Buildings | Page 53 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

June 2, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Honolulu’s General Store

In 1806, Focke and Melchers, a shipping and trading company, was founded in Bremen, Germany by Carl Melchers and Carl Focke. Its business was centered on emigration to the US and transportation of goods from Cuba, Mexico and the US.

Three brothers, Heinrich (1822-1893,) Georg (1827-1907) and Gustav (1830-1902) formed branches of Melchers Company, first in Mazatlán, Mexico (1846,) then seven years later in Honolulu (1853.) In 1854, with the death of founder Carl Melchers, eldest son Laurenz Henrich Melchers took over; the company was renamed to C Melchers & Co and started to expand into the Asian market.

That year, Gustav Cornelius Melchers and Gustav Reiners completed their building on Merchant Street in downtown Honolulu. Once the main street of the financial and governmental functions in the city, Merchant Street was Honolulu’s earliest commercial center. (Melchers building is still there and today is the oldest commercial building in Honolulu.)

Melchers and Reiners were German importers, commission merchants, and ship chandlers (retail dealers who specialize in supplies or equipment for ships.) Their store was on Merchant Street back then, what is now known as Queen Street was actually the water’s edge.

The store was officially opened on February 20, 1854, with a celebratory luncheon. The structure was fitted with koa counters and glass-enclosed shelving. It sold mostly European goods, items found in most dry goods stores of that time, including fabrics, cigars and china goods. It served as Honolulu’s general store.

On April 26, 1856, RC Wyllie, through the Polynesian, Melchers was acknowledged as Consul of Bremen, Germany for the Hawaiian Islands and later (1858) Lubeck, Germany. Gustav Reiners served as Royal Prussian Consul (and appointed Melchers to that position when Reiners was away.)

It appears Melchers returned to Germany in the late-1850s. Reiners returned to Germany in 1861, leaving the business in the hands of Frederick August Schaefer.

In 1867, Schaefer, who had been a clerk of the store in the 1850s, purchased the firm from Melchers and Reiners and continued to operate the business. Schaefer was Consul of the Kingdom of Italy. (HABS)

Schaefer was born in Bremen, Germany in 1836 and came to Hawaii in 1857, to work for Melchers & Co in Honolulu. He became a partner in the firm in 1861 and bought out his partners in 1867, continuing the business as FA Schaefer & Co. on the same premises.

On the 50th anniversary of Shaefer’s company, the newspaper noted, “Mr. Schaefer has resided In Honolulu all of these years, and now has a beautiful home in Nuʻuanu (the former residence of R. C. Wyllie (foreign minister in the 1850s-1860s.)) He still comes down to his office each morning although he is getting along in years. The firm itself has long been one of Hawaiʻi’s substantial assets.” (Honolulu Star-bulletin, July 18, 1917)

Upon Schaefer’s relocation in 1920, Melchers’ building became the home office of Hawaiian Dredging Company, Ltd, an engineering and construction firm with seven branches elsewhere in the islands. Hawaiian Dredging, in turn, sold the building on April 6, 1954 to the City and County of Honolulu. (Greer)

The original structure was a three-by-four-bay building, its Merchant Street facade being the longer, the Kaʻahumanu Street facade the shorter. The structure has a basement, which was unusual at that time for a building so close to the ocean. The coral stone building was topped by a hipped roof above a simple cornice.

Probably in 1937-38, the Building was significantly enlarged (by about 75%) by the addition to the west/ʻEwa of another two bays, each with two windows at the second level. The connecting bay has a wide door at the lower floor. The lower level of the corner bay has no doors. These two bays may be conversions of the earlier alley and one-story warehouse-style structure.

Stucco and paint now cover most of the building. However, take the time to check the back of the building (makai side) to see the coral blocks. A good way is to take the breezeway down through Harbor Court (you’ll be walking on what once was Kaʻahumanu Street (also called Laulau Lane, due to the products sold along the former street.))

Here are a couple other Melchers mementos – the site where the Melchers building sits was the center of controversy in the early-1840s.

