Kakaako | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

February 15, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Honolulu, 1810

This reconstructed map (from Bishop Museum Press,) reportedly a reasonably accurate depiction of Honolulu in 1810, is based on three documents:

John Papa ʻĪʻī recorded the location of trails and various sites in Honolulu between 1810 and 1812 in his “Fragments of Hawaiian History;” a sketch map made by lieutenant Charles Malden of HBMS Blonde in 1825; and a government road map of 1870.

The map notes locations of uses in 1810 with subsequent road alignments as of 1870 – the present day street alignments are generally similar to the 1870 road alignments.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. For me, maps and pictures capture moments in time and, in doing so, tell us stories. I love maps, especially old ones, because of the stories they tell.

This map tells lots of stories. Here are highlights on some.

The first thing that jumps out at you is the timeframe and location of the map – 1810 in Honolulu.

As you will recall, 1810 marks the ultimate unification of the Hawaiian Islands.

It was here, in 1810, at Pākākā (the point jutting into the harbor,) where negotiations between King Kaumuali‘i of Kaua‘i and Kamehameha I took place – Kaumuali‘i ceded Kauaʻi and Ni‘ihau to Kamehameha and the Hawaiian Islands were unified under a single leader.

This time and place marks the beginning of the unified islands. This location continues to be the center of commerce, government, finance, etc in the State.

A bit more history: Kamehameha I, who had been living at Waikiki since 1804, moved his Royal Center there in 1809. His immediate court consisted of high-ranking chiefs and their retainers.

Those who contributed to the welfare and enjoyment of court members also lived here, from fishermen and warriors to foreigners and chiefs of lesser rank. (Kamehameha’s home and surrounding support uses are noted with his name (adjoining Pākākā.))

In those days, this area was not called Honolulu. Instead, each land section had its own name (as noted on the map.)

There are reports that the old name for Honolulu was said to be Kou, a district roughly encompassing the present day area from Nuʻuanu to Alakea Streets and from Hotel to Queen Streets, which is the heart of the present downtown district.

Honolulu Harbor, also known as Kuloloia, was entered by the first foreigner, Captain William Brown of the English ship Butterworth, in 1794. He named the harbor “Fair Haven.”

The name Honolulu (meaning “sheltered bay” – with numerous variations in spelling) soon came into use.

As you can tell by the overlaying 1870 road map, it is obvious that following this timeframe, the fringe reefs noted on the map were filled in and land added to the water front. (In 1810, the waterfront was along the present Queen Street.)

Between 1857 and 1870 a combination of fill and dredging formed the “Esplanade” (not labeled on this map (because it’s over the reef) between Fort and Merchant Streets, creating the area where Aloha Tower is now located.)

In 1907, the reefs fronting the Kakaʻako area (on the right of the map) were filled in to make Fort Armstrong.

Fort Street, one of the oldest streets in Honolulu, was not named for Fort Armstrong; it was named after Fort Kekuanohu (aka Fort Honolulu,) constructed in 1816 by Kamehameha.

Today, the site of the fort is generally at the open space now called Walker Park, a small park at the corner of Queen and Fort streets (there is a canon from the old fort there) – (Ewa side of the former Amfac Center, now the Topa Financial Plaza, with the fountain.)

The left section of the map (where Nuʻuanu Stream empties into the harbor) identifies the area known as Kapuukolo; this is “where white men and such dwelt.”

Of the approximate sixty foreign residents on O‘ahu at the time, nearly all lived in the village, and many were in the service of the king.

Among those who lived here were Don Francisco de Paula Marin, the Spaniard who greatly expanded horticulture in Hawaiʻi, and Isaac Davis (Welsh,) friend and co-advisor with (John Young (British)) to Kamehameha. (The Marin and Davis homesites are noted on the map.)

The large yam field (what is now much of the core of downtown Honolulu) was planted to provide visiting ships with an easily-stored food supply for their voyages (supplying ships with food and water was a growing part of the Islands’ economy.)

This map, and the stories it tells, gives us a glimpse into Hawai‘i’s past.

Campbell-Honolulu-1810_map_over_GoogleEarth

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

January 9, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ward Airport

‘Bud’ Mars brought the first airplane to Hawaiʻi and on December 31, 1910 staged an exhibition flight at Moanalua Park. Some 3,000 persons paid a dollar each to watch the flight which cost the promoter, EH Lewis, some $5,000. (Mitchell)

When Mars brought the biplane ‘Skylark’ to Honolulu and managed to get it into the air long enough to make several short exhibition flights from Moanalua Polo Field, the die was cast for Hawaii’s interest in and use of aircraft.

“Spectacular as these flights were, at the same time island men were going ahead in a quiet manner, laying the foundation for commercial aviation here.”

“The first airdrome (airport) was the Ward airport near the shore, not far from the steamship piers”. (1920s) (Noel; Flying Magazine, March 1930) It was just behind Kewalo Basin across Ala Moana on the Waikiki side of Ward Avenue. (Krauss)

“Announcing his desire to have permanent airplanes in our islands within sixty days of him stepping once again on Hawaii nei, EH Lewis landed in Honolulu nei on the morning of Friday of this past week with two pilots who will fly the two planes he purchased in America.”

“These men brought by Lewis are experts. The planes did not arrive with Lewis, but according to him, should there be no complications, the planes will arrive in Honolulu within 60 days.”

“The crafts can carry ten passengers at a time, and these will be the planes that fly regularly between Honolulu and Hilo and from Hilo back to Honolulu nei.” (Alakai o Hawai‘i, November 5, 1928)

“Ed Lewis, operating automobile tours on Oahu, early saw the possibilities of airplanes for sightseeing. For several years he operated ‘Lewis Air Tours’ with a number of small open cockpit planes flying from Ward airport on Ala Moana.” (Kennedy; Thrum, 1936)

“The company lasted only three years, but other tour services proved more successful. Interisland travel really picked up in the 1950s with the introduction of package tours, all-inclusive vacations that often included trips to Oahu’s neighbor islands.” (Smithsonian)

From this same airport two former army fliers named Anderson and Griffin started a flying school and a limited air service (Western Pacific Air Transport) between the islands.

Using two small craft, these pilots trained a number of fliers and at one time expanded their activities to the point where they carried newspapers from O‘ahu to Maui. After continuing their school for a year the pilots returned to the mainland and Ward airport was discontinued.

While these flights were taking place in the latter part of the 20s, the early part of the decade saw alert, progressive business men looking forward to the day when inter-island commercial flying would be feasible. Even at that time they recognized the coming need for island airports. (Kennedy; Thrum, 1936)

In 1929, Newton Campbell, 18, a student pilot at Ward Airport, received the first civilian private pilot license issued by the Department of Commerce in Hawai‘i.

However, some were concerned about the location of Ward Airport – repeated entries in minutes of meetings of the Territorial Aeronautical Commission complain of flights from there. Such as:

The “field so centrally located there would be considerable tourist trade … (However,) the type of flying done by Lewis Tours (mostly sightseeing flights) is very risky …”

“… not only because of the condition of the field but also because many more landings would be made daily than a transport plane operating for John Rogers Airport.” (Territorial Aeronautical Commission, February 18, 1929)

“(L)ast Sunday Mr Lewis’s plane was flying over the Aloha tower and the city at a very low altitude. Other complaints have also come to us about Mr Lewis’s activities. It was decided that a letter be addressed to Mr Lewis prohibiting the use of Ward Airport for any but emergency landings.” (Territorial Aeronautical Commission, April 29, 1930)

On July 1, 1929, a steamship line moved decisively to provide interisland flying. The Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company, Ltd., of Honolulu, announced possibilities of commercial flying between the major islands.

Two visiting airline representatives soon returned to the mainland and it looked like “competition” would be local, Ed Lewis and the steamship company.

Lewis gave way to his powerful competitor, saying, “There’s no room for two such companies.” Under the leadership of World War I Navy pilot, Stanley C Kennedy, president and manager of the steamship company, Inter-Island Airways, Ltd, was formed. (hawaii-gov)

Attention to aviation activity moved to John Rodgers Airport (dedicated March 21, 1927 and placed under the jurisdiction of the Territorial Aeronautical Commission – then, construction began.)

In 1929, a runway 250-300 feet wide and 2,050-feet long was completed as well as considerable clearing on the balance of the area.

Over the next few years, the facility faced various stages of expansion, on land and in the water – the layout included a combined airport and Seadrome, with seaplane runways in Keʻehi Lagoon adjacent to John Rodgers Airport.

