Images of Old Hawaiʻi

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Public Baths

In the late-19th Century, Waikīkī’s shoreline was mostly a day-use beach; overnight accommodations were scarce.  Visitors, usually residents of Honolulu, would arrive via horse-drawn carriage, on horseback or in a canoe.  (White)

“The most popular resort of the people of Oʻahu is the famous Waikīkī … Waikīkī is the seaside and pleasure-resort of the island. … There are a number of private residences, picturesque-looking bungalows and cottages, but all airy, comfortable, and close to the murmuring sea. A beautiful grove of towering coconut-trees adds to the tropical charm of the place.”  (Musick, 1898)

“The sea bathing is simply perfection. The water is never chilly; and yet it is most healthful and invigorating. The bottom is of nice smooth sand, always warm and pleasant to the feet. There is no fear of undertow or of any finny monsters. Not only is it pleasant to bathe here during the day, but moonlight bathing is indulged in. … It is a novelty, worth seeing, if not worth trying.  (Whitney, 1895)

Just as “sea bathing” were gaining popularity on the American and European continents, private bathhouses, like the Long Branch Baths, Ilaniwai Baths and Wright’s Villa, began to appear in Waikīkī.  (White)

Bathhouses began to appear along Waikiki Beach during the last quarter of the 19th Century. As early as the 1870s, for example, the Hawaiian Hotel “provided a cottage on the sea-shore at Waikiki, some three miles distant, where guests can . . . enjoy a morning or evening bath in the ocean.”

During the early ’90s, beachgoers patronized the Long Branch Baths with its “comfortable dressing rooms, fresh water douches, etc.” and the Waikiki Villa’s “commodious bath house” with “fresh water shower baths.” *Schmidt

“Bath-houses that equal those in Long Branch (New Jersey) are found here, and sea-bathing in January is as pleasant as in July. There is no clearer water, no finer beach, no smoother bottom in any of the many famous watering-places than are found at Waikīkī.”  (Musick, 1898)

Bathhouses served customers with bathing suits and towel rentals, dressing rooms and each access to the beach.  Initially, bathhouses served only day-use recreation of visitors, but eventually some of them began to offer overnight rooms.

The creation of the Public Baths alongside the aquarium in 1907 made it so there was a public beach for the first time in the park’s history.  (Reynolds)

An August 1907 news report stated, “The public bath house at the beach will be finished inside of the next two weeks. There are other conveniences aside from the large number of dressing rooms.  There is a large lounging room for ladles and their families, and a large dancing pavilion will soon be completed.”

In the men’s department there are thirty-five large dressing-rooms and six showers, In the ladles department there are accommodations for twenty bathers, with shower.” (Evening Bulletin, August 10, 1907) The City-owned public bathhouse was near Queen’s Surf Beach, in Kapiolani Park.

“When the moon become full Honolulu will see the opening of its first public dance pavilion. The building at the Kapiolani park bath-house has been put in shape for such dances … The Hawaiian band will be present to blow and beat the music for dancing.” (Star Bulletin, Dec 5, 1913)

“Twenty-five cents is the charge for use of a suit.  No charge is made to those who bring their own suits and use the lockers. The money taken is dropped in a box at the bath house window”. (Honolulu Advertiser, Sep 20, 1924)

Then City officials were urging the construction of “a better bathing house . . . more attractive and sanitary.” Subsequently denounced as “unsanitary” and “an eye-sore to the community for many years.” (Schmidt)

In 1930, “Plans for the new public building to be constructed soon … on the site of the present frame structure next to the memorial natatorium, will be completed within the next two weeks … The new bath house will be a long, narrow, one-story structure paralleling Kalakaua Ave.”

