Buildings | Page 55 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

July 9, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

St Martin de Tours Chapel

Some would suggest that Catholicism started in Hawaiʻi with the arrival of Don Francisco de Paula Marin (Manini) to the Hawaiian Islands in 1793 or 1794 (at about the age of 20.)

In 1819, Kalanimōku was the first Hawaiian Chief to be formally baptized a Catholic, aboard the French ship Uranie. Shortly thereafter, Boki, Kalanimōku’s brother (and Governor of Oʻahu) was baptized.

“The captain and the clergyman asked Young what Kalanimōku’s rank was, and upon being told that he was the chief counselor (kuhina nui) and a wise, kind, and careful man, they baptized him into the Catholic Church.” (Kamakau)

It wasn’t until July 7, 1827, however, when the pioneer French Catholic mission arrived in Honolulu. It consisted of three priests of the Order of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary; Father Alexis Bachelot, Abraham Armand and Patrick Short. They were supported by a half dozen other Frenchmen.

Their first mass was celebrated a week later on Bastille Day, July 14, and a baptism was given on November 30, to a child of Marin.

On April 17, 1837, two other Catholic priests arrived. However, the Hawaiian government forced them back onto a ship on April 30. American, British and French officials in Hawaii intervened and persuaded the king to allow the priests to return to shore.

Catholic Christian worship in Hilo was as early as 1839. The first chapel located on bay front was made from pili grass and was called Saint Martin de Tours. Father Charles Pouzot, SCC became the first pastor of the parish in 1845.

By 1848 the small grass chapel was replaced by a new wooden structure. The Tabernacle to preserve the Eucharist was placed in the sanctuary in 1849.

Gradually the worship space was adorned with statues and stations of the cross. A bell donated in 1850, was a gift from sailors serving on the American man-of-war Independence.

In 1852 the chapel was enlarged due to the generosity of sailors from another American warship whose spiritual needs had also been served in Hilo.

In 1862 the parish of St. Martin de Tours had once again outgrown its place of worship. A new larger church was built in the area of Kalākaua Park on Keawe and Waiānuenue Avenue.

On July 9, 1862 Bishop Louis Maigret, Bishop of Honolulu dedicated the new church to Saint Joseph. That same day 30 more people were baptized and about 300 more were confirmed to become full members of the Saint Joseph Catholic Community.

In the 1880s an increase in the number of Portuguese immigrants from the Madeira Islands more than doubled the Catholic Christian population in Hilo.

Father Puozot already fluent in English, French and Hawaiian, learned Portuguese and began to preach his sermons in Portuguese as well as in English and Hawaiian.

Fr. James C. Bessell, SSCC was assigned as pastor at Saint Joseph in 1909. Father’s zealous effort to reach many families resulted in increasing devotional opportunities and an increase in the numbers of parishioners.

By 1911, Hawaiʻi had 85 priests, 30 churches and 55 chapