Oahu Railway and Land Company | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

May 15, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

At The End Of The Line

Repeatedly evidenced in the early years of rail across the continent, railroads looked to expand their passenger business by operating hotels at the ends of the lines.

Once a railroad was being built to a new location, the land speculators would prepare for cashing in on their investment. A hotel would typically be in place by the time the railroad service began.

Prospective buyers needed to have a place to stay, so they could become enamored of the scenery and have time to be enticed into buying a piece of property.

Likewise, an ocean liner, while it served as a moving hotel, needed to make sure people had places to stay where the cruise ships stopped.

Simply look at the early history of trains and ships, the pattern is apparent. Several in Hawai‘i followed this example in the planning of their transportation systems.

Here’s a summary of a few hotels and attractions associated with Hawaiʻi’s transportation providers:

OR&L – Haleiwa Hotel
Dillingham’s Haleiwa Hotel was conceived as part of a larger concept. O‘ahu Railway & Land Company was built with the primary purpose of transporting sugar from western Honolulu and the North Shore to Honolulu Harbor.

Dillingham hoped to capitalize on his investment (and expand upon the diversity of users on his trains) by encouraging passenger travel as well; his new hotel was a means to this end. It thrived.

Matson – Moana Hotel
The Moana officially opened on March 11, 1901. Its first guests were a group of Shriners, who paid $1.50 per night for their rooms. Matson Navigation Company bought the property in 1932; they needed land-based accommodations equally lavish to house their cruisers to Hawaiʻi.

Over the course of Matson’s ownership of the Moana, it grew along with the popularity of Hawaiian tourism. Two floors were added in 1928 along with Italian Renaissance-styled concrete wings on each side of the hotel, creating its H shape seen today.

In 1952, a new hotel was built adjacent to the Moana called the Surfrider Hotel (on the east side of the Moana.) In the late-1960s (after the new Sheraton Surfrider Hotel was built on the west side of the Moana,) the old Surfrider building was made into a wing of the Moana Hotel.)

Matson – Royal Hawaiian Hotel
With the success of the early efforts by Matson Navigation Company to provide steamer travel to America’s wealthiest families en route to Hawaiʻi, Captain William Matson proposed the development of a hotel in Honolulu for his passengers.

This was in hope of profiting from what Matson believed could be the most lucrative endeavor his company could enter into. The Royal Hawaiian (Pink Palace of the Pacific) opened its doors to guests on February 1, 1927 with a black tie gala attended by over 1,200 guests. The hotel quickly became an icon of Hawaiʻi’s glory days.

Matson – Princess Kaʻiulani
After the war, tourism to Hawaiʻi expanded in the mid-1950s. To capitalize on this increasing boom in travel and trade, Matson constructed its third hotel, the Princess Kaʻiulani in 1955. Formerly the site of the Moana cottages, the land was cleared in 1953 to make way for a new high-rise.

At the time, the hotel’s Princess Wing was the tallest building in Hawaiʻi (11 stories, 131 feet above the ground). It was the largest hotel built in Hawai‘i, since The Royal Hawaiian in 1927.

In 1959 (the year Hawai‘i entered statehood and jet airline travel was initiated to the State,) Matson sold all of its hotel properties, including the four year-old Princess Kaʻiulani Hotel, to the Sheraton hotel chain.

Hotels weren’t the only end-of-the-line attraction.

Honolulu Rapid Transit and Land Company – Waikīkī Aquarium
The Waikīkī Aquarium opened on March 19, 1904; it is the third oldest aquarium in the United States. Its adjacent neighbor on Waikīkī Beach is the Natatorium War Memorial.

Then known as the Honolulu Aquarium, it was established as a commercial venture by the Honolulu Rapid Transit and Land Company, who wished to “show the world the riches of Hawaiʻi’s reefs”.

It was also a practical objective of using the Aquarium as a means of enticing passengers to ride to the end of the new trolley line in Kapi‘olani Park, where the Aquarium was located. (The trolley terminus was across Kalākaua Avenue from the Aquarium, near the current tennis courts.)

