Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Robert Louis Stevenson

Starting in 1888, Robert Lewis Stevenson (born in Edinburgh Scotland on November 13th 1850,) the famous author of popular works such as ‘Treasure Island’ and ‘Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde,’ began a tour of the South Pacific, visiting Tahiti and the Marquesas.

For nearly ten years his health had been declining; he was told by his doctor to travel there because the climate was good for his bad health.

On January 24, 1889, he arrived in Honolulu and spent the first six months of that year in the Hawaiian Islands (he later settled and lived in Samoa.)

Here, the renowned author found time for writing, completing The Master of Ballantrae and The Wrong Box and starting others during his short stay.

Stevenson visited Kalaupapa (shortly after Damien’s death) and later wrote of the good work of Father Damien (now Saint Damien.)  He also travelled to Kona on the Big Island (the setting for most of his short story “The Bottle Imp.”)

On Oʻahu, Stevenson was introduced to the King Kalākaua and others in the royal family by fellow Scotsman, Archibald Cleghorn.  Stevenson established a fast friendship with the royal family and spent a lot of time with his good friend King Kalākaua.

In 1889, Stevenson wrote a poem, “To Kalakaua:”

“The Silver Ship, my King – that was her name
In the bright islands whence your fathers came –
The Silver Ship, at rest from winds and tides,
Below your palace in your harbour rides:
And the seafarers, sitting safe on shore,
Like eager merchants count their treasures o’er.
One gift they find, one strange and lovely thing,
Now doubly precious since it pleased a king.

The right, my liege, is ancient as the lyre
For bards to give to kings what kings admire.
‘Tis mine to offer for Apollo’s sake;
And since the gift is fitting, yours to take.
To golden hands the golden pearl I bring:
The ocean jewel to the island king.”

Stevenson also befriended Princess Kaʻiulani (daughter of Princess Likelike and Archibald Cleghorn – and the King’s niece) and was a frequent guest at her home, ʻĀinahau, in Waikīkī.

It was Stevenson who first referred to Kaʻiulani as “the island rose” in a poem he wrote for her and inscribed in her autograph book – Stevenson’s poem, “To Princess Kaiulani:”

“Forth from her land to mine she goes,
The Island maid, the Island rose;
Light of heart and bright of face:
The daughter of a double race.

Her islands here, in Southern sun,
Shall mourn their Kaiulani gone,
And I, in her dear banyan shade,
Look vainly for my little maid.

But our Scots islands far away
Shall glitter with unwonted day,
And cast for once their tempests by
To smile in Kaiulani’s eye.”

When Kaʻiulani left for boarding school in England at the age of 13, Stevenson had several of his books bound specially for her (she was away from the Islands for nine years.)

Later in 1889, he and his extended family traveled to Samoa where they decided to build a house and settle.  He took the native name Tusitala (Samoan for “Teller of Tales”, i.e. a storyteller).

He returned to Hawaiʻi in 1893 for a short stay at the San Souci Hotel in Waikīkī (a beachfront resort that opened in 1884 offering private cottages.)  It gained fame, after he wrote about staying there for five weeks.

Stevenson’s remarks in the guest book note: “If anyone desires such old-fashioned things as lovely scenery, quiet, pure air, clean sea water, good food, and heavenly sunsets hung out before their eyes over the Pacific and the distant hills of Waianae, I recommend him cordially to the Sans Souci.”

With turmoil at the time in the Hawaiian Islands and health concerns on his part, Stevenson returned to Samoa where on December 3, 1894, he passed away at the age of 44.

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Old Plantation

Curtis 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 Nu’uanu 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 Honokowai, 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.)

When tensions began to rise between the American North and South in the late-1850s, Ward would defend his Southern heritage. As a result, Ward’s home, named “Dixie,” was often stoned by Northern sailors. (Hustace)

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.

Seven daughters were born during these years: Mary Elizabeth, Kulamanu, May, Einei, Lucy, Kathleen and Lani.

As was common for many young married couples of English and Hawaiian ancestry during this period, the Wards socialized comfortably with Honolulu’s expatriate British families, as well as with members of the various Royal families.

This was a period of considerable turbulence in Hawaiian political affairs, and Curtis and Victoria joined with their friends in resisting the rising power of the sugar barons and firmly opposed reciprocity with the United States. (Ward Centers)

Even in later years, Victoria Ward held to her political convictions and remained a loyal friend and supporter of Liliʻuokalani after the overthrow of the monarchy in 1893. (Ward Centers)

Then, 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.

In 1882, Curtis Ward died at age 53, leaving Victoria to raise seven daughters and manage the estate.

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.

