Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Pōhaku Lele

In the 1950s, sand was trucked from Waimea Bay Beach to replenish eroding sand at Waikiki Beach. Reportedly, over 200,000-tons of sand at Waimea Bay was removed to fill beaches in Waikiki and elsewhere. 1884 maps note a ‘Table Rock,’ completely surrounded by sand near the water’s edge on the Haleiwa side of the bay. They say, before the sand excavation, if you would have tried to jump off that rock, you would have jumped about six feet down into the sand below. (Early photographs of the area illustrate that.)

Some reference it as Pōhaku Lele (literally, fly or jump rock – however, given the prior context of the beach, that doesn’t sound like a traditional name. Folks now tend to call it “Jump Rock.” It’s on the west side of the bay. In summer, when there is no surf, it is a popular place for folks to stand around and eventually jump off (during the winter, the surf is too high to even think of going onto it.)

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Dickie Cross

Until the 1930s, modern surfing in Hawaiʻi was focused at Waikīkī; there the waves were smaller. Then, in 1937, Wally Froiseth and John Kelly, reportedly on a school trip, witnessed the large break at Mākaha and later surfed its waves. Mākaha became the birthplace of big wave surfing. Then, they looked to the North Shore. On December 22, 1943, Woody Brown and a young friend named Dickie Cross paddled out at Sunset on a rising swell. Up to this time, Sunset had rarely been ridden. “There were 20 foot waves breaking on each side.” They paddled down to Waimea.

“All of a sudden, his eyes see the darn mountains coming way outside in the blue water, just piling one on top of another, way out there.” “So, they washed me up on the beach. I was so weak, I couldn’t stand up. I crawled out on my hands and knees and these army guys came running down.” “The first thing I said to them was, ‘Where’s the other guy?’ They said, ‘Oh, we never saw him after he got wrapped up in that first big wave.’” Cross’s death contributed greatly to what California big-wave rider Greg Noll later described as the ‘Waimea taboo’ – a general fear that kept surfers from riding the break until 1957.

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Lihue Plantation

“(T)he plains of Whymea … are reputed to be very rich and productive, occupying a space of several miles in extent, and winding at the foot of these three lofty mountains far, into the country.” The Waimea of the 1830s and 40s was a busy place. Wild cattle were being caught for hides and beef, tanneries were turning hides into leather, sugar cane was being milled into sugar, and farm products were being grown.”

A sugar plantation, situated in Lihue (an area in Waimea that is generally where the Lālāmilo agricultural subdivision is situated) started up. Although unsuccessful, sugarcane continued to be cultivated in Waimea. While sugar was out; cattle was in. More lands were converted to pasturage and holding pens; and, according to Lorezo Lyons, Waimea had turned into a “cattle pen” and “(b)y another unfavorable arrangement 2/3 of Waimea have been converted to a pasture for government herds of cattle, sheep, horses, etc.”

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Soaring, Surfing & Sailing

Born in New York on April 5, 1912, the older of two children, Woodbridge (Woody) Parker Brown came from a very wealthy home, headed by a father with a seat on the Wall Street Stock Exchange. Woody was expected to step into that position. He didn’t; he was crazy about airplanes … and surfing. He adapted some of the aerodynamic features of soaring to surfing. He also teamed with others and designed and built Manu Kai, a 38-foot double-hulled sailing catamaran.

In the early 1940s, Brown joined surfing pioneer Wally Froiseth and began surfing pristine waves in remote places like Mākaha and the North Shore. Brown was one of three surfers photographed charging down a giant Mākaha wave in 1953. His wife, Betty, died in childbirth; flying was not available in Hawai‘i at the time, so he tried to surf the sadness out of his system. “Woody Brown was one of the first and greatest icons in the history of surfing.”

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Puʻu O Mahuka

Pu‘u o Mahuka (“hill of escape”) is located on the north side of the valley; it is the largest heiau on Oʻahu (covering almost 2 acres.) Archaeological research has indicated several changes in the heiau structure over time.

A story of its origin notes, in 1773, a leadership change was decided on Oʻahu where Kahahana would replace Kumahana. Puʻu O Mahuka included a Hale O Papa, a specialized heiau designated specifically to women; kapu (forbidden) to men.