini (contraction of make kini (many deaths.))

The stacked rocks measure approximately 120 x 180 feet with an adjoining 32 x 38 foot structure on the north wall. Several interior terraces are found where the grass houses, oracle tower and perhaps wooden carvings stood. Pahukini heiau commands a sweeping view of low hills, the spreading expanse of the abandoned Kawainui fish pond once used by the ancient Hawaiians, and the present city of Kailua where a major Hawaiian settlement was on the shores of Kailua Bay.

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Battery 405

The US military first established a presence on the Mokapu peninsula in the windward O‘ahu district of Koʻolaupoko in 1918, when President Woodrow Wilson signed an executive order establishing Fort Kuwaʻaohe Military Reservation on 322-acres on the northeast side of Mokapu. The army was responsible for the seacoast defense of Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay, commissioned in 1939 on the Mokapu Peninsula. The Army stayed there until August 1940 when the Navy decided to acquire all of Mokapu Peninsula to expand Naval Air Station Kaneʻohe.

Following the December 7, 1941 attack, to defend the military facility at Mokapu, a number of gun batteries were built. In 1944, with two 8-inch guns, Battery 405 was built on the northeast lower slope of Puʻu Papaʻa, about 145- feet above sea level. The 542-foot peak is at the north terminus of the Oneawa Hills, on the dividing line between Kailua and Kaneʻohe. Following the war (August 27, 1946,) Battery 405 was named Battery DeMerritt, after Robert E DeMerritt, a Colonel with the Coast Artillery Corps during World War II. (The image shows a metal lath camouflage over an 8-inch gun to resemble a rooftop.)

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Oneawa

Kailua Ahupua‘a is the largest ahupua‘a of the Moku of Koʻolaupoko; the northern boundary of Kailua ahupua‘a, known traditionally as Pu‘u Pāpa‘a, or scorched hill, was given the name of Oneawa Hills in the 1970s. A stream runs through Oneawa ‘ili to the sea, providing a natural drainage for the Kawainui marsh. The Kawainui Canal was constructed in 1952 to provide flood control and stability for real estate development.

Oneawa was a famous fishery off the beach for awa (milkfish) and ʻōʻio (bonefish.) Awa are surface feeders that eat seaweed, while ʻōʻio are bottom feeders that forage in the sand, especially for crabs. The sea off Oneawa (Milkfish sand) – also the name of the ridge between Kāne’ohe and Kailua, as well as a land division – was “famous for the quality and quantities of the ʻōʻio, which are found in immense schools in the adjoining water; it was formerly a favorite residence of the Old Oahu chiefs”.

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Kōnāhuanui

Ku luna ‘o Kōnāhuanui i ka luku wale e, “Mountainous Kōnāhuanui reveals the onslaught” is the tallest on Koʻolau; Kōnāhuanui is actually two peaks (3,150 feet and 3,105 feet.) It forms the northwest corner of the Mānoa Ahupua‘a boundary.

To the northwest of Kōnāhuanui is Lanihuli (swirling heavens,) a name suggesting rain clouds moving in the wind around the peak; northwest of Lanihuli is Kahuauli, the dark seed. Uli may refer to the dark rain clouds, their shadows on the land below, and the dark green vegetation along the summit and below it.

by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Kainalu Plane Crash

2nd Lt William Wright and Kainalu Elementary School student Steven Schmitz were killed at 8:30 pm, November 20, 1961, when a “Skyhawk” attack bomber crashed in Kailua.

Two marine jet bombers collided over a residential area and one of them crashed into a home, killing the pilot and the 8 year old boy (son of Coast Guard Commander Frank C Schmitz.)