Peter T Young

October 16, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Laniākea Cave

Reverend Asa and Lucy Thurston were in the Pioneer Company of American Christian Missionaries to the Hawaiian Islands, arriving in Kailua-Kona on the Thaddeus in 1820.

“After an accurate investigation of the places adjacent, in which they thought it might be found, they chose a valley, about half a mile from the residence of the governor, and near the entrance of Raniakea, as the spot where they were most likely to meet with success.” (Ellis)

They made their home in Kailua Village, in a home the Hawaiians named Laniākea. Thurston received Laniākea, a 5.26 acre homestead parcel as a gift from Governor Kuakini.

As noted by Rev. Sereno Edwards Bishop, in his book “Reminiscences Of Old Hawaii” (1916:) “In the early (1830s,) Kailua was a large native village, of about 4,000 inhabitants rather closely packed along one hundred rods of shore, and averaging twenty rods inland.”

“It had been the chief residence of King Kamehameha, who in 1819 died there in a rudely built stone house whose walls are probably still standing on the west shore of the little bay. Nearby stood a better stone house occupied by the doughty Governor Kuakini.”

“All other buildings in Kailua were thatched, until Rev. Artemas Bishop built his two-story stone dwelling in 1831 and Rev. Asa Thurston in 1833 built his wooden two-story house at Laniākea, a quarter of a mile inland.”

“Most of the native huts were thatched with the stiff pili grass. The better ones were thatched with lau-hala (pandanus leaf) or with la-i.” (Bishop)

“Five acres were enclosed with a stone wall three feet wide and six feet high, with simply the front gate for entrance. A large thatched house was erected. Space was allowed for a yard twenty-five feet in breadth.” (Lucy Thurston)

“Thatched houses are not durable, therefore, in the course of years, we had a succession of dwellings, but this was the general arrangement. In the 12th year of the Mission, a two-storied wooden house was erected in the children’s yard, and the wall for their special enclosure removed, as the times no longer required such an accommodation.” (Lucy Thurston)

In 1823, English protestant missionary William Ellis joined forces with American protestant missionary Asa Thurston and a party of explorers to circumnavigate the island of Hawaii.

“In the course of the forenoon, two of our number visited the ruins of an old military fortification, formerly belonging to the makaʻāinana, (common people.)”

“All that at present remains, is a part of the wall, about twelve feet high, and fourteen feet thick at the bottom, built of lava, and apparently entire.”

“In the upper part of the wall are apertures resembling embrasures; but they could not have been designed for cannon, that being an engine of war, with which the natives have but recently become acquainted.”

“The part of the wall now standing, is near the mouth of Raniakea (Laniākea,) the spacious cavern … which formed a valuable appendage to the fort.” Ellis)

“The whole face of the country marked decisively its volcanic origin; and in the course of their excursion they entered several hollows in the lava, formed by its having cooled and hardened on the surface, while, in a liquid state underneath, it had continued to flow towards the sea, leaving a crust in the shape of a tunnel, or arched vault, of varied thickness and extent.

“After entering it by a small aperture, they passed on in a direction nearly parallel with the surface; sometimes along a spacious arched way, not less than twenty-five feet high and twenty wide…”

“… At other times, by a passage so narrow, that they could with difficulty press through, till they had proceeded about 1,200 feet; here their progress was arrested by a pool of water, wide, deep, and as salt as that found in the hollows of the lava within a few yards of the sea.” (Ellis)

“One may walk along it for about fifteen minutes, through a passage which often reaches a considerable height. … The cave runs into a deep subterranean pool of very cold water, and further progress can be made only by swimming through an aperture in the makai end, when one may enter an inner cave, which is said to lead to the sea.” (Kinney, 1913)

“More than thirty natives, most of them carrying torches, accompanied (Ellis’ group) in their descent; and on arriving at the water, simultaneously plunged in, extending their torches with one hand, and swimming about with the other.”

“The partially illuminated heads of the natives, splashing about in this subterranean lake; the reflection of the torch-light on its agitated surface; the frowning sides and lofty arch of the black vault, hung with lava, that had cooled in every imaginable shape …”

“… the deep gloom of the cavern beyond the water; the hollow sound of their footsteps; and the varied reverberations of their voices, produced a singular effect; and it would have required but little aid from the fancy, to have imagined a resemblance between this scene and the fabled Stygian lake of the poets.”

“The mouth of the cave is about half a mile from the sea, and the perpendicular depth to the water probably Not less than fifty or sixty feet.”

“The pool is occasionally visited by the natives, for the purpose of bathing, as its water is cool and refreshing. From its ebbing and flowing with the tide, it has probably a direct communication with the sea.” (Ellis)

When war threatened the early inhabitants of Kona, and it was not uncommon, those who could not fight took refuge in the cave, and while the battles raged overhead, the refugees sent forays up the mountain and to the sea, via the cave, to gather food and water. (laniakea)

“In this cavern, children and aged persons were placed for security during an assault or sally from the fort, and sometimes the wives of the warriors also, when they did not accompany their husbands to the battle.”

“The fortification was probably extensive, as traces of the ancient walls are discoverable in several places; but what were its original dimensions, the natives who were with us could not tell. They asserted, however, that the cavern, if not the fort also, was formerly surrounded by a strong palisade.” (Ellis)

When the Thurstons retired to Honolulu, the house and land became the property of Mokuʻaikaua Church.

In 1980, sections of the cave had collapsed and the entrance was choked with debris and the entrance near the Thurston House was disturbed by squatters.

Waste products and debris have been dumped into the cave, causing an accumulation of sediment and muck within the cave. The western entrance to the cave near Hale Halawai is blocked. Large concrete pillars within the cave apparently were place to support improvements above. (Rasmussen)

The Laniākea house fell into disrepair, and in the 1990s the Laniākea Foundation was formed to save the ruins of the cave and home site from development. (laniakea)

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October 14, 2015 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Wahiawā Hotel

“An instance of community enterprise truly admirable is being exhibited by the Wahiawā Settlement Association in the erection of a hotel in that Salubrious village.”

“As shown in the list of building permits in this paper the other day, the building is estimated to cost $3,650, and the plans have been prepared by Emory & Webb, architects. Its location is 300 feet from the railway station.” (Star Bulletin, January 21, 1913)

Let’s look back …

In 1897, Californian, Byron Clark, became the Hawaiian Republic’s commissioner of agriculture. In looking for land for him to settle on, he learned of the availability of land at Wahiawā.

Clark organized a group of other Californians (as well as others) to join him in settling the whole tract of thirteen hundred acres — which became known as the Wahiawā Colony Tract. Having formed an agricultural cooperative called the Hawaiian Fruit and Plant Company, the homesteaders began formalizing and refining the physical organization of their Wahiawā settlement.

Initially each settler lived in a house on his five-acre parcel in the town site and farmed his other land in the surrounding area. It was soon discovered, however, that each settler preferred to reside on his own farmstead, holding his town lot in reserve. The homesteaders abandoned the village plan and agreed that one man, Thomas Holloway, would live on their 145-acre central lot site.

On August 27, 1902 a trust deed, referred to as the Holloway Trust, formally set aside the central town lots for the use and benefit of the Settlement Association of Wahiawā resident landowners.

Within a few years, Wahiawā Town was underway. Some of the town’s streets would be named for the early homesteaders – including Clark, Kellogg, Thomas and Eames streets (initial mapping shows California Avenue as the first, and main, road.)

Back to the hotel … “This hotel scheme was taken up by the association as the best way to expend a snug balance in the settlement funds, as well as to utilize the hall that had been erected for community gatherings.”

“Originally the structure was used for a schoolhouse, but ultimately the government provided a school building for itself. Besides erecting the hotel, the association is going to provide Uncle Sam with a post office building.”

“There are two buildings in the establishment as planned, the main building to be an auxiliary cottage the old assembly hall reconstructed. In the main building there will be six bedrooms, a parlor and a dining room, the last being utilizable also as a living room.”

“The remodelled cottage will have four bedrooms. A veranda ten feet wide will extend along the four sides of the main building. The bedrooms are of good size, the four on the ground floor of the main building being 12 by 13 feet. There is a gable outlook on every side of the house, each commanding beautiful scenery.”

“Each house is equipped with all needed conveniences, including linen closets. Guests will have pure water from the clouds, a large tank for rain water being provided. This is exclusively for drinking purposes as for other uses the hotel will be connected with the piped mountain water system of the settlement.” (Star Bulletin, January 21, 1913)

At the corner of Lehua Street and California Avenue stood the old Wahiawā Hotel. The “cottages,” as the hotel was referred to, was operated by Mary Johnson until World War II, when it was formally taken over by the Army for nurses’ quarters.

The start of World War II further helped to accelerate developments within Wahiawā to accommodate the needs of the growing military population. Wahiawā Elementary School on Lehua Street soon closed their doors in the 1940s to become the new Wahiawa General Hospital.

The Office of Civil Defense established a 42-bed wartime medical facility in the wood frame buildings formerly housing Wahiawā Elementary School.

At the end of World War II, the facility continued to remain in operation under the leaders of the Wahiawā Hospital Association. The 72-bed acute care facility was dedicated in 1958, under the official name, Wahiawā General Hospital. (Cultural Surveys)

Post World War II, the old Wahiawā Hotel had been used as living quarters for area school teachers. By the 1960s, Wahiawa teachers, who had been quartered at the teachers’ cottages (as they referred to them), were forced to relocate as plans for the new Wahiawa Branch Library were in the making. (Cultural Surveys)

Wahiawā Hotel was demolished in the 1960s to accommodate construction for the new Wahiawā Library. The library opened its doors on July 19, 1965. The library continues to remain in operation today. (Cultural Surveys)

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October 13, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

People’s Theatre

A century after Captain James Cook’s arrival in Hawaiʻi, sugar plantations started to dominate the Hawaiian landscape. A shortage of laborers to work in the growing (in size and number) sugar plantations became a challenge. The only answer was imported labor.

Starting in the 1850s, labor shortages were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America. There were three big waves of workforce immigration: Chinese 1852; Japanese 1885 and Filipinos 1905.

Several smaller, but substantial, migrations also occurred: Portuguese 1877; Norwegians 1880; Germans 1881; Puerto Ricans 1900; Koreans 1902 and Spanish 1907.

Plantation labor contracts were usually of three to five year lengths, after which the laborer could return to the homeland, continue to work for the plantations (much desired by the plantation management,) or remain in Hawaiʻi and look for improved employment opportunities off the plantation (least desired by plantation management.)

Individuals found in the towns by 1900 were generally of four employment backgrounds: a small merchant class, skilled works (such as carpenters, blacksmiths, livery personnel) who had performed these functions on the plantations, those with previous homeland farming experience and unskilled laborers.

At Honokaʻa, the original village had developed along a portion of the coastal Government Road above the Haina sugar mill, near the fork between the Waimea and Kukuihaele Roads, and close to the Rickard residence (plantation manager’s house.)

By 1914, the town had a significant Japanese retail contingent, mostly on the Waipiʻo side of town. The increase in population, ingress into town, combined with the advent of Prohibition in 1920, set the stage for new forms of recreation.

Previously, entertainment in the town had been geared toward single men, drummers (traveling salesmen) and plantation workers in the form of the Hotel Honokaʻa Club, other ethnic clubs, bars, and pool and billiard halls.