In 2002, Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc (owner of Ala Moana Center) closed on an agreement to buy Victoria Ward Ltd., giving it control of one of the state’s largest private landowners and operator of a growing retail complex in Kakaʻako.

In 2010, General Growth spun off its development properties as the Howard Hughes Corporation and is working on plans for the creation/redevelopment of an urban master planned community in Kakaʻako. (OHA and Kamehameha Schools are other large landowners in Kakaʻako.)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook 

Follow Peter T Young on Google+ 

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn  

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

© 2020 Hoʻokuleana LLC

  • 19580108 – Ward Estate (looking out driveway toward King Street. The daughters of Curtis P. Ward, gentleman from Kentucky who built Old Plantation, once romped on this lanai. SB BW by Terry Luke.
  • OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ninth Island

I’ve never been there – and not sure I ever will – but many from Hawaiʻi have.

In fact, it’s generally known as the Ninth Island (joining Niʻihau, Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe, Maui and Hawaiʻi.)

The place is known for gambling.

In 1855, Native Americans Paiute Indians played a roulette-like game in the sand, using bones and colored sticks.

The town of Las Vegas was born with a land auction held on May 15 and 16, 1905. At the time, no one involved could have predicted the explosive growth of the next hundred years. (unlv-edu)

Fast forward and today it’s a popular ‘second home’ to many from Hawaiʻi.

For many, the trip begins with arrangements through Vacations Hawaiʻi; that leads to charter flight scheduling; local style casino; moderate hotel accommodations (including familiar food;) and ends with favored omiyage.

This successful formula has more ties to Hawaiʻi – one of the popular packages is through Boyd Gaming at the California Hotel and Casino (The Cal,) whose founder, Sam Boyd, helped run early gaming in Hilo and Honolulu.

When he was in his 20s (1935-1940,) Boyd was in Hawaiʻi working at Hisakichi Hisanaga’s Palace Amusement, organizing Bingo games there.

The Boyd Gaming story dates back to 1941, when Sam Boyd arrived in Las Vegas with his family and just $80 in his pocket. He worked up through the ranks of the Las Vegas gaming industry, moving from dealer to pit boss to shift boss.

It wasn’t long before Boyd had saved up enough money to buy a small interest in the world-renowned Sahara Hotel.

He then moved on to become general manager and partner at The Mint in downtown Las Vegas, where he introduced a number of successful marketing, gaming and entertainment innovations.

After the Mint was sold in 1968, Sam Boyd started managing the Eldorado Casino in downtown Henderson. He had acquired it with his son, Bill Boyd, in 1962. Bill, a practicing attorney, earned his first interest in the Eldorado by doing all of its legal work.

The birth of Boyd Gaming came on January 1, 1975, when Sam and Bill Boyd founded the company to develop and operate the California Hotel and Casino in downtown Las Vegas. At this time, Bill left the legal profession, after practicing for 15 years, and began working full-time at the California.

The California was intended to attract people from the largest state where gambling was illegal, where they could drive by car or bus to the desert – that’s why it was called the California.

The problem was that the California was not on the main strip. It was downtown but a block-and-a-half away from the Fremont Strip. California travel agents figured out it was a second-rate hotel in a bad location, so the hotel struggled.

Seeking a niche for their new property, the Boyds decided to market the property to the underserved tourists from Hawaiʻi – and one of downtown’s greatest success stories was born.

Boyd learned this during the 1930s when he lived in Hawaiʻi, working in the gambling business (when it was legal) for Hisanaga. “Not only did he learn from a great teacher in terms of gambling,” says Dr. Dennis M. Ogawa, co-author of California Hotel and Casino, “He also learned about Hawaiʻi. That changed Sam Boyd forever – the aloha.” (Honolulu Magazine)

Years before Las Vegas exploded into a desert fantasy, the hotel welcomed Hawaiʻi folks by the charter planeload, with waiters in aloha shirts serving up local food. The Cal’s beef jerky was a favored omiyage; the homemade saimin was the real deal. In Waikiki, thousands attended Boyd’s “Mahalo Parties” at the Queen Kapiʻolani Hotel and Sheraton Waikiki. (Honolulu Advertiser)

According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, in 2010, there were approximately 7,000 airline seats flying from Hawaiʻi to McCarran International Airport every week, bringing 260,000 visitors from Honolulu to the desert. (Las Vegas Sun)

Not accounting for repeat visits – of which there were likely many – and travelers continuing elsewhere, about 20 percent of all Hawaiians visited Las Vegas in one year. And some of them stayed. (Las Vegas Sun)

According to Las Vegas standards, people from Hawaiʻi are the best gamblers in the world. According to the book California Hotel and Casino: Hawaiʻi’s Home Away from Home, when the Cal first started in the late 1970s, typical Las Vegas tourists spent $300 or less on gambling during a 2 ½-day stay. Not those from Hawaiʻi. On average, folks from Hawaiʻi spent $350 gambling each day for four days. (Honolulu Magazine)

Boyd built or helped build eight big hotels and casinos in Southern Nevada. He was also a benefactor to many local organizations, including the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, which named its football stadium the Sam Boyd Silver Bowl.

Sam Boyd passed away in 1993, but the company he founded continued to grow and thrive under Bill’s leadership. Through a series of new developments and strategic acquisitions Boyd Gaming grew into a nationwide company, operating 22 casino entertainment properties in Nevada, New Jersey, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida (… and Vacations Hawaiʻi.)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook 

Follow Peter T Young on Google+ 

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn  

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

© 2020 Hoʻokuleana LLC

  • OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Makawao Union Church

First known as Makawao Foreign Church and Congregation, Makawao Union Church received a charter from the Hawaiian government in 1861, although the Reverend Jonathan Green had been holding services in his Makawao home from 1857.

Reverend Green came to Hawaiʻi in 1828 with the Third Company of missionaries, and served at various locations until 1843.

He then helped the Hawaiian people in the Makawao area form the first self-supporting church in Hawaiʻi at Poʻokela. He continued to serve as the pastor of this church as well as the Makawao Union Church which was started to meet the needs of the English speaking, foreign community around Makawao.

A church was built in 1861 at the location of the present Makawao cemetery, and continued to serve the community until 1888, when a parishioner, Henry Perrine Baldwin, donated land and built a new church outside of Paia, which was closer to the population center of the district.

This church was built on the foundation of Baldwin’s former sugar mill at Paliuli, near Rainbow Gulch. This frame church was dedicated on March 10, 1889, and served the community until it was torn down in 1916 to make way for the present memorial church.

In 1914, the Pā‘ia Community House was built adjacent to the church for the express purpose of serving not only the church’s congregation, but the greater community, and was in continuous use by various island groups for plays, concerts, dances and other gatherings.

After Baldwin’s death in 1911, his family built a new stone sanctuary in his memory. The new building designed by noted architect CW Dickey is a basically Gothic design in the style of the English village church.

It combines a Norman tower with a distinctively Hawaiian roofline. With its intricate, carved-oak interior and unique pew arrangement, the sanctuary has long been noted for its exceptional structural design.

When this church building was dedicated in 1917, Harry Baldwin, eldest son of Henry Perrine and Emily Baldwin, gave the principal address and stated, “Makawao Union Church is built to provide a permanent meeting house for the people of this community and future comers for the purpose of upholding and improving the moral and religious standing of the community for generations to come.” (Maui Weekly)

“The first and second Sundays in September hundreds of Maui people were in attendance at the services of dedication of the Henry Perrine Baldwin Memorial Church of Paia. A deeper impression upon worshippers has seldom been made in this Territory than during these two Sundays.” (The Friend, September 1917)

“Our sanctuary building is a real landmark in the Pā‘ia – Makawao area – a constant reminder of the historical significance of our church and its relationship with Henry Baldwin,” said present church pastor Rev. Schlicher, during the church’s 150th anniversary celebration. (Maui Weekly)

“Besides being a pioneer in Hawai‘i’s sugar industry, Baldwin was a deeply religious man who gave of his time, wealth and services to his church, his community and the people of Hawai‘i.”

In 1843, Samuel Thomas Alexander and Henry Perrine Baldwin, sons of pioneer missionaries, met in Lāhainā, Maui. They grew up together, became close friends and went on to develop a sugar-growing partnership.

In 1869, they purchased 12-acres of land in Makawao and the following year an additional 559-acres. That same year, the partners planted sugar cane on their land marking the birth of what would become Alexander & Baldwin, Inc.

By 1876, the partners had expanded their sugar acreage and begun to seek a reliable source of water for their crop. Although not an engineer, Alexander devised an irrigation system that would bring water from the windward slopes of Haleakala to Central Maui to irrigate 3,000 acres of cane – their own and neighboring plantations.

In 1883, Alexander and Baldwin formalized their partnership by incorporating their sugar business as the Pāʻia Plantation also known at various times as Samuel T. Alexander & Co., Haleakala Sugar Co. and Alexander & Baldwin Plantation.

In 1889, Baldwin was instrumental in forming the Hawaiian Sugar Company Plantation at Makaweli on the island of Kauai, and oversaw the construction of the Hanapepe ditch on that island.