April 25, 1825, Richard Charlton arrived in the Islands to serve as the first British consul. A former sea captain and trader, he was already familiar with the islands of the Pacific and had promoted them in England for their commercial potential (he worked for the East India Company in the Pacific as early as 1821.)

In 1840, Charlton made a claim for several parcels of land in Honolulu. To substantiate his claim, Charlton produced a 299-year lease for the land in question, granted by Kalanimoku. There was no disagreement over the parcel, Wailele, on which Charlton lived, but the adjoining parcel he claimed, Pulaholaho, had been occupied since 1826 by retainers and heirs of Kaʻahumanu (a portion of which is where the Melchers Building is situate.)

In rejecting Charlton’s claim, Kamehameha III cited the fact that Kalanimoku did not have the authority to grant the lease. At the time the lease was made, Kaʻahumanu was Kuhina Nui, and only she and the king could make such grants. The land was Kaʻahumanu’s in the first place, and Kalanimoku certainly could not give it away. (Hawaiʻi State Archives) The dispute dragged on for years.

This, and other grievances purported by Charlton and the British community in Hawai‘i, led to the landing of George Paulet on February 11, 1843 “for the purpose of affording protection to British subjects, as likewise to support the position of Her Britannic Majesty’s representative here”.

Following this King Kamehameha III ceded the Islands and Paulet took control. After five months of British rule, Queen Victoria, on learning the injustice done, immediately sent Rear Admiral Richard Darton Thomas to the islands to restore sovereignty to its rightful rulers. On July 31, 1843 the Hawaiian flag was raised. The ceremony was held in area known as Kulaokahuʻa; the site of the ceremony was turned into a park, Thomas Square.

Here’s another Melchers memento; in the Hawaiian legislature of 1878, Walter Murray Gibson, then a freshman member from Lahaina, Maui, proposed a monument to the centennial of Hawaiʻi’s “discovery” by Captain James Cook. The legislature approved and he chaired the monument committee.

At the request of the monument committee, a bronze statue of ‘heroic size’ (about eight-and-a-half-feet tall) of King Kamehameha was designed, depicting the King at about 45-years old.

The statue was shipped on August 21, 1880, by the bark ‘GF Haendel,’ and was expected about mid-December. On February 22, 1881, came word that the Haendel had gone down November 15, 1880, off the Falkland Islands. All the cargo had been lost.

The statue had been insured for 50,000 marks (about $12,000) with Gustav C Melchers of Bremen through FA Schaefer of Honolulu. With the proceeds, a replica was ordered.

Ultimately, the original was recovered and repaired and set in Kapaʻau, Kohala on the Island of Hawaiʻi (May 8, 1883.) The duplicate was set in front of Aliʻiolani Hale on King Street in Honolulu (February 14, 1883.)

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Melchers Building-1969

No._4._View_of_Honolulu._From_the_Catholic_church._(c._1854)-portion-Melchers Building

Melchers Merchant-Bethel intersection

Melchers – Bethel Frontage

Melchers Building

Melchers – looking Diamond Head on Merchant

Melchers Bldg – former Kaahumanu Lane at left

Melchers – Merchant Street Frontage

Former Kaahumanu Lane- looking makai Melchers to right

Former Kaahumanu Lane- looking mauka Melchers to left

Rear coral wall of Melchers Building

Looking mauka on Kaahumanu Street – Melchers above

Honolulu_from_Merchant_Street_in_1885-Melcher 2-story to right

Melchers Bldg plaque

Melcher-postage forwarded by mark-August 30, 1855

View_of_Honolulu_Harbor_and_Punchbowl_Crater._(c._1854)

Downtown and Vicinity-Dakin-Fire Insurance- 4-Map-1891-noting Melcher’s Building

March 23, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hilo Hotel

“It is asserted by many that Hilo is the most beautiful city in the Islands. … Situated on its magnificent crescent-shaped bay amid dense dark-green foliage, it extends its welcome to all and opens its portals to the historic and romantic interest of the Big Island.”

“Of course, no visitor to the Hawaiian Islands fails to see the great volcano Kilauea.” (Musick; Ludington Daily News, March 12, 1896)

“… it does seem a pity to be so close to it and fail to explore its wonders. … It matters little whether or not the volcano is active during our visit, but, of course, we hope it will be.” (When you Go To Hawaiʻi, 1930)

But you needed ways to get there …

“There have been two meetings of the people to discuss the Volcano road and there is a general desire to have it made. Tourists will find it more pleasant to go to the Volcano by way of Hilo … as the road from Hilo to the Volcano will be through the woods mostly, the ride will be enchanting.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, August 20, 1888)

By 1890, “the Legislature having appropriated a definite sum of money for the Volcano road;” the “public work” road was under construction. However, the funding was not enough and prison labor was later used to construct the road. (Hawaiian Gazette, July 15, 1890)

“The year 1894 witnessed the completion of the volcano road which was begun in 1889. … it affords a fine carriage drive the entire distance of thirty miles. Regular stages now run between Hilo and the Volcano House every other day.” (Thrum)

But, before the ride on the road, you needed to get to the Island …

Before interisland air travel, competitors Wilder Steamship Co (1872) and Inter-Island Steam Navigation Co (1883) were the way to go. Wilder took you straight to Hilo; Interisland took a southern route around the Island to Punaluʻu. From there, folks rode a railroad to Pahala and then coaches hauled the visitors to the volcano from the Kaʻū side.

And they came … But you also needed a place to stay …

“In former times Hilo, like many of the country towns, lacked a hotel where travelers can stay and feel at home. In this respect the village is now well supplied by the ‘Hilo Hotel,’ kept by Joseph Vierra, formerly of the ‘White House’ in Honolulu. Here are now ample accommodations for travelers on the principal street, and in the center of the village.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 1, 1891)

But Hilo hotel accommodations didn’t seem to have the same happy history as the road construction or interisland steamers bringing people to see the Volcano (or other reasons to come to Hilo.)

“Every now and then an attempt at running something like a regular hotel would be made by some enterprising resident, but heretofore these experiments have not resulted in any marked success, for what reason it is not the purpose of this article to inquire. All that our readers will care to know is whether Hilo has a good hotel now, and whether if it has the boon is likely to be perpetuated.” (Evening Bulletin, May 21, 1896)

“Old Hotel Will Soon Be Replaced … The need of a new building for a hotel in Hilo has been felt by every tourist visiting the place. The present hostelry has been standing for many years, and was limited as to rooms, and void of conveniences. The place has been a nightmare to the people of Hilo, for the reason that it had a tendency to drive people away, while the new one will be inviting.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, February 26, 1897)

“One of the problems that confront Hilo in view of the increase in travel, which promises to further increase, is adequate hotel accommodations for visitors. The Hilo Hotel under its present management has become so popular a place to live that many rooms and cottages formerly available for transients are now occupied by Hilo people”. (Hilo Tribune, January 24, 1902)

And more came … “With the appearance of the steamer Enterprise, which will make regular voyages between this port and San Francisco, the number of strangers within the gates of Hilo at all times will be larger than heretofore. Perhaps a dozen more cottages will be required to accommodate visitors when steamers arrive, especially when the boats from Frisco and Honolulu arrive simultaneously.” (Hilo Tribune, January 24, 1902)

“One of the burdens falling upon owners of hotels in a city which is just starting out as an attraction for the traveller, is that of maintaining their plant at a standard several notches above the immediate demands of the trade.”

“The owners of the Hilo Hotel have been doing this and they should have more credit perhaps than is accorded them. It is they who put a good front before the weary voyager who must always arrive in Hilo after a forty round bout with Father Neptune.” (Hilo Tribune, January 24, 1902)

“The well-known progressive character of the men who own the Hilo Hotel is a guarantee that they will consider all matters which bear upon the future welfare of Hilo. Any minute that they feel conditions warrant it, they will make annex and annex to the Hotel until it becomes as large as the Moana, if necessary.” (Hilo Tribune, January 24, 1902)

But, things changed for the Hilo Hotel … “The Volcano House is ‘getting off on the right foot.’ Even Madam Pele is waking up to the fact and is starting in on at least a benefit performance. There is a gray side to this bright picture, however. The Hilo Hotel is closed. It has been converted into a chapel.” (Hilo Tribune, March 6, 1903)