Family entertainment consisted of shibai and bon dances at the local Hongwanji Buddhist temple, as well as movies screened in open-air venues by traveling “movie men.” The word shibai was introduced into the common local vocabulary of Hawaiʻi by way of Japanese immigrants and literally translates as “a play” or “a dramatic performance.”

The initial venues consisted of live entertainment rather than films. Live entertainment consisted of troupes of acrobats, kabuki (classical Japanese dance-drama), shibai, singing and storytelling.

The late 1920s through the 1930s marked a period of growth in the construction of indoor theater venues. Between the 1840s and 1970, over 400 theaters were constructed in the Hawaiian Islands.

Literally every town on Hawaiʻi Island, large and small, had at least one theater. They were built primarily by Japanese and Euro-American entrepreneurs, and others financed by the plantations. The first documented theater was erected at Pāhoa in Puna in 1917.

The first Honokaʻa Theatre (now known as the “Old Tanimoto Theater”) opened in 1921 on the mauka side of Government Road (Māmane Street). This theater was operated by Manki Harunaga and his partner J. Fujino in a warehouse-like structure.

Hatsuzo Tanimoto was born about 1864 in Japan and immigrated to Honomū, Hawaiʻi in 1887. He and his wife, Momi Yamamoto, arrived in the Islands on the SS Belgic in 1891.

The family then resided in Honomū, where Hatsuzo was the “proprietor” of a department store. Hatsuzo spoke English though Momi did not. The Tanimoto’s had 8 children; two daughters and six sons. In birth order they were Yoshio (son), Zenichi (son), Shizuno (daughter), Jitsusaburo (son), Yoshimi (son), Teruo (son), Takaichi (son), and Yoshino (daughter) (all born in Hawaiʻi.)

In 1929, Hatsuzo Tanimoto purchased the lot of the present People’s Theatre from the estate of former Hawai’i Island Royal Governor John T Bake.

In 1932 Hatsuzo Tanimoto purchased three lots, including the lot with the Honokaʻa Theatre. The $700 sale included “all machinery, equipment, furniture and fixtures…in the said Honokaʻa Theatre.” He continued the lease until 1934. Hatsuzo eventually closed this theater and leased the space to other businesses.

Tanimoto followed the fashion of the day by constructing a building specifically designed to show films as well as present live entertainment. The lot is located on the makai side of Māmane Street extending just Waipi’o side of the Bank of Hawaii lot.

In 1938, Hatsuzo Tanimoto purchased another lot on the makai side of the road, Waipi’o side of the People’s Theatre Unlike the People’s Theatre, Hatsuzo placed this property under his Hilo Theatres, Ltd., company.

This second Honokaʻa Theatre was constructed in 1939. Although it sported a neon “Honokaʻa Theatre” sign, it was best known as the “Doc Hill Theater”, named after an influential local politician who had arrived in Hawaiʻi years before as a spectacles salesmen who adopted the moniker “Doc”.

The “Doc Hill Theatre” was also informally called the “Republican Theatre,” as opposed to the People’s Theatre (which served as the “Democratic Theatre.”)

By 1939 Tanimoto had opened five theatres along the Hāmākua Coast, including Honomū, Hāmākua (at Paʻauilo) and Papaʻaloa.

Their presence was a testament to the rise of alternative entertainment during the Prohibition era, when bars, restaurants and other watering holes were forced to close or go underground.

Japanese films were shown on Mondays (average attendance 30 people), with Filipino films shown on Tuesdays (average attendance 15-20 people), and X-rated films shown on Wednesdays (average attendance 15 to 20). Thursday and the weekends were reserved for family entertainment (average attendance 50 to 60 people per night).

The 650-seat People’s Theatre is one of the largest buildings in Honokaʻa, and its only operating theater. Built in 1930 by Hatsuzo Tanimoto, its Neo-Classical Revival style architecture is typical of theaters built during the 1920s and ‘30s in Hawaii.