“The main room will be a large lounge, 96 feet long facing the sea and opening onto a stretch of turf through several tall archways. … On either side of the main lounge, which will be furnished with comfortable chairs and tables, will be situated the ample locker rooms …”

“… the men’s dressing quarters will be fitted with 280 lockers and nine showers. The women’s dressing room will contain 128 lockers, 52 dressing booths and seven showers.” (Star Bulletin, Jan 7, 1930)

In 1957 the Park Board changed the name of the Kapiolani Public Baths (aka Waikiki Public Baths) to the Kapiolani Beach Center. (Advertiser, Nov 5, 1957)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Lāhainā Historic District

This is a hard one … obviously, these are gone; but they are not forgotten. It is merely given to give some context to what was lost; as well as a reminder for us to not forget the lives and property lost by others.

The first capital of the kingdom of Hawai‘i, Lāhainā, was also once a bustling whaling town and plantation settlement. To recognize and preserve its rich history, two sets of historic districts have been created in Lāhainā.

The first, the Lāhainā Historic District encompassing about 1,665 acres, was added to the National Park Service’s (NPS) National Historic Landmarks Program in December 1962.  Maui County Historic District Boundaries 1 and 2 cover about 65 acres in Lāhainā.

This summary highlights the nine structures that were identified in the Lāhainā Historic District (NPS;) the principal historic structures and sites include the following.

Because these are also part of the Lāhainā Historic Trail, I am using the Lāhainā Restoration Foundation numbering for each.

14 – Court House
This solid, two-story stone building stands on Wharf Street, in the square bounded by Wharf, Hotel, Front and Canal Streets (on the site of the old stone fort.)  The Court House Square is famed today for its banyan tree, planted by the sheriff of Lāhainā in 1873 and proclaimed today as ‘Hawaii’s largest.’

After an 1858 violent windstorm damaged government buildings here, a new ‘Lahaina Court and Custom House and Government Offices,’ was completes by December, 1859.  In addition to the offices mentioned above, it contained the Governor’s office, post office and ‘a room in which to starve the jury into unanimity.’

16 – Pioneer Hotel
Built in 1901 and therefore not strictly connected with Lāhainā’s most significant era, this well-known hotel is nevertheless a key part of the Lāhainā scene (corner of Wharf and Hotel Streets.)

The description of the hotel in one guide book – ‘a large box of a building … with a wide balcony and decorative wooden railing’ – may be accurate, but it fails to convey the tropical atmosphere of Lāhainā’s first hotel.

18 – Old Spring House
The Old Spring House is said to have been built by the Rev. William Richards in 1823 to enclose a spring to supply water not only for his own dwelling nearby, but for the entire community and for ships anchored off the town.

According to local tradition, a hand pump here was visited by crews of sailors who ‘constantly rolled huge casks for water.’  The Spring House apparently is thus one of the few remaining physical links with the whaling era.

21 – Baldwin House
Completed early in 1835, Dr. Dwight Baldwin and his family occupied this two-story home, built of coral blocks, it until Dr. Baldwin was transferred to Honolulu in 1868 (some sources say the Baldwins lived in the house until 1871.)  It is one of the oldest and best preserved missionary dwellings.

Dr. Baldwin, in addition to serving as pastor of the Hawaiian church at Lāhainā and, for a time, as seamen’s chaplain, was a medical doctor; and he was government physician for the islands of Maui, Moloka‘i, and Lāna‘i.  Dr. Baldwin’s son, Henry P. Baldwin, was born in this house.

44 – United States Marine Hospital
Around 1842, this hospital was established for sick and injured American merchant seamen.  The hospital could accommodate about 60 men; it’s on the landward side of Front Street, between Kenui and Baker Streets, about 0.6 mile north of the Baldwin House.

In 1865, the structure was sold to the Episcopal Church and became a school for girls, and during the 1870s it was turned into a vicarage and served as such for more than 30 years.

48 – Maria Lanakila First Catholic Church
The first resident Roman Catholic priests arrived at Lahaina on April 21, 1846.  A church was built on the present site that same year, but it was replaced by a new structure in 1858 (Waine‘e and Dickenson Streets.)

The present concrete church, erected in 1927-1928, was built on the same foundation and is almost a replica of the older frame structure, it is said that the original ceiling was retained in the new building.