In 1894, he and Samuel Alexander formed Alexander & Baldwin which operated as the San Francisco agent for their plantations.

The Articles of Association were filed June 30, 1900 with the treasurer of the Territory of Hawaiʻi. Alexander & Baldwin, Limited became a Hawaiʻi corporation, with its principal office in Honolulu and with a branch office in San Francisco. They were one of Hawaiʻi’s Big 5.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook 

Follow Peter T Young on Google+ 

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn  

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

© 2020 Hoʻokuleana LLC

  • Henry Perrine Baldwin scanned from a page from “The Story of Hawaii and its Builders” Hawaii

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Libbyville

Pineapple (“halakahiki,” or foreign hala,) long seen as Hawaiʻi’s signature fruit, was introduced to the Kingdom of Hawai‘i in 1813 by Don Francisco de Paula Marin, a Spanish adviser to King Kamehameha I.

Although sugar dominated the Hawaiian economy, there was also great demand at the time for fresh Hawaiian pineapples in San Francisco – commercial production of pineapples started in Mānoa.

It was during the 1890s and the first decade of the 1900s that this crop really grew economically in Hawaiʻì.

From the first canning in Hawai‘i in 1882 to the rise and fall of many small canneries, testing of different growing techniques and areas, and plantations established on different islands, the groundwork was laid for the successful establishment and growth of Hawai‘i’s largest producers: Dole’s Hawaiian Pineapple Co; Libby McNeill Libby; and California Packing Corp (Del Monte.)

In 1868, brothers Arthur and Charles Libby joined Archibald McNeill and created Libby’s, one of the world’s leading producers of canned foods began selling beef packed in brine.

In 1907, McNeill & Libby started its first fruit cannery in Sunnyvale, California. It quickly became the largest employer with a predominantly female workforce.

In the early 1900s, it established a pineapple canning subsidiary in Hawaiʻi and began to advertise its canned produce using the ‘Libby’s’ brand name.

Unlike the other bigger pineapple producers, Libby did not start in Central Oʻahu, it started in Windward O‘ahu – later, it expanded to the Leeward side, in Wahiawa and Kalihi, and then on the Maui and Molokaʻi. (Hawkins)

By 1911, Libby, McNeill & Libby gained control of land in Kāneʻohe and built the first large-scale cannery with an annual capacity of 250,000 cans at Kahaluʻu, Koʻolaupoko on the Windward side of O‘ahu; growing and canning pineapples became a major industry in the area for a period of 15 years (to 1925.)

This sizable cannery, together with the surrounding old style plantation-type housing units, became known as “Libbyville” (St John’s by the Sea now occupies the site.)

During most of the period when this cannery was in operation, the canned pineapple was transported to Honolulu by sampan from a pier just off the end of the peninsula at Wailau.

At its peak, 2,500 acres were under pineapple cultivation on Windward O‘ahu, and of this a large percentage was in the Kāne‘ohe Bay region.

The change in landscape to the Windward side by 1914 is reflected in the following sentences: “At last we reached the foot of the Pali…Joe and I looked over the surrounding hills, but looked in vain for the great areas of guava through which but a few months ago we had fought and cut our way. As far as the eye could reach pineapple plantations had taken the place of the forest of wild guava.” (Cultural Surveys)

Libby’s pineapple covered the southern portion of Kāne’ohe, what is now the Pali Golf Course, Hawaiian Memorial Park and the surrounding area.

While Libby managed the operation of large tracts of land, it was noted that, “… much of the pineapple production was carried out by individual growers on small areas of five to 10 acres. A man, a mule, a huli plow and a hoe provided most of the power and the equipment for these smaller operations. This was the typical pineapple production pattern in the area of Waikāne, Waiāhole, Kahaluʻu and ‘Ahuimanu.”

By 1923, it was evident that pineapple cultivation on the Windward area could not keep up with that in other O‘ahu areas. Crops on the Windward side were not yielding tonnages as compared with the Leeward side, fields were smaller, with wilt more prevalent, and growing costs considerably higher. Plantings were therefore reduced.

By this time, the condition of the Pali Road had been improved, and trucks with solid tires were available, so that the struggling pineapple operation found it more economical to haul the fresh pineapple to a central Libby Cannery in Honolulu.

The relatively inefficient, high production costs of operating many small scattered fields resulted in a decision to discontinue pineapple growing on the Windward side.

Many of the pineapple growing areas reverted to a native growth or pastures and some were converted to dairy operations. The Kahaluʻu cannery was closed down in the mid-1920s.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook 

Follow Peter T Young on Google+ 

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn  

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

© 2020 Hoʻokuleana LLC