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OR&L Train thunders past Mokuleia Field, Oahu,-(hawaii-gov-hawaiiaviation)-c1942-1943-400

1930s Matson cruise ship departs Honolulu for San Francisco

Matson-Royal_Hawaiian-Princess_Kaiulani-Moana-Surfride-Hotels_Ad-(eBay)-1958

Archibald Cleghornʻs 50 years of membership in the British Club, taking place at Haleiwa Hotel

circa 1910, from The Advertiser's archives shows the old Hale'iwa Hotel

Moana Hotel-Apuakehau Stream-(Kanahele)-1915

BVD 14-1-31-32 royal hawaiian hotel aerial August.22_750-150w-Kamehameha Schools Archives

BVD-14-1-31-41-Bertha Young residence and Royal Hawaiian hotel_150w-KamehamehaSchoolsArchives

Princess_Kaiulani_Hotel-Moana-Surfrider-1958

April 13, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Keawaʻula

Keawaʻula was believed to be part of the Kaʻena Point leina a ka ʻuhane (leaping places of souls into the spirit world;) at the northern part of the Waiʻanae coastline, it is at the western most point of Oʻahu.

Keawaʻula (red harbor or land) got the name from the squid that used to come into the area. When the squid would come into the ocean, from the shore it would appear as a reddish brown color. (ksbe)

Archaeologists turned up evidence of ancient agriculture in Keawaʻula when terraces indicating a former taro site were found at the bottom of the cliff. Several fishing shrines also existed here. (WaiʻanaeHS)

Poha Cave is said to have existed here. This cave had streams of fresh water running through it that were carried to Kaieiewaho Channel between Oʻahu and Kauaʻi. It is said that ancient Hawaiians out fishing would dive down at certain places with large calabashes and come up with fresh water from these streams. (WaiʻanaeHS)

Many years later, in 1859, when a house lot was being cleared in this area, a cave entrance covered by three large, flat stones was found. Freshwater was found inside, and people came from miles around to drink. This cave has since been named Keawaʻula Cave, but many believe it to be the fabled Poha Cave. (WaiʻanaeHS)

Missionary Levi Chamberlain during a trip along the Waiʻanae and Waialua coastline sometime prior to 1849 traveled northwest by canoe from the village of Keawaʻula to a “cove,” presumably a canoe landing, at the southeastern side of Kaʻena Point. (DLNR)

In “front of the little cove” was “a cave used by fishermen occasionally for a residence” which was about 30 feet high and had dimensions of 30 and 15 paces. The cave is described as being at “nearly the west point of the island” and south of the Waiʻanae and Waialua District boundary which dissects Kaʻena Point in an east-west direction. (DLNR)

He traveled from the cave “a short distance over a very rough path along the shore and came to the mokuna (boundary) of the large divisions of the island Wainai and Waiarua.” This may be the cave called “Ke Ana Moe of Kaʻena” in 1954 which was said to be used by travelers from Mākua to Waialua. This cave may have been obscured by construction of the railway bed. (DLNR)

Keawaʻula was known for its aku and ahi fishing grounds. The coastal fisheries were also noted as particularly productive when submerged, woven basket traps (hinaʻi) were used to catch kala and hinalea. (DLNR)

When describing basket traps in general, Kamakau notes a particular pattern and size of basket trap that was made for kala fish and also states it to be “a land abounding in kala fishs”. (DLNR)

Most of the government lands and private lands at Keawaʻula were leased for ranching during the second half of the 1800s and first half of the 1900s. A major portion of Keawaʻula became government land after Laʻamaikahiki relinquished “½” of the ahupuaʻa to the King during the 1848 Māhele and the King then designated it government land. (DLNR)

When the privately-owned lands along the coast were acquired by the State of Hawaiʻi in the 1970s to create Kaʻena Point State Park, all were owned by ranching interests or by families with ranching interests in the area. The Keawaʻula section of the point was owned by Elizabeth Marks who inherited McCandless Ranch.

Keawaʻula is now generally referred to as Yokohama Bay. Several stories suggest the later name. One story suggests this was a favorite fishing spot for Japanese living on Oʻahu; they gave it the nickname Yokohama after the famous fishing village in Japan. (ksbe)

When OR&L extended its rail line around Kaʻena Point, boats carried Japanese laborers, equipment and supplies to the site and freight back; on October 14, 1897, the place where the first Japanese laborers landed for this job is known to this day as “Yokohama Beach.” (ascehawaii)

Another story is that there was a Japanese man who ran the train station there. Because he was Japanese, people nicknamed him “Yokohama” – and thus the place carried it. (WaiʻanaeHS)

The Bay is at the beginning of the Kaʻena Natural Area Reserve. There is a lifeguard and restroom (only at the reserve entrance;) no facilities exist beyond that point. Under the Natural Area Reserve system, off-road driving is prohibited in the area to protect native plant and animal habitats.