50 – Hale Aloha
The predecessor of this building, known as the Hale Halewai, or Hale Lai, is sometimes said to have been built as early as 1823; and it, instead of the Waine‘e Church, is occasionally claimed as the first stone church in the island (behind the Episcopal Cemetery in about the center of the large block bounded by Waine‘e, Hale and Chapel Streets and Prison Road.)

The meetinghouse was in bad condition by 1855 and the church voted to rebuild completely, the walls being ‘too old fashioned to be tolerated in these go-ahead days.’  The present building, called ‘Hale Aloha,’ was completed in 1858 and was ‘the largest sectional meeting house of its time.’  In 1860, the government fitted it out for use as an English Church.

53 – Old Prison (Hale Pa‘ahao)
In addition to ordinary criminals, the authorities at Lāhainā generally had on their hands a number of boisterous seamen who had run afoul of the law in one way or another during their periods of ‘refreshment’ ashore.  During the 1830s and 1840s prisoners usually were confined in the fort which stood on the seaward side of the present square (see the Court House above.)

A new prison was started in 1852.  The main cell block, built of planks, was constructed in that year, but the wall around the grounds, built of coral blocks from the old fort, was not erected until about 1854 (at the corner of Waine‘e Street and Prison Road.)  Prisoners performed much of the labor.

56 -57 -Waine‘e Church and Cemetery (Waiola Cemetery and Church)
For several years after the American Board missionaries reached Lāhainā in 1823, services were held in temporary structures. In 1828 the chiefs, led by Hoapili, proposed to build a new stone church, and the present site was selected (on Waine‘e Street, between Chapel and Shaw Streets.)

The cornerstone was laid on September 14, 1828, for this “first stone meeting-house built at the Islands.”  Dedicated on March 4, 1832, this large, two-story, galleried Waine‘e Church was twice destroyed by Kauaula winds and once, in 1894, by a fire of incendiary origin.  The present church structure was dedicated in 1953, at which time the name was changed to Waiola.

The adjoining cemetery is said to date from 1823. It contains the body of Keōpūolani, wife of Kamehameha the Great and mother of Kamehameha II and Kamehameha III.  Other prominent Hawaiian nobles interred here include Governor Hoapili, King Kaumuali‘i, Princess Nahi‘ena‘ena, Queen Kalākua and Governess Liliha.

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Early Waialua Sugar Operations

The first mission schools were not established as industrial or manual training institutions, but in the 1830s the American Protestant Missionaries perceived the importance of agriculture and industry in raising the living standard of the nation.

In their general meeting held at Lahaina in 1833 they proposed a manual labor system, as a means both of desirable improvement and self-support, to be instituted at the high school. The secular agent was instructed to engage an artisan to oversee the work, take charge of the stock, tools, etc.

Between 1830 and 1850, the demands of the ali‘i on the maka‘āinana (common people) were severe. The missionary, John Emerson, commenting on the burdensome taxes on the people, wrote that the ruling chiefs “get hungry often and send a vessel to Waialua for food quite as often as it is welcomed by the people”. (Cultural Surveys)

The chiefs also demanded food be brought to them: “Last Sat some 2 or 300 men went from this place to H[onolulu] to carry food for the chiefs and this [is] often done … Each man carried enough food to maintain 4 persons one week …  70 miles travel to get it to H[onolulu]”. (Cultural Surveys)

John Emerson began growing sugarcane on his land in Waialua as early as 1836. He “made his own molasses, grinding a few bundles of cane in a little wooden mill turned by oxen, and boiling down the juice in an old whaler’s trypot”. (Sereno Bishop)

As we’ll see, here, this early sugarcane plantation later passed through several hands, including the Levi and Warren Chamberlain Sugar Company, established 1865, Halstead & Gordon, and the Halstead Brothers. (Cultural Surveys) This eventually became Waialua Sugar.

In a general letter to the Board, dated June 8, 1839, the members of the Sandwich Islands Mission observed that “at many stations the state of things is becoming such, that the missionary, by directing the labor of natives …”

“… and investing some fifty or a hundred dollars in a sugar-mill, or in some other way, might secure a portion and often the whole of his support, and would thus be teaching the people profitable industry.” (Tate)

Two years later the mission recommended that a farmer be procured to teach agriculture and to conduct the secular concerns of the school and that the scholars be required to cultivate the land or earn their own food by their personal industry.

One area for such a school was Waialua. “The whole district of Waialua is spread out before the eye with its cluster of settlements, straggling houses, scattering trees, cultivated plats & growing in broad perspectives the wide extending ocean tossing its restless waves and throwing in its white foaming billows fringing the shores all along the whole extent of the district.”  (Levi Chamberlain, Cultural Surveys)

A school designed to be self-supporting and agricultural was organized at Waialua, on Oahu, opened August 28, 1837, with one hundred children and six teachers.

Two hours each working day were devoted to instruction in natural history, geography and arithmetic, while four hours were set aside for supervised labor in the field.  By 1842 the institution was entirely self-sufficient.  Two years later, the death of Mr Locke caused the manual labor school to be discontinued. (Tate)

The Hawaiian leadership saw opportunities.  King Kamehameha III sought to expand sugar cultivation and production, as well as expand other agricultural ventures to support commercial agriculture in the Islands.  In a speech to the Legislature in 1847, the King notes:

“I recommend to your most serious consideration, to devise means to promote the agriculture of the islands, and profitable industry among all classes of their inhabitants. It is my wish that my subjects should possess lands upon a secure title; enabling them to live in abundance and comfort, and to bring up their children free from the vices that prevail in the seaports.”

“What my native subjects are greatly in want of, to become farmers, is capital with which to buy cattle, fence in the land and cultivate it properly. “

“I recommend you to consider the best means of inducing foreigners to furnish capital for carrying on agricultural operations, that thus the exports of the country may be increased …” (King Kamehameha III Speech to the Legislature, April 28, 1847; Archives)

Later, Warren & Levi Jr, Chamberlain began a Waialua sugar mill operation in 1864. They supplied sugar for the Northern States during the Civil War. (The South had cut off all sugar production in the states to the North forcing them to import it from the islands.)

The prosperity ended with the end of the Civil War and the Chamberlains surrendered the mill to the bank in 1870. Robert Halstead bought the Chamberlain plantation in 1874 for a reported $25,000 under the partnership of Halstead & Gordon.

Robert Halstead was a pioneer sugar planter of Hawaii and was one of the first men with the vision to realize the future importance of cane culture in the financial development of the islands.

Halstead was born in Todmorden, England, on August 10, 1836.  Halstead married Sarah Ellen Stansfield (born in May 1840 at Todmorden, England) on January 2, 1858 in Lancashire England.

Mr. Halstead brought his family to Hawaii in 1865, and for many years was a factor in the building of an industrial era responsible for the prosperous and highly developed Hawaii.

Going first to Lahaina, Maui, Mr. Halstead spent seven years there as plantation manager for Campbell and Turton, a partnership formed by James Campbell, one of the prominent figures in the early history of the sugar industry.

Severing his connections with business interests in Hawaii early in 1873, Mr. Halstead moved to the Pacific Coast, but returned in 1874 to engage in a plantation venture at Waialua, forming the partnership of Halstead & Gordon. (Nellist)

Upon the death of his associate, Mr. Halstead took over the entire business in 1888 and it was continued as Halstead & Sons, Edgar (born on March 1, 1862 at Manchester, Lancashire, England) and Frank (born on April 13, 1864 at Manchester, Lancashire, England) joining their father. Robert was the proprietor and manager; Edgar was superintendent and Frank was sugar house manager. (Polk 1890)

Halstead retired from the firm, and it was carried on by his sons under the name of Halstead Brothers.  Later, Benjamin Franklin (Frank) Dillingham believed that the Halstead Brothers’ land could be turned into a profitable sugar plantation, especially since there was now a rail line to Honolulu.

The Waialua Agricultural Company was established in 1898 by JB Atherton, ED Tenney, BF Dillingham, WA Bowen, H Waterhouse and MR Robinson and was incorporated by the company Castle & Cooke. They bought the Halstead Brothers’ land and mill, and began to buy or lease the adjacent lands. (Cultural Surveys)

“Waialua is reached either by railroad, a distance from Honolulu of 58 miles, or wagon road, 28 miles. The plantation lands extend along the seacoast 15 miles and 10 miles back toward the mountains. The plantation has a good railway system.”

“There are nearly 600 cane cars and five locomotives: with 30 miles of permanent track and eight of portable track. One stretch of road is nine miles long.”

“The brick smokestack of the old original mill still stands as a relic of the past. The present day plant is a 12-roller mill of late type. …  The mill has a capacity of 150 tons of sugar per day.  The mill has been so constructed that its capacity can be doubled without adding to the building itself.” (Louisiana Planter, May 7, 1910)

Waialua Sugar reported in early 1987 that it would shut down over a two year period. An effort to buy the plantation through an employee stock ownership plan fell through in July 1987.

However, on September 24, 1987 Castle & Cooke announced that Waialua would be operating for at least two more years unless world sugar prices fell drastically.  (LRB)  (The Waialua mill stayed in operation up until 1996.)

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Spencer House

Francis (Frank) McFarland Spencer (November 25, 1819 – May 19, 1897) was born in Sydney, New South Wales, and was early apprenticed to the carpenter’s trade.  In 1849, with many others in the colonies, he set sail and sought fortune from the California gold rush.

On the way, their vessel was wrecked on the reef outside Honolulu; all her passengers were saved. Spencer decided to remain in the Islands and went to work at his trade.  (Evening Bulletin, May 20, 1897)

In 1850, he opened a store on Hotel Street known as the Spencer House. His dry goods business flourished; marketing “the most useful and cheapest goods … (promising) Quick Sales and Small Profits.”

But that is not the Spencer House of this story.

To get to this one, however, we need to step back a bit; we go back to 1819.

That was the time when whale products were in high demand; whale oil was used for heating, lamps and in industrial machinery; whale bone was used in corsets, skirt hoops, umbrellas and buggy whips.  Rich whaling waters were discovered near Japan and soon hundreds of ships headed for the area.

The central location of the Hawaiian Islands between America and Japan brought many whaling ships to the Islands.  Whalers needed food and the islands supplied this need from its fertile fields.  The whaling industry was the mainstay of the island economy for about 40 years.

William French arrived in Hawaiʻi in 1819 and settled in Honolulu.  He became a leading trader, providing hides and tallow, and provisioning the whaling ships that called in Honolulu.  Financial success during the next decade made French known as “the merchant prince.”

French also had property on the Island of Hawaiʻi, with a main headquarters there at Kawaihae, shipping cattle, hides and tallow to Honolulu; he hired John Palmer Parker (later founder of Parker Ranch) as his bookkeeper, cattle hunter and in other capacities.  (Wellmon)

When French made claims before the Land Commission regarding one of the properties (identified as “slaughter-house premises” that he bought from Governor Kuakini in 1838,) testimony supporting his claim noted it was “a place for a beautiful house which Mr French would not sell for money. … It was enclosed by a stone wall.  There were two natives occupying houses on his land.”  (Land Commission Testimony)

The 2.8-acre property is in an area of Waimea known as Puʻuloa; French built a couple houses on it, the property was bounded by Waikoloa Stream and became Parker’s home while he worked for French.  (In addition, in 1840, this is where French built his original home in Waimea.  (Bergin))

At Puʻuloa, Parker ran one of French’s stores, which was nothing more than a thatched hut.  Although this store was less grandiose than the other one at Kawaihae, it became the center of the cattle business on the Waimea plain.