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February 9, 2015 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Camp Very

“The Hawaiian Islands are to be created into a military department headquarters as soon as the new plans of the war department are carried into effect for the concentration of troops in the city of Honolulu.”

“(T)he District of Hawaiʻi is to have twelve thousand men stationed on the Island of Oʻahu and with a third of that number of troops here Hawaiʻi would have a right to the designation of a department headquarters.” (Hawaiian Gazette, May 23, 1911)

After Hawaiʻi became a territory of the United States, the first Naval Station in the islands was established in 1899 at Honolulu Harbor, as there were no facilities and no navigable channel at Pearl Harbor.

The property was transferred to the US by the Republic of Hawaiʻi under the joint resolution of annexation and, to protect the mouth of Honolulu Harbor, the US Army filled a submerged coral reef on the ‘Ewa side of Kaʻākaukukui for a gun emplacement.

The first permanent Marines arrived at Honolulu on board the Army transport Sheridan on February 9, 1904. For four years, the Marines lived in an empty coal shed at the Honolulu Naval Station. (PACNAVFACENGCOM)

In January 1905, President Teddy Roosevelt instructed Secretary of War William H Taft to convene the National Coast Defense Board (Taft Board) “to consider and report upon the coast defenses of the United States and the insular possessions (including Hawai‘i.)”

In 1906 the Taft Board recommended a system of Coast Artillery batteries to protect Pearl Harbor and Honolulu. Between 1909-1921, the Hawaiian Coast Artillery Command had its headquarters at Fort Ruger and defenses included artillery regiments stationed at Fort Armstrong, Fort Barrette, Fort DeRussy, Diamond Head, Fort Kamehameha, Kuwa‘aohe Military Reservation (Fort Hase – later known as Marine Corps Base Hawaiʻi) and Fort Weaver.

Fort Armstrong, built in 1907, was named for Brigadier General Samuel C Armstrong. His father, Reverend Richard Armstrong (1805-1860,) had arrived in Hawaiʻi in 1832 and later replaced Hiram Bingham as pastor at Kawaiahaʻo Church (1840-1843.) In 1848, Armstrong (the father) left the mission and became Hawaiʻi’s minister of public education.

From 1908 until about 1913, the Marines lived in tents at nearby Camp Very (named in honor of Captain Samuel W Very, Commandant of the Naval Station) “a site which was later known as Fort Armstrong”. (PACNAVFACENGCOM)

The complement of Marines in Hawaiʻi comprised some 2,000-men who are distributed between Honolulu and Pearl Harbor.

Training facilities at Camp Very included a small-arms practice range consisting of 6 targets with the ranges from 200 to 500-yards, and at the Army ranges. (Navy Department, 1913)

“The sea-soldiers are well taken care of, they have their own rending and billiard rooms and at the post exchange, formerly called the canteen, they can buy almost anything the heart of man could wish.” (Evening Bulletin, May 6, 1911)

The original garrison at Fort Armstrong was the 1st Coast Artillery Company, followed by the 104th Mine Co. operating the harbor mines. Also stationed there was the 185th Coast Artillery Company.

In 1914, temporary barracks were built – wooden structures that were continually occupied since January, 1914. Buildings are constructed of 1 x 12 rough boards, with tar-paper roofs.

The facility later had a barracks, 4 officers’ quarters, 3 noncommissioned officers’ quarters, administration building and post exchange, guardhouse, fire apparatus house, quartermaster storehouse, gymnasium and related infrastructure; the standard strength was 109 men.

Battery Tiernon at Fort Armstrong was armed with two pedestal mounted 3-inch Guns from 1911 to 1943.

The Army mission in Hawaiʻi was defined in 1920 as “the defense of Pearl Harbor Naval Base against damage from naval or aerial bombardment or by enemy sympathizers and attack by enemy expeditionary force or forces, supported or unsupported by an enemy fleet or fleets.”

Fort Armstrong continued under the Coast Artillery program until September 15, 1922. It was reserved for military purposes by a series of Executive Orders in 1930 and was described as the Fort Armstrong Military Reservation.

The present seawall was constructed 500-feet out from the original shoreline in 1948, and the area was backfilled. The Army Corps of Engineers took over the post in 1949. Kakaʻako Park was created over the landfill area.