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March 2, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Prisoners, Pullmans and Prostitutes

Very few people lived there, but that shouldn’t suggest the place was without activity.

By the time of first contact with Europeans, the downtown area of Honolulu, known then as Kou, was comprised of shoreward fishponds and taro lo‘i fed by streams extending into the Nu‘uanu and Pauoa valleys.

On the opposite side (ʻEwa) of Nu‘uanu stream was a fishpond, identified as “Kawa” or the “King’s fish pond.” Iwilei at that time was a small, narrow peninsula, less populated than the Honolulu-side of Nuʻuanu stream.

Offshore from Iwilei was a small island on the coral reef on the west site of the bay. On the island was a small hut referred to as “Ka-moku-‘akulikuli” or “Kaha-ka-‘au-lana” (the early names for it were “Quarantine Island,” then “Sand Island” – it was a lot smaller, then, too.)

The first wharf at Honolulu Harbor was just north of Nuʻuanu Street. It was constructed from an old hulk sunk at the spot in 1825. This was replaced and expanded in 1837.

On the shoreline (at about what is now the intersection of Queen and Nimitz) Fort Kekuanohu was constructed. Its original purpose was to protect Honolulu by keeping enemy or otherwise undesirable ships out. Later, it was used as a prison.

In 1852, the legislature adopted a resolution directing the minister of the interior to remove the Fort and to use the material obtained thereby “in the construction of prisons, and the filling up of the reef.”

The Fort, being used as a prison, could not be removed until a new prison was built; construction for the new prison began in 1855, but not entirely completed until more than two years later. The Fort was then removed in 1857. (Kuykendall)

The Prison was on a marshy no-man’s land almost completely cut off from the main island by two immense fishponds. The causeway road (initially called “Prison Road,” later “Iwilei Street”) split Kawa Pond into Kawa and Kūwili fishponds.

Sometimes called the “Oʻahu Prison,” “King’s Prison,” “Kawa Prison” or, simply, “The Reef,” it was a coral block fortress built upon coral fill at the end of a coral built road over the coral reefs and mudflats of Iwilei.

In 1886, Mark Twain visited the prison and wrote: “… we presently arrived at a massive coral edifice which I took for a fortress at first, but found out directly that it was the government prison. A soldier at the great gate admitted us without further authority than my countenance, and I supposed he thought he was paying me a handsome compliment when he did so; and so did I until I reflected that the place was a penitentiary”.

The Prison was later relocated to Kalihi (1916) and renamed O‘ahu Jail; this is now known as O‘ahu Community Correctional Facility.

Another Iwilei activity included a railway station. In 1889, a group of businessmen led by Benjamin Dillingham founded the O‘ahu Railway and Land Company (OR&L).

OR&L built Honolulu’s first depot between Kūwili fishpond and King Street, west of Iwilei Street. The July 27, 1889 Advertiser noted, “Plans have been approved by which the main depot will be placed 180 feet from King Street in what is now a fishpond dividing Oahu Prison from the royal stables. A large portion, if not all, of this extensive fishpond will be filled in without delay…”

The railroad carried sugarcane from the plantations to Iwilei – it carried people, too. To accommodate this, the marshes and fishponds were filled in and new wharfs built. By 1901, the OR&L and other business interests had created about 500 acres of waterfront land. The docks could accommodate over 20 deepwater sailing vessels, unloading coal and loading sugar.

The last of the activities at early Iwilei was the business of sex. (Before there was Hotel Street (the 1940s gathering place,) there was Iwilei.) They called it the ‘Iwilei Stockade.’

Inside a high stockade wall were long rows of rooms, each 8×10; there were 225 of them. Most of the women were from Japan. From 4 pm to 2 am, the stockade gates were open. (Gallagher)

These women did not live at Iwilei; they only went there in the evenings, and then returned to their uptown homes at night. Some had homes of their own, others were servants of families; but all went back to town. They were in no sense isolated; Iwilei was not their home; they neither eat nor sleep there. (Special Legislative Committee Report, 1905)

Local law enforcement condoned and controlled the activities, under the guise that it was “a public necessity.” “The whole of Iwilei makai of the Oʻahu Prison has been used for the purpose of prostitution for some time past.” (Special Legislative Committee Report, 1905)

“The High Sheriff of the Territory, through his agents, has ordered all of such women (prostitutes) that are found in different parts of the City, and also in some portions of Iwilei, to move to one particular part as follows: on the makai side of Iwilei rice mill, and on the Ewa side of the Iwilei road.” (Special Legislative Committee Report, 1905)

The Iwilei brothels (or “boogie houses,” as they were also called back then) were later forced to relocate to Hotel Street and a few adjoining parts of Chinatown. By 1916, the Iwilei Stockade was shut down.