Here, French employed a saddle-maker and operated a tannery. Parker kept busy supervising this operation and collecting beef, tallow and leather to supply the needs of French’s growing business.  (Wellmon)

There was no surplus of currency in Waimea at this time, and most of the business at the Puʻuloa store consisted of bartering for goods and services. Long-term credit and buying on time was the rule rather than the exception in these transactions.  (Wellmon)

Back in Honolulu, in 1840, French entered into a partnership with John Greenway; it was dissolved “in a manner involving the most disastrous consequences to Mr French.”

In a report of enquiry, a committee that reviewed the matter found “the investigation has ended in a conviction, that Mr. French stands before you fully vindicated, and cleared of all the imputations that were cast upon his honest intentions, that this is proved by the indisputable evidence of every written document found, from the 7th April, 1842”.  (Polynesian, August 10, 1844)

French died at Kawaihae on November 25, 1851.  “Many who have made their fortunes in these Islands have owed their rise in the world to the patronage of Mr French.”  (Polynesian, December 6, 1851)

OK, back to Spencer – in addition to his Honolulu ‘Spencer House’ selling “fancy and staple goods,” Spencer acquired land and started to get into business on the Island of Hawaiʻi.

When French died, Spencer and a partner took over French’s livestock (his partner was James Louzada (one of the first español (paniolo,) Mexican cowboys to Hawaiʻi.))  (Bergin) Spencer also acquired some of French’s property when French died.  (Mills) (Presumably, included was French’s home at Puʻuloa we now call Spencer House in Waimea, Hawaiʻi Island.)

Spencer was granted a lease on government lands in 1859 that gave him “…a monopoly on all sheep and wild cattle on Mauna Kea and the mountain lands, including uses of the Pōhakuloa plateau lands, Kalaiʻeha, Keanakolu, Hanaipoe, and smaller stations in between these areas”.  (Cultural Surveys)

Later, on August 1, 1861, the Hawaiian Government leased Humuʻula and Kaʻohe lands (including the summit of Mauna Kea) to the newly-formed Waimea Grazing and Agricultural Company (WGAC.) (Mills & Maly)

WGAC was formed in May 1861 through a merger of Louzada, Spencer and Co and Robert C Janion.  By 1873, it had a house and wool barn. (In 1883, the operation was incorporated as the Humu‘ula Sheep Station Company and was later acquired by Parker Ranch.)

In 1864 or 1865, Spencer sold his Honolulu dry goods business and moved permanently to the Island of Hawaiʻi, making his home at Waimea, where he engaged in the business of raising sheep, and afterwards cattle. For a number of years he held the office of District Magistrate of Waimea. (Evening Bulletin, May 20, 1897)

In 1865, Spencer obtained a lease of the entire ahupua‘a of Pu‘u Anahulu “excepting the land rights of the native tenants thereon…” (a total leased area of about 83,000-acres.)  The addition of Pu‘u Anahulu to Spencer’s holdings gave him almost continuous grazing coverage from Hilo, Hāmākua, South Kohala and Kona.   (Cultural Surveys)

On June 1, 1898, Robert Hind Jr and Eben Low acquired Spencer’s interest in Pu‘u Anahulu, and the leasehold Government Lands were added to their inventory of the Pu‘u Waʻawaʻa Ranch holdings. (DLNR)

WGAC sold hides, tallow, salted beef, wool and mutton, and maintained several company stores.  The market for sheep and cattle products was in flux in the 1860s and 1870s, with the value of sheep eventually rising above that of cattle.  (Mills)

Spencer continued with his cattle and sheep operations on the Island of Hawaiʻi.   However, owing to ill health, Spencer came from his home at Waimea, Hawaiʻi, to reside with his daughter.  He died May 19, 1897.   (Evening Bulletin, May 20, 1897)

Spencer’s daughter, Frances “Fanny” Tasmania Spencer had married Richard Fredrick Bickerton (he later became an Associate Justice for the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court – 1886-1895.)  Reportedly, Spencer’s Waimea “Spencer House” was briefly known and used as Bickerton Hotel.