On December 13, 1951, because the site was no longer needed by the military and was needed by the Territory of Hawaiʻi for harbor improvements, President Truman transferred the land to the Territory of Hawaiʻi.

The image shows the tents the Marines were housed in at Camp Very in 1910. In addition, I have added other images and maps of this area in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page.

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November 10, 2014 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kaʻākaukukui, Kukuluāeʻo and Kewalo

Ka‘ākaukukui, Kukuluāe‘o and Kewalo were once the ‘ili (sub-sections of ahupuaʻa) that is now generally referred to as “Kakaʻako,” whose shoreline portions became Kakaʻako Makai.

Until fairly recently, Kaka‘ako and the surrounding area were sometimes referred to as something of a wasteland, or empty space, between the better-known locations of Kou (stretching from Nuʻuanu to Alakea Streets and from Hotel Street to the sea and now referred to as Honolulu) and Waikīkī.

Kaka‘ako and surrounding lands remained outside these two intensely populated and cultivated areas on southeastern O‘ahu, yet Hawaiians used Kakaʻako’s lowland marshes, wetlands, salt pans and coral reef flats for salt making and farming of fishponds along with some limited wetland taro agriculture, and this supported habitation sites clustered around the mauka (inland) boundary of the Kaka‘ako area near Queen and King Streets.

Salt ponds near the shore filled with salt water at high tide (ālia) then drained to smaller clay-lined or leaf-lined channels (ho‘oliu) to natural depressions in the rocks along the shore where salt formed naturally (poho kai.)

The land could probably not be used for agriculture as it was impregnated with salt. The abundance of salt led to the Kaka‘ako Salt Works in the late-nineteenth century.

The salt marshes were also excellent places to gather pili grass for the thatching of houses, which may have led to the name Kaka‘ako (prepare the thatching.)

Mo‘olelo point to the coastal marshes as the habitat of the original pueo (owl) that became one of the Hawaiians’ ‘aumākua (deified ancestors.) The mo‘olelo of Kawaiaha‘o follows a trail between Waikīkī and Honolulu to locate two freshwater springs – Kewalo Spring and Kawaiaha‘o (The Waters of Ha‘o,) which highlights its location between the two main population centers.

Kekahuna notes, Kaʻākaukukui was “a beautiful sand beach that formerly extended along Ala Moana Park to Kewalo Basin, a quarter mile long reef extended along the shore.” Kaʻākaukukui means “the right (or north) light,” and it may have previously been a maritime navigation landmark.

Kukuluāe‘o, translates literally as the “Hawaiian stilt (bird)” and means “to walk on stilts.” This helps describe the area as “formerly fronting Kewalo Basin” and “containing marshes, salt ponds and small fishponds,” an environment well suited for this type of bird.

Kewalo (the calling (as an echo)) was once associated with a spring called Kawailumalumai (drowning waters) that was used to sacrifice kauwā, or members of a lowest caste, designed for the heiau of Kānelā‘au on the slopes of Pūowaina (Punchbowl) as the first step in a drowning ritual known as Kānāwai Kaihehe‘e or Ke-kaihe‘ehe‘e (sea sliding along.)

The Kaka‘ako area continued to remain outside Waikīkī and Honolulu during the post-Contact era. It served as a place of the dying and the dead, of isolation and quarantine, of trash and wastelands, and the poor and the immigrant; however, it also represents the birth of modern Waikīkī and Honolulu.

Specifically in this area: victims of the 1853 smallpox epidemic were quarantined in a camp and those that did not survive were buried at Honuakaha Cemetery; Hansen’s Disease patients were treated in the Kaka‘ako Leper Branch Hospital; victims of the 1895 cholera epidemic were treated at the Kaka‘ako Hospital; infected patients of the 1899 bubonic plague were moved to a quarantine camp; animals were quarantined in a station in 1905; and the city’s garbage was burned in an incinerator adjoining Kewalo.

The Kaka‘ako area has been heavily modified over the last 150 years due to historic filling of the area for land reclamation and to accommodate the expanding urbanization of Honolulu. 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.

The original foot path at the edge of the former coastline has been transformed through time to a horse path, then buggy and cart path, and finally to the widened Ala Moana Boulevard.