It has been suggested that one of the former Iwilei prostitutes became the role model for the key character in the silent film “Sadie Thompson,” based on W. Somerset Maugham’s short story “Rain” (as well as other adaptations.)

As time went on, more of the fringing reefs were filled, which made way for expanded commercial use. By the 1920s, small and large businesses moved in – and, now, gone are the Prisoners, Pullmans and Prostitutes from Iwilei.

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Downtown_and_Vicinity-Map-noting_Oahu_Prison-Kawa_and_Kuwili_Fishponds-and-Shoreline-1887

Looking_mauka_from_Iwilei_Prison-overlooking_causeway-(Saga-Scott)

Prison_Inmates_around_Communal_Buckets_of_Poi

Honolulu_from_the_Prison-PP-38-2-002-1862

Looking_mauka_from_Iwilei_Prison-overlooking_causeway

Honolulu_Waterfront-From-Iwilei-PPWD-9-3-003-1890s

Dwellings probably along King St. near River St. and Nuuanu Stream-PP-38-3-017-1870

Honolulu_Waterfront_from_the_Prison-PP-38-5-007-1880s

River Street looking toward Punchbowl from King Street

pulls into the Honolulu Depot to pick up and dispatch passengers. Photo taken in 1890.

OR&L-Chinese_Theater-Kaumakapili_Church-PPWD-9-3-002-1890s

General_View_of_Iwilei_Pen-(The_Republican)-09-02-1900

January 19, 2020 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Kawaihāpai

Kawaihāpai Ahupua’a is nestled between Keālia and Mokuleʻia ahupuaʻa in the Waialua District on the island of Oʻahu. West of Keālia is Kaʻena Ahupuaʻa.

The oral traditions explain the origin of the name as: “A drought once came there in ancient times and drove out everyone except two aged priests. Instead of going with the others, they remained to plead with their gods for relief.”

“One day they saw a cloud approaching from the ocean. It passed over the house to the cliff behind. They heard a splash and when they ran to look, they found water.”

“Because it was brought there by a cloud in answer to their prayers, the place was named Kawaihāpai (the carried water) and the water supply was named Kawaikumuʻole (water without source).” (Alameida, HJH)

Kawaihāpai was known for its large loʻi (irrigated terraces) and sweet potato fields as well as excellent fishing grounds. The loʻi extended into Keālia, where small terraces at the foot of the pali (cliff) grew varieties of taro.

In addition to shore or reef fishing, ponds were built for the breeding and nurturing of fish. Handy pointed out that, “these enterprises varied from small individual efforts to large-scale cooperative undertakings directed by ruling chiefs, and varied also according to locality and natural advantages.” (Alameida, HJH)

Kamakau wrote that the loko iʻa of various sizes beautified the land, and that “a land with many fishponds was called a ‘fat’ land” (ʻāina momona.) The well-known loko iʻa of Waialua were Lokoea and ʻUkoʻa in the ahupuaʻa of Kawailoa. While Kamehameha I was living on Oʻahu, he worked in the fishponds on the island, including ʻUkoʻa in Waialua.

After the death of Kinaʻu, daughter of Kamehameha I, all of her lands in Waialua were inherited by her infant daughter Victoria Kamaʻmalu. Although only nine years old at the time of the Māhele, Kamāmalu was the third largest land holder in the kingdom.

However, she gave up all of her lands between the ahupua’a of Kamananui and Kaʻena to the government to satisfy the one third commutation requirement set by the Land Commission.

Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III) then designated these lands at the western end of Waialua district as government lands, distinct from those he reserved for himself; this included Kawaihāpai, Kamananui, Mokuleʻia, Keālia and Kaʻena. (As such, people, residents and foreigners, were able to purchase the land in fee simple.)

Those who bought government lands were issued documents called grants or often referred to as Royal Patent Grants signed by Kamehameha III. These differed from the awards issued by the Land Commission.

By the late-1800s, some of the heirs of the original Kawaihāpai landowners were selling land. By the mid-1920s, the Dillinghams owned land from Mokuleʻia to Kaʻena.

Army use of land just south of the Oahu Railroad & Land Company (OR&L) railway in Mokuleʻia began in 1922 with the establishment of Camp Kawaihāpai as a communications station. In the 1920s and 1930s, the site was also used as a deployment site for mobile coast artillery, which was transported by railroad.