“The need of a hotel at Hilo is more acute since new life has been injected into the hotel at the Volcano. The same push and energy would make the Hilo Hotel a popular and paying proposition.” (Hilo Tribune, March 6, 1903)

Things turned to a bright side, again, when George Lycurgus and his nephew (Demosthenes Lycurgus) bought and reopened the Hilo Hotel … “Tourists will no longer complain of the lack of hotel accommodations in Hilo …” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, May 29, 1909)

“The building was constructed about eleven years ago after the original Hilo Hotel, presided over by Joseph Vierra, proved too small for the accommodation of the people who visited Hilo.”

The replacement structure was “a two-story building with a row of cottages on either side of the lot. Even with the additional rooms supplied by the new structure there were not enough to meet the demands of the people who happened along on the steamer which arrived once in ten days.”

“The cottages were so inviting to the local people that they were preempted and many of the best rooms in the main building were taken by Hiloites so that it was not long before there was the old complaint of no rooms for tourists.”

“For several years the cottages only have been in use. They were found desirable by residents who were satisfied with smaller quarters than a dwelling and were quick to take advantage of the opportunity to secure a suitable place convenient to business. While a first-class cuisine will be the rule at the Hilo Hotel, Mr. Lycurgus will probably continue to maintain his town café, for the accommodation of the public.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, May 29, 1909)

By 1911, there were two hotels in Hilo, the Hilo Hotel and the Demosthenes (both under Lycurgus.) In addition, Lycurgus (Uncle George) owned the Volcano House. (Mid Pacific Magazine, Encyclopedia, 1911)

At the age of 81, Lycurgus traveled to Washington, DC to have the construction of the new park headquarters building farther back from the lip of the crater.

That allowed him, in 1941, to build a more modern hotel at the former Hawaiian Volcano Observatory site. He reopened the new Volcano House (designed by notable architect Charles William Dickey.)

After another eruption in 1952, at the age of 93, he arranged a publicity stunt involving riding a horse to the rim of the erupting vent and tossing in his ceremonial bottle of gin. (The offering of gin became a regular at Volcano after that.) Uncle George died in 1960 at the age of 101.

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Hilo_Hotel-(DMY)-1891

Hilo_Hotel-(DMY)

Hilo_Hotel-1924

New Hilo Hotel-Front-PCA-Feb_26,_1897

New Hilo Hotel-Side-PCA-Feb_26,_1897

A_Road_To_The-Volcano-(Mid-PacificMagazine)-1913

Road (new) to volcano-(HHS-6032)

Volcano_House-(LOC)-1902

Volcano House, Kīlauea, Hawai‘i-(HHS-6018)-early 1890s

Early_Inter_Island_Routes

SS Waialeale

March 20, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Honolulu Hale

The debate on the site of City Hall waged in Honolulu …

“The plan of having all of the public buildings located in one part of the city is an excellent one, but the general convenience of the public should be taken into consideration.”

“The Honolulu Hale site is very central and I should like to see the City Hall located there.” (ZK Myers, Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 15, 1909)

“I think that the ideal site for the City Hall would be the lots now occupied by Honolulu Hale and the post office. When the Federal building has been completed, it should be possible to secure the post office site, and the two pieces of property, thrown in together, would furnish an ideal location for a convenient and imposing City Hall.”

“If the post office property should not be available, I fear that the Honolulu Hale land alone would not give sufficient room.” (HO Smith, Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 15, 1909)

“Put the City Hall alongside the Federal building. I think Honolulu Hale an excellent site, but it is too small. This city is going to grow. The City Hall should be centrally located. Have it downtown by all means. … I like the Honolulu Hale site, but, as I said, I’m afraid that it is too small.” (AL Castle, Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 15, 1909)

But, the Honolulu Hale site they are suggesting was not the site of Honolulu Hale that we know today (on the corner of King and Punchbowl.)

The first Honolulu Hale was on Merchant Street (it’s now a park-like lot on the Diamond Head side of the Kamehameha V Post Office Building.)