After the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands by the United States in 1898, the US Congress began to plan for the coastal defenses of their new islands, which included Fort Armstrong on the Ka‘ākaukukui Reef as a station for the storage of underwater mines.

In 1911, the Honolulu Rifle Association, and possibly other groups, used the flat, uninhabited Kaka‘ako land and wetlands near the coast as a rifle range.

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

Dredging of the Kewalo Channel began in 1924, but by the time the concrete wharf was completed in 1926, the lumber import business had faded, so the harbor was used mainly by commercial fishermen. In 1941, the government dredged and expanded the basin to its current 22 acres. 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.

As late as 1940, Kaka‘ako’s population numbered more than 5,000-residents. But after World War II, community buildings, wood-frame camp houses, language schools, temples and churches were removed to make way for auto-body repair shops, warehouses and other small industrial businesses.

Few traces of its former residential existence remain. In the early 1950s, rezoning led to the conversion of the primarily residential and small business district into an urban industrial area.

Decades after the transition from residential to industrial, Kaka‘ako is now slated for redevelopment. Plans call for the re-establishment of a mixed residential and business community – although recent development and present plans include several high-rise developments.

It looks like the residential use is destined to return. As noted in a recent Star-Advertiser piece, resident growth in Kakaʻako is expected to more than triple, from 10,400 to 37,300, by 2035; the prediction was based on “the general consensus that Kakaʻako is ripe for development.” (Lots of information here is from reports from Cultural Surveys.)

The image shows Kakaʻako, Downtown and vicinity with an 1887 Map over a present Google Earth image (with 3D buildings.) In addition, I have added other images and maps of this area in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page.

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October 18, 2014 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Seven Sisters

Nā-Huihui-O-Makaliʻi, “Cluster of Little Eyes” (Makaliʻi) (a faint group of blue-white stars) marks the shoulder of the Taurus (Bull) constellation. Though small and dipper-shaped, it is not the Little Dipper.

Traditionally, the rising of Makaliʻi at sunset following the new moon (about the middle of October) marked the beginning of a four-month Makahiki season in ancient Hawaiʻi (a sign of the change of the season to winter.)

In Hawaiʻi, the Makahiki is a form of the “first fruits” festivals following the harvest season common to many cultures throughout the world. It is similar in timing and purpose to Thanksgiving, Oktoberfest and other harvest celebrations.

Something similar was observed throughout Polynesia, but it was in pre-contact Hawaiʻi that the festival reached its greatest elaboration. As the year’s harvest was gathered, tributes in the form of goods and produce were given to the chiefs from November through December.

Various rites of purification and celebration in December and January closed the observance of the Makahiki season. During the special holiday the success of the harvest was commemorated with prayers of praise made to the Creator, ancestral guardians, caretakers of the elements and various deities – particularly Lono.

Makaliʻi is also known as the Pleiades; its common name is the Seven Sisters.

But it is not these seven sisters that is the subject of this summary; this story is about Mellie, Kulamanu, May, Einei, Lucy, Kathleen and Lani – the seven daughters of Curtis and Victoria Ward.

Curtis Perry Ward was born in Kentucky and arrived in Hawaiʻi in 1853, when whaling in the Pacific was at its peak. Curtis worked at the Royal Custom House, which monitored commercial activity at Honolulu Harbor for the kingdom.

Victoria Robinson was born in Nuʻuanu in 1846, the daughter of English shipbuilder, James Robinson and his wife Rebecca, a woman of Hawaiian ancestry whose chiefly lineage had roots in Kaʻū, Hilo and Honokōwai, Maui.

Ward started a livery with headquarters on Queen Street and expanded into the business of transporting cargo on horse-pulled wagons. The size of Ward’s work force became just as big as the harbor’s other major player, James Robinson & Co. (Victoria’s father.)

Curtis and Victoria married in 1865 and for many years they made their home near Honolulu Harbor on property presently occupied by the Davies Pacific Center.

The Wards bought land on what was then the outskirts of Honolulu, eventually acquiring over 100-acres of land running from Thomas Square on King Street down to the ocean.

They built the “Old Plantation” in 1882, a stately, Southern-style home on the mauka portion of the property. It featured an artesian well, vegetable and flower gardens, a large pond stocked with fish, and extensive pasturage for horses and cattle. Self-sufficient as a working farm, Old Plantation was surrounded by a vast coconut grove.