In 1943, William “Doc” Hill bought Hilo Theaters Ltd., with the exception of the People’s Theatre. The rest of these theaters have been either torn down, closed, or repurposed, making the People’s Theatre the only one left between Waimea and Hilo, and the largest outside Hilo.

Today, stage entertainment includes local musical groups, yoga and tai chi, the annual Hāmākua Music Festival, and a fashion show on 1st Fridays (a community street fair held the first Friday of every month).

The Tanimoto family ran the theater until 1990. Today, the theater is owned and run by retired doctor Tawn Keeney and his daughter Phaeton.

The theater lobby sports a café serving healthy breakfasts, sandwiches and sweets along with locally grown, artisanal Hāmākua coffee, and these days new-releases are shown with a modern digital projection system. Wi-Fi equipped, the lobby and café is still a meeting place for the town’s 3,000 residents and visitors to Honokaʻa. (Lots of information here is from NPS and Honokaʻa Historical Project)

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Honokaa Peoples Theatre

October 2, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Mokumanu

“O Hina,
Hold back the night.
Let darkness rest upon the eyes of Peʻapeʻa
That I may save my wife.”

Demigod Maui is known for capturing the sun; here is another story of Maui.

Sometime after his effort to pull Kauaʻi closer to Oʻahu failed, Maui and his three brothers went fishing. Each brother caught a shark; Maui, with his famous hook Manaiakalani, caught a moi and a large ulua.

Maui-kupua told his brothers to paddle ashore and directed them to the best landing place. After they landed, he grabbed his gear and his two fish and returned home.

He began to eat the fish when he saw Kumulama, his wife, being carried away by the chief Peʻapeʻamakawalu (eight-eyed-bat; Peʻapeʻa.) Maui pursued, but Peʻapeʻa was too swift for him and disappeared into the sky beyond the sea.

Grieving, Maui went to his mother, Hina, who told him: “Go to the land of Keahumoa; there you’ll see a large hut. Your grandfather Kuolokele (Ku-honeycreeper) lives there; he’ll instruct you on how to recover your wife.” (hawaii-edu)

Maui saw a hump-backed man, his grandfather, coming toward Waipahu with a load of potato leaves, one pack of which, it is said, would cover the whole land of Keahumoa.

Maui picked up a stone and threw it at his grandfather, striking him on the back, whereupon Kuolokele’s back was straightened. Kuolokele picked up the stone Maui threw at him, and threw it to Waipahu, where it has remained to this day.

Maui explained what had happened; Kuolokele had Maui gather kī leaves, ʻieʻie vines and bird feathers.

On the first day, from the bird feathers, ki leaves and ʻieʻie vines, Kuolokele made the body and wings of a bird – moku-manu (bird-ship.) On the second day, he finished the bird and tested it. It flew the first flying-craft ever in Hawaiʻi.

On the third day, Maui appeared before Kuolokele. “It is ready,” the old man said. “Inside the bird you will find cords. With them you can flap its wings and make it fly. Also there is a bundle of food.

Kuolokele told Maui “Fly in this bird until you come to Moanaliha, the land of Peʻapeʻa. When you reach it, look for the village. If the village is deserted, then look toward the sea and you’ll see a great number of people gathered there, among whom will be Peʻapeʻa, along with your wife.”

“Fly near them, but not too close, just close enough to attract their notice; then fly far out to sea. On your return the people watching you will shout, ‘The bird! The strange bird!’”

“If you hear Peʻapeʻa say that you are his bird, all will be well. He will have you taken into his sleeping house, and you can save your wife.’

Maui entered the body of the bird and started to fly. He flew for two days and two nights.

Arriving at Moanaliha, he looked over the land and noticed that the houses, but no people; he saw a crowd at the seashore. He flew until he was right over the multitude and saw his wife, Kumulama.

He continued flying over the deep ocean; then Maui turned and flew toward land.