The US government acquired about 105-acres from Walter F. Dillingham, whose father, Benjamin F. Dillingham, had built Oʻahu Railway & Land Co.

The military was looking for a site for an airfield. The area was originally called Kawaihāpai Military Reservation in 1927. By December 7, 1941, a fighter airstrip had been established on additional leased land and Mokuleʻia Airstrip had been established.

P-40 aircraft were deployed at North Shore airstrips at Kahuku, Haleiwa and Mokuleʻia when the Pearl Harbor attack took place. At the outbreak of World War II, the area was re-designated Mokuleʻia Airfield and was expanded to accommodate bombers.

Mokuleʻia Airfield was improved to a 9,000-foot by 75-foot paved runway, a crosswind runway and many aircraft revetments from 1942-1945. By the end of World War II, Mokuleʻia Airfield could handle B-29 bombers.

In 1946, the U.S. Army acquired the additional 583 acres of leased land by condemnation. In late 1946, the US Army Air Force became the US Air Force by order of President Truman, so Mokuleʻia Airfield became an Air Force installation.

In 1948, the airfield was inactivated and the area was renamed Dillingham Air Force Base in memory of Captain Henry Gaylord Dillingham, a B-29 pilot who was killed in action in Kawasaki, Japan, July 25, 1945.

Captain Dillingham was the son of Walter F. Dillingham who was a noted pilot on Oʻahu in the 1930s. Henry was also the grandson of Benjamin F. Dillingham (who founded the OR&L, which evolved into Hawaiian Dredging Company and the Dillingham Corporation.)

In the 1970s the state had examined the airfield’s potential as a reliever airport. The Defense Authorization Act of 1990 provided that the 67 acres of ceded land of old Camp Kawaihapai be transferred to the state after an agreement on future joint-use of the airfield was reached.

The 2001 Legislature passed Act 276 (effective in 2005) that changed the official name of the airfield located at Kawaihāpai, formerly known as Dillingham Airfield, to Kawaihāpai Airfield (although some still refer to it today as Dillingham.)

It serves as a public and military use airport, operated by the Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation. The airport is primarily used for gliding and sky diving operations. Military operations consist largely of night operations for night vision device training.

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December 5, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Waiʻanae

The Waianae Coast received its name from the mullet that was once farmed here. Wai means water, and ʻanae means large mullet (perhaps from mullet in the muliwai, or brackish-water pools, that were once common in the backshore on many Waiʻanae beaches.) These fish were once produced in large amounts.

A legend describes the origins of niu (coconut) in the Hawaiian Islands, as well as the naming of Pōkaʻī Bay. Pōkaʻī was a voyaging chief of Kahiki (Tahiti) who is said to have brought coconut palms to Hawai‘i. A huge grove of coconuts once lined the shore of Pōka‘ī Bay.

The trees provided shelter and useful materials for the ancient Hawaiian village. This grove, known as “Ka Uluniu o Pokai,” was not just a legend as it was noted by western sailors in the 1700s.

Waiʻanae Ahupuaʻa within the Waiʻanae District was its Royal Center in the late-1600s to the 1700s. The ahupuaʻa had numerous important heiau and the largest population of the district at European contact.

Prior to contact with the Hawaiian Islands by Captain James Cook in 1778, the population of Waiʻanae was approximately 4,000 to 6,000 people.

In 1793, Vancouver described Waiʻanae as desolate and barren: “From the commencement of the high land to the westward of Opooroah [Puʻuloa] was … one barren rocky waste, nearly destitute of verdure, cultivation or inhabitants, with little variation all to the west point of the island. …”

“Nearly in the middle of this side of the Island is the only village we had seen westward of Opooroah. … The shore here forms a small sandy bay. On its southern side, between the two high rocky precipices, in a grove of cocoanut and other trees, is situated the village. …”

“The few inhabitants that visited us from the village, earnestly entreated out anchoring and told us, that if we would stay until morning, their chief would be on board with a number of hogs, and a great quantity of vegetables. … The face of the country did not, however, promise an abundant supply.” (Vancouver)

A Waiʻanae kahuna (priest) prophesied the coming of a “big fish” who “would eat all the little fish.” The following year (1795,) Kamehameha invaded and conquered Oʻahu. Following Kamehameha’s succession as ruling chief, “the despoiled people in large numbers fled to Waiʻanae and settled there. This part of Oahu being hot, arid, isolated, with little water, was not coveted by the invaders”. (City P&R)

In direct contrast was an inland description of Waiʻanae recorded by Handy in 1940: In ancient times Waiʻanae Valley had extensive systems of terraces along its various streams, in what is now forest and water reserve, and well down into the broad area not covered by sugar cane.