Here’s a link to a video of “Old Plantation” with Anna Machado Cazimero, Kanoe Cazimero, Rodney Cazimero, Melveen Leed and Tito Berinobis. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtPTv1QENC0

That year, Curtis Ward died (at age 53,) leaving Victoria to raise seven daughters and manage the estate. Here’s a little bit about the girls.

Mary Elizabeth “Mellie” Ward (February 16, 1867 to July 26, 1956) – married Frank Hustace September 30, 1886; Frank worked with, then succeeded his father-in-law in the draying business.

May Augusta Ward (May 10, 1871 to January 6, 1938) – married Ernest Hay Wodehouse in 1893; he was a prominent figure in the business world of Hawaiʻi; former president of Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association and the Sugar Factors Co, Ltd.

Annie Eva Theresa “Einei” Ward (March 13, 1873 to July 19, 1934) – married Wade Armstrong (Einei was the first of the Ward sisters to die, living to the age of 61.)

Keakealani Perry “Lani” Ward (May 27, 1881, December 31, 1961) – married Robert Booth; in 1966, Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women and Children completed a new four-story Lani Ward Booth wing on Punahou Street.

Three sisters never married, and Lucy and Kathleen lived their lives at Old Plantation:
Hattie Kulamanu Ward (March 26, 1869 to March 2, 1959)
Lucy Kaiaka Ward (August 27, 1874 to March 20, 1954) (one of the founding members of the Hawaiian Humane Society)
Victoria Kathleen Ward (February 27, 1878 September 12, 1958)

Victoria Ward established Victoria Ward Ltd. in 1930 to manage the family’s property, primarily the remaining 65-acres of Old Plantation, now part of the core of Kakaʻako real estate adjoining downtown Honolulu. Victoria Ward died April 11, 1935.

Victoria Ward was loyal to the Kingdom (Queen Liliʻuokalani was her personal friend) and she died under the flag much in the same way her husband passed under the Confederate flag more than 50 years before. (Command)

Three sisters, Lucy Kathleen and Kulamanu, took control of the Victoria Ward Estate, with Kathleen becoming president and Lucy the secretary.

All was not always happy in the family.

In 1951, sisters Lucy and Kathleen sued to establish guardianship for sister Kulamanu. At the hearing, evidence of insanity was undisputed and proved to the judge’s satisfaction that Kulamanu was mentally incapable of managing her estate. On evidence of suitability the probate judge found that Hawaiian Trust Company, Limited, is “a fit and proper person to be appointed” as guardian of her estate. (Circuit Court Records)

Later (1957,) the Supreme Court decided on sisters Lani and Mellie (and nephew Cenric Wodehouse) petition for the appointment of a guardian for their sister, Kathleen, alleging that Kathleen was seventy-seven years of age, mentally infirm and unable to manage her business affairs.

The court found Victoria Kathleen Ward was incompetent to manage her business affairs (but not insane) and appointed Chinn Ho, Mark Norman Olds and George H Vicars, Jr guardians of the property. (Supreme Court Records)

In 1958, the city bought the mauka portion of the Old Plantation Estate and tore it down to build the Honolulu International Center (later re-named Neal S. Blaisdell Center (after Honolulu’s former Mayor.))

The Blaisdell Center has been in operation since 1964 and in 1994 was remodeled and expanded. The Blaisdell Center complex includes a multi-purpose Arena, Exhibition Hall, Galleria, Concert Hall, meeting rooms and parking structure.

On April 8, 2002, General Growth Properties, Inc announced the acquisition of Victoria Ward, Limited; this included 65-fee simple acres in Kakaʻako, with improvements of over one-million square feet of leasable area (Ward Entertainment Center, Ward Warehouse, Ward Village and Village Shops.)

General Growth later (2004) acquired the Howard Hughes Corporation. With excessive debt, General Growth was pushed into bankruptcy in 2009; then, in 2010, it spun off the Ward assets into the Hughes entity (General Growth was out of bankruptcy by the end of that year.)

The image shows Mellie, Kulamanu, May, Einei, Lucy, Kathleen and Lani – seven sisters, and daughters of Curtis and Victoria Ward. In addition, I have added other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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