Kamehameha III is said to have built this government office building in 1835. (The building was interchangeably called Honolulu Hale and Honolulu House.)

“All of the business of the Hawaiian government was transacted there, and the life of the town centered in that neighborhood to a very considerable extent.”

In 1847, “It was occupied by government offices, the Custom House, Department of Education, Treasury Department and Department of Interior occupied the four corner rooms of the building on the lower floor, while the Department of Foreign Affairs was on the upper floor.” (Carter; Pacific Commercial Advertiser, May 30, 1906)

The government Executive Ministers’ offices were a short walk from the palace (which were situated on the same grounds as the present ʻIolani Palace (completed in 1882.) The palace was initially a home called Hanailoia (built in July 1844,) renamed Hale Aliʻi in 1845 and used as the palace.)

At the former Honolulu Hale, an arched gateway served as the entrance to the Executive Offices property. Dr Gerrit P Judd, Minister of Finance was on the ground floor. Upstairs, Robert C Wyllie had his Foreign Minister office. (Dye)

The Kingdom of Hawai‘i instituted a postal system in 1851, issuing 5 and 13 cent stamps for letters and a 2 cent stamp for papers. Operated as a private concession for many years, the postal service expanded its work in the 1860s. David Kalakaua, later Hawaii’s monarch, ran the service from 1862 to 1865.

Later, with growing community and business needs, the postal authorities were using part of Honolulu Hale. A partition divided the ʻEwa or North side, which was used by the Post Office, while the Waikiki or South side was used by the Whitney stationery business and also the editorial office of the Pacific Commercial Advertiser. (HHS)

As postal operations grew, in 1871, the Kamehameha V Post Office at the corner of Merchant and Bethel Streets was constructed and the Post Office folks moved out of Honolulu Hale. In 1900, the old Post Office became a unit of the US Postal System.

(Where the Kamehameha V Post Office Building now sits (adjacent to the former Honolulu Hale) was a 2-story coral structure that housed the ‘Polynesian’ (the Hawaiian Government’s English language weekly paper.)) (Dye)

On June 12, 1857, a marine telegraph was put into operation on Puʻu O Kaimuki (Telegraph Hill) behind Diamond Head. This device was actually a kind of semaphore designed to send visual (rather than electric) signals to the post office in downtown Honolulu when an approaching ship was sighted. (Schmitt)

It was initially set up by the local Post Master to time the landing of ships to collect the mail, it also served as a means to notify the community of what ship was landing, especially those who service the ships and their passengers.

Honolulu Hale on Merchant Street was fitted with a marine lookout and a tall semaphore, making its signals accessible to a larger segment of the population.

“When the telephone system got into working order, the lookout station was moved to a position on Diamond Head which gave a view further along the channel, because it was no longer necessary for the station to be in full view of the city.” (Hawaiian Star, February 10, 1899)

While the debate was waged on where to put City Hall in 1909 (as noted in the initial paragraphs, here,) it wasn’t until 1929 that the Spanish mission style, Dickey-designed Honolulu Hale was completed at the corner of King and Punchbowl street.

A 1950 map of Downtown Honolulu shows that the former Honolulu Hale/Honolulu House site was used as a parking lot for the Police Department (that was situated diagonally across the Merchant-Bethel streets intersection.) As noted, today it is a park-like area.

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Honolulu_Hale_by_Paul_Emmert-1853

Honolulu Hale-governmental building of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1843-1853 and then post office from 1853-1871

Near (R) Snow Bldg-2-story bldg is PCA-Honolulu Hale and Kamehameha V Post Office-PP-38-4-013-1870s

Merchant St. looking toward Waikiki-PPWD-8-7-009-1885

Looking mauka up Kaahumanu Street to former Honolulu Hale with semaphore on top

Kamehameha_V_Post_Office-Hnl Hale on right(WC)

Former Honolulu Hale Site

Honolulu_Hale-Merchant_Street-Sorenson-Reg2339 (1906)

March 12, 2015 by Peter T Young 6 Comments

“Take it all except the Cannon Club”

When the Vice-President of Kapiʻolani Community College visited the Army headquarters at Schofield Barracks in 1965 to ask for the former Fort Ruger lands, the general was said to have replied “Take it all except the Cannon Club.” (Cultural Surveys)

Whoa … we’ve already gotten waaay too ahead of ourselves. Let’s look back.