Names were obtained for 14 district terrace sections, watered by Olahua Stream, extending as far down as the site of the present power house. The section named Honua, including the group of terraces farthest inland, belonged to the aliʻi of the valley. (City P&R)

In the 1800s, missionary Levi Chamberlain traveled to Waiʻanae, describing it as: “… a very beautiful place, opening an extensive valley … having a view of the sea from those points …”

“… on the left is a grove of coconuts on low ground through the midst of which runs a beautiful stream of clear water from the mountains. Houses are scattered here and there in the grove and clumps of sugar cane and rows of bananas are see interspersed.” (Chamberlain)

The census in 1835 listed 1,654 residents on the Waiʻanae coast. In 1855, JW Makalena, the Waiʻanae tax collector, listed these figures for taxpayers: Waiʻanae Kai – 62, Kamaile – 44, Mākaha – 38, Makua – 21, Maile – 9, Nanakuli – 8. These were generally adult males. Assuming each adult male had a family of four, estimates of population are: Waiʻanae Kai – 250, Kamaile – 175, Makaha – 150, Makua – 85, Maili – 35, and Nanakuli – 30.

Christian missionaries were quick to establish missions throughout Oʻahu following their arrival in 1820. Ordained in 1850, Stephen Waimalu became the first Hawaiian minister of Waiʻanae.

In the mid-1800s, Paul Manini (son of Don Francisco de Paula Marin) had a lease over Waiʻanae Valley; he raised cattle on the land. By the late-1870s most of Waiʻanae Ahupuaʻa was in ranching. JM Dowsett had acquired Waiʻanae Uka by 1870 and by 1880 was running a grazing ranch on 17,200 acres of the Waiʻanae Valley. (City P&R)

Prior to the 1880s, the Waiʻanae coastline may not have undergone much alteration. The old coastal trail probably followed the natural contours of the local topography. With the introduction of horses, cattle and wagons in the nineteenth century, many of the coastal trails were widened and graded.

However, sugar was to be the economic future of Hawaiʻi and with the passing of the treaty of reciprocity in 1876, allowing sugar into the United States duty free, the profits became enormous.

In 1879 Judge Hermann A Wideman, GN Wilcox and AS Wilcox started the Waiʻanae Company to grow sugar in the Mākaha, Waiʻanae and Lualualei valleys.

With the addition of a railroad for hauling cane, Waiʻanae Company carried the distinction of being the most modern and efficient in all of Hawai`i.

As the success of sugar cultivation grew, so did Waiʻanae Village. By the 1890s, there was a resident postmaster, two mail deliveries a week, a steamer arrival every Friday and the plantation manager’s office boasted a telephone (McGrath).

Eventually as the sugar lands increased, squabbles arose between the plantation and the taro farmers over the precious and limited water resources. Wells dug by the McCandless brothers solved the crises for the plantation for a while. At its peak, the plantation produced 13.79 tons of sugar per acre in 1935.

John Papa ‘Ī‘ī describes a network of Leeward O‘ahu trails, which in early historic times crossed the Waiʻanae Range, allowing passage from Central O‘ahu through Pōhākea Pass and Kolekole Pass. The Pu‘u Kapolei trail gave access to the Waiʻanae district from Central O‘ahu, which evolved into the present day Farrington Highway.

In 1888, Benjamin F Dillingham secured a franchise from King Kalākaua to build a railroad that eventually extended from Honolulu, along the Waiʻanae coast, around Kaʻena Point, to Waialua and Kahuku. With easy access to the Waiʻanae coast by train came limited development

The arrival of WW II changed the character and land use of Waiʻanae. Some of the best sugar lands were taken over by the military, which was the beginning of the end for the Waiʻanae Plantation, that closed in 1947. Lots of information here from McGerty and Spear in City P&R.

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Farrington_Highway-Makaha_Beach-(CulturalSurveys)-1947

Farrington_Highway-(Cultural_Surveys)-late-1940s

Suydam Cutting, NY explorer & writer; Jouett Todd, Louisville attorney; Walter Dillingham; W. Averell Harriman, chmn Board; Sloan Colt, pres NY Banker’s Trust Co; Hugh Chrisholm, Portland MO.