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Hotel Fairview

“I remember the sign out there said Fairview. And then father changed it to Lihue Hotel and then to the Kauai Inn.”  (William Harrison Rice II)

An 1890 newspaper article noted, “A resort for Tourists and Travelers situated about a mile from Nawiliwili, upon the slope of a hill.  The location is specially fortunate.”

“The Hotel is 40×26 an 8ft. veranda round the house. On the first floor is a large reception room, light and airy dining room and a cosy billiard room.”

“In the rear of these rooms is the culinary department, which is fitted up with all the conveniences.  The second floor is devoted to sleeping rooms. Six in all. Bath room with hot and cold water.”

“The Hotel is one of the most convenient resorts for tourists, and reflects great credit on the architect Mr PA Anderson. [C]onnected with the hotel is a livery stable where you can get saddle horses or teams for excursion parties.”

“Mr CW Spitz the proprietor has not spared money or pains to make ‘The Fairview’ the best on the Islands.” (Hawaiian Gazette, April 29, 1890)

A native of Hungary, Charles W. Spitz (1854-1942) immigrated to Hawai‘i in 1880, following a long voyage around Cape Horn, and soon found employment at Kilauea Sugar Plantation on Kauai.

The Fairview Hotel (initially opened by Charles W Spitz in 1890) was the first full-fledged hotel on Kauai providing rooms and a restaurant.  However, a year later, the newspaper reported, ‘Bankruptcy of CW Spitz’.

This was followed in an 1891 newspaper advertisement noted “For Sale!” “Fairview Hotel” by Theo J Lansing, Assignee Bankrupt Estate of CE Spitz. (Daily Bulletin, June 26, 1891) (Spitz later branched into the automobile business.)

Spitz sold the Fairview Hotel in 1894 William H Rice.  Rice is a descendant of a missionary teacher who came to the Hawaiian Islands in 1841; he was also the sheriff of Lihue for forty-three years. (Watumull Oral History)

Rice renamed it Lihue Hotel. In 1926, Rice rebuilt the original building to include a number of rooms and suites of various sizes.  An additional building was constructed to house the hotel lobby, dining room and kitchen. The capacity of the hotel rose to 100 people.  (Soboleski)

In those days, an operation had to be self-sufficient and a farm behind the hotel raised cattle, pigs and chickens along with fruits and vegetable grown for the restaurant.   After Rice’s death in 1946, the family sold the hotel to Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company.  (Kauai Museum)

In 1948, Lihue Hotel was renovated and renamed Kauai Inn, which remained in operation on Rice Street until 1963. (Soboleski)

Later, Inter-Island “made an effort to sell the Inn, without much success. … [I]ts location was fine.  But most visitors to Hawaii want to be on the beach, no matter what Island they’re on.”  (Dudley Child, Inter-Island Resorts, Advertiser, Oct 17, 1965))

In 1960, a new ten-story hotel, Inter-Island’s Kauai Surf, opened, thus signifying the beginning of Kauai’s commitment to tourism. (Salazar)

Inter-Island Resorts then moved “five of the double-deck hotel buildings from Kauai Inn to the Kauai Surf. … [They] cut each building in half, move it down to the beach area and reassemble it there. …”

“[T]he buildings will eventually surround the Kalapaki Beach lagoon which fronts the hotel.” (Advertiser, Nov 22, 1963)

“With the old site of the Inn cleared, Inter-Island negotiated its exchange with American Factors for 60 acres of plantation property surrounding Kauai Surf.” (Advertiser, Oct 17, 1965)

By 1970, the annual visitor count for Kauai was up to 426,000 and tourism workers outnumbered those on Kauai sugar plantations for the first time. Resorts at Po‘ipu, Hanalei, and Wailua were built to host these visitors.

The Coco Palms served as the setting for Elvis Presley’s, “Blue Hawaii,” which, along with other films, helped to popularize the island. (Strazar)

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