In 1884, Diamond Head went from private royal ownership to government property. Under King Kalākaua, the Diamond Head crater and part of the surrounding lands were transferred from the estate of King Lunalilo to the Hawaiian government. In 1904, the US government acquired 729-acres of Diamond Head as public domain.

From 1904 until 1950, Diamond Head was closed to the public at large. During this period of exclusive occupation, significant construction occurred within the crater. Bunkers, communication rooms, storage tunnels and coastal artillery fortifications were built. (LRB)

Between 1909-1921, the Hawaiian Coast Artillery Command had its headquarters at Fort Ruger and defenses included artillery regiments stationed at Fort Armstrong, Fort Barrette, Fort DeRussy, Diamond Head, Fort Kamehameha, Kuwa‘aohe Military Reservation (Fort Hase – later known as Marine Corps Base Hawaiʻi) and Fort Weaver.

The forts and battery emplacements batteries were dispersed for concealment and to insure that a projectile striking one would not thereby endanger a neighbor.

Fort Ruger Military Reservation was established at Diamond Head (Lēʻahi) in 1906. The Reservation was named in honor of Major General Thomas H Ruger, a Civil War hero and, later, superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point.
The fort included Battery Harlow (1910-1943); Battery Birkhimer (1916-1943); Battery Granger Adams (1935-1946); Battery Dodge (1915-1925); Battery Mills (1916-1925); Battery 407 (1944); Battery Hulings (1915-1925); and Battery Ruger (1937-1943).

Also at Fort Ruger was the Cannon Club, a social club with a restaurant built in 1945 for the officers and their families at Fort Ruger and other military installations.

“It wasn’t the fanciest place on the island, but it was the sort of old-style officers’ club that crisply preserved the illusion that each guest there, for the evening at least, was important and deserved some extra attention.”

“It was a place where people said “Sir” and “Ma’am” a lot; where you got fruit cocktail and thick juicy slabs of Porterhouse or prime rib, along with buttery rolls and piping hot baked potatoes heaped with real bacon bits … or watch the grown-ups glide across a dance floor that was open to the balmy breezes and the lambent sky, keeping time to the strains of a live band.” (Cultural Surveys)

The conclusion of World War II and the advent of nuclear and missile warfare made the coastal batteries obsolete. Thus in December 1955 the majority of the Fort Ruger land was turned over to the State of Hawai‘i.

The club, however, could not keep up with the times. Under a 1987 federal law, military clubs had to be self-sustaining to remain open, and the Army had to close the Cannon Club in 1997 as a result. For a few years, there was hope that the restaurant could reopen under private contractors, but the funding for the project fell through. (Cultural Surveys)

In 2001, the State acquired the 7.8-acre property across from the Kapiʻolani Community College campus )which is situated on former Fort Ruger land.)

A few years later, the Board of Land and Natural Resources approved a direct lease of the Cannon Club site to the University of Hawaiʻi for the Culinary Institute of the Pacific (under KCC) that was executed in August 2004. (I was Chair of DLNR at the time.)

Kapiʻolani Technical School was established near the Ala Wai in 1946; their first program was food service. In 1965, programs were realigned to fit the UH community college system (it was then renamed Kapiʻolani Community College – and eventually relocated to its present campus on the mauka slopes of Diamond Head.)

The Culinary Institute of the Pacific was formed in 2000 as a UH Community College System-wide consortium. Its mission is to provide career, technical and cultural culinary education.

The 65-year lease will enable “the university to develop new instructional and restaurant facilities for KCC’s Culinary Institute of the Pacific at Diamond Head.”

“The Culinary Institute will expand opportunities for current students, past graduates and industry professionals seeking advance degrees in the culinary arts and managerial positions.” (Governor Lingle; UH)

The UH, through KCC, will develop new certificate and degree programs in culinary arts to serve State needs for advanced culinary instruction and training. Currently, the Community Colleges offer two-year Associate of Science degrees or non-credit culinary arts programs.

Based at the former Cannon Club, the new programs will serve the needs of students completing the two year degree, industry professionals requiring advanced culinary education, and students from outside Hawai‘i seeking training in Hawai‘i Regional Cuisine. (UH)

The Culinary Institute of the Pacific at Diamond Head will be a state-of-the art, environmentally sustainable culinary campus that will include a signature restaurant open to the public, competition kitchen, demonstration theater, advanced Asian culinary lab, a patisserie classroom, imu pit and theme garden plots. (Restaurant Week)

A couple years ago (2012,) UH received state, federal and private funds for Phase I items including a new one-story classroom building, instructional culinary laboratory buildings, support spaces and outdoor cooking area. (hawaii-gov)

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Cannon Club-(vic&becky)

Fort_Ruger_Pool-(vic&becky)

Culinary_Institute_of_the_Pacific-KCC-Proposed-Layout-UH-PBR

Fort_Ruger_Tunnel-BWS

Fort Ruger Tunnel-BWS

February 26, 2015 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Rock Silo to Bell Tower

Carl W Winstedt and the National Construction Company began construction on the Aloha Tower on 1924. The project took a year and a half to complete.

Aloha Tower opened in 1926; at 184-feet, 2-inches tall, it was the tallest building in the Territory (and remained such for the next forty years.) (LRB)

Winstedt was originally from Sweden. Life wasn’t always so tall for Winstedt; back in 1915, he and his wife Marie Camr Winstedt went through bankruptcy in Juneau, Alaska.

But things were looking up.

Following Aloha Tower, Winstedt built the Egholm Residence in the Diamond Head Terraces subdivision in 1926. It is one of the few examples of small cottages in the Spanish Colonial Revival style popular in Hawai‘i in the 1920s and early-1930s.

Both of those structures (Aloha Tower and Egholm residence) are still here. In fact, there is another structure attributed to Winstedt that is still around, although it is very unlike the prior two examples of his work.

Reportedly in 1926, Winstedt’s National Construction Company, Ltd was the lowest bidder for the construction of a portion of the Kamehameha highway, designated “Job 4057.”

Winstedt and National were awarded the contract for this work by the Territory of Hawaiʻi acting through Lyman H Bigelow, the territorial highway commissioner. (Court Records, March 8, 1933)

Winstedt was to build Kamehameha Highway from Waimea Bay to Kahuku. Reportedly, to support it, in 1930, he built a rock quarry on the North edge of Waimea Bay to produce gravel. (pupukea-waimea)

However, it appears Winstedt and his companies, National Construction Co and Realty Development Co, faced hard times related to the road project.

“(T)he aggregate of the claims filed against the construction company … is in excess of $100,000. It is also conceded that the construction company and the sureties on its bond are insolvent.” (Court Records, March 8, 1933)

The facility was abandoned in 1932; it’s not clear what happened with it for the next 20-years.

Then, St Michael’s Church was looking for a church facility. With changing demographics and land needs, they had given up their 1853 stone church in Waialua and were in a 1923 concrete building; they looked at Waimea, at the far end of the parish.

In April of 1953, the Catholic mission acquired the old rock crusher site and converted the buildings into Saint Michael Parish, Waialua with Mission of Saints Peter & Paul.

The concrete rock silo was converted into a 100-foot bell tower. The former construction company machine sheds were converted into a patio and chapel. (Clark & pupukea-waimea)

About that time, other changes were happening at Waimea Bay; sand was being removed to replenish the eroded Waikīkī Beach, across the island.

Reportedly, before sand mining operations removed over 200,000-tons of sand from Waimea Bay to fill beaches in Waikīkī and elsewhere, there was so much sand that if you would have tried to jump off Pōhaku Lele (Jump Rock,) you would have jumped about six feet down into the sand below.

Like Aloha Tower, the former silo for crushed rubble has become one of the most famous landmarks on Oʻahu.

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