As he neared the shore, the people exclaimed, “Oh, an enormous bird! An enormous bird!” Peʻapeʻa said, “Perhaps it’s my bird; if it is, it’ll land on my sacred box.”

Maui heard this and landed on the sacred box. After this, the chief and the people arose and returned to their village.

Arriving at his house, the chief told his attendants to go and bring the bird into the sleeping house. The order was carried out and food was brought to the bird. Maui reached out from the opening of the mouth and took the food inside.

Night fell. Through the eyes of the bird Maui watched as people came in and stretched out on piles of mats. They pulled kapa covers over them and closed their eyes in sleep.

Knowing Peʻapeʻamakawalu had eight eyes, four in front and four behind, Maui waited for all eight to close before he made a move.

After a while, one of the eyes closed, then another and another. But one remained open. He continued waiting until almost daylight, when he prayed to Hina: “Hold back the night!” Hina held back the night.

Maui kept awake until the last eye closed. Then he emerged from the bird, went to where Peʻapeʻa was sleeping, killed him and cut off his head.

Maui took his wife and the head and entered the bird again. Then he broke a hole in the roof thatching and flew out.

The next day, the people found neither bird, nor woman, only the headless body of Peʻapeʻamakawalu.

Meanwhile, Maui was flying back to Oʻahu.

As soon as Maui alighted, his grandfather asked, “Where is your wife and your bundle?” “Here they are inside,” replied Maui.

“Then let your wife out first,” said Kuolokele, and Kumulama came out; then Maui brought out the head of Peʻapeʻamakawalu.
Then they ate the prepared feast.

They enjoyed some time together, Kuolokele excused Maui and Kumulama, and they returned home to Hina, who welcomed them back with joy. (Lots of information here from Cultural Surveys, hawaii-edu and Thrum.) The image shows Maui capturing the sun. (Herb Kane)

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September 23, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Student Farmers

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of missionaries from the northeast US, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Islands. There were seven couples sent by the ABCFM to convert the Hawaiians to Christianity.

These included two Ordained Preachers, Hiram Bingham and his wife Sybil and Asa Thurston and his wife Lucy; two Teachers, Mr. Samuel Whitney and his wife Mercy and Samuel Ruggles and his wife Mary; a Doctor, Thomas Holman and his wife Lucia; a Printer, Elisha Loomis and his wife Maria; a Farmer, Daniel Chamberlain, his wife and five children.

They quickly reduced the Hawaiian language to written form and established schools in which the native Hawaiians were taught to read and to write.

Their instruction was not confined, however, to the ‘three R’s.’ Included in the original band of missionaries was a New England farmer, Daniel Chamberlain, indicating the importance they attached to giving some instruction in western agriculture to the native Hawaiians.

Effectively, they were teaching to the Head, Heart and Hand. Let’s look at some examples.

In 1823, Kalākua Kaheiheimālie (ke Aliʻi Hoapili wahine, wife of Governor Hoapili) offered the American missionaries a tract of land on the slopes surrounding Puʻu Paʻupaʻu for the creation of a high school.

Betsey Stockton from the 2nd Company of Protestant missionaries initially started a school for makaʻāinana (common people) and their wives and children on the site.

Later, on September 5, 1831, classes at the Mission Seminary at Lahainaluna (later known as Lahainaluna (Upper Lāhainā)) began in thatched huts with 25 Hawaiian young men.

Each scholar was expected to furnish himself with food and clothing by his own industry. Accompanying the work in the fields, a small amount of organized instruction in western agriculture was given. (History of Agricultural Education)

In September 1836, thirty-two boys between the ages of 10 and 20 were admitted as the first boarding students, from the neighbor islands, as well as from the “other side of the island” thus, the beginning of the boarding school at Lahainaluna.

It soon was apparent to the missionaries that the future of the Congregational Mission in Hawaiʻi would be largely dependent upon the success of its schools. The Mission then established “feeder schools” that would transmit to their students’ fundamental reading, writing, and arithmetic skills, and religious training, before admission to the Lahainaluna.

In 1835, they constructed the Hilo Boarding School as part of an overall system of schools (with a girls boarding school in Wailuku and boarding at Lahainaluna.)

On January 6, 1835 “our children’s school commenced, eighty children present, sixty knew their letters. A number of the more forward children are employed as monitors to assist the less forward. (ie. advanced)” (Sarah Lyman)

The school was operated to an extent on a manual labor program and the boys cultivated the land to produce their own food. (The boys’ ages ranged from seven to fourteen.)

“Mr. Lyman who was brought up on a farm had an abiding faith in the value of manual labor; and his work in Hilo had convinced him that such activity in both primitive and introduced vocation was as necessary as book learning during the period of transition from one culture to another.” (Lorthian)

Rev. William Brewster Oleson had served as principal of the Hilo Boarding School for 8 years. Then, on November 4, 1887, Kamehameha School for Boys opened with 37 students and four teachers – Oleson was appointed its first principal and helped organize the school on a similar model.

Manual labor has a regular feature of the activities of the Kamehameha Boys’ School. Between 1889 and 1893 the school experimented with the raising of cows, pigs, chickens, and vegetables.

Later, the Kamehameha School flocks and herds were improved, and they began the production of forage crops, vegetables, and fruits on a larger scale, and strengthened the classroom work. (History of Agricultural Education)

Punahou, another boarding school, formed in 1841, required that “All students who entered the Boarding department were required to take part in the manual labor of the institution, under the direction of the faculty, not to exceed an average of two hours for each day.” (Punahou Catalogue, 1899)

“We had a dairy, the Punahou dairy, over on the other side of Rocky Hill. That was all pasture. We had beautiful, delicious milk, all the milk you wanted.” (Shaw, Punahou)

Later, in January 1925, Punahou bought the Honolulu Military Academy property – it had about 90-acres of land and a half-dozen buildings on the back side of Diamond Head. (The Honolulu Military Academy was originally founded by Col LG Blackman, in 1911.)

It served as the “Punahou Farm” to carry on the school’s work and courses in agriculture. “We were picked up and taken to the Punahou Farm School, which was also the boarding school for boys. The girls boarded at Castle Hall on campus.” (Kneubuhl, Punahou) The farm school was in Kaimuki between 18th and 22nd Avenues.

In addition to offices and living quarters, the Farm School supplied Punahou with most of its food supplies. The compound included a big pasture for milk cows, a large vegetable garden, pigs, chickens, beehives, and sorghum and alfalfa fields that provided feed for the cows. Hired hands who tended the farm pasteurized the milk in a small dairy, bottled the honey and crated the eggs. (Kneubuhl, Punahou)

While the programs of ‘manual labor’ and farming have been dropped by almost all of the respective school’s curriculums, a lasting legacy and reminder of the prior farming is seen in the Lahainaluna Time Clock.

Between 1941 and 1976, Lahainaluna boarders punched in their “in” and “out” times (according to their assigned student number) to keep track of their daily hours worked for their room and board. (It stopped when the only repairman familiar with the clock passed away.)

While Lahainaluna still has farming activity (raising pigs and cultivating dryland taro, corn, butter lettuce, beans, ti and other crops (Advertiser,)) they don’t punch in/out with the clock.

However, according to the Boarder’s Handbook (2014-2015,) every weekday afternoon and Saturday morning, boarders are to “Check in at the time clock” before they start their 3 ½ hours of work. Likewise, “All Boarders must report to the Time Clock every day and sign out with the Farm Manager when working Overtime until all hours are cleared.”

“Boarders will be evaluated on their dorm and farm work performances; farm and school attendance records; dorm, school, and farm discipline records; school academic effort and achievements; and their overall attitude and behavior in the Boarding Program.” (Lahainaluna High School Boarder’s Handbook, 2014-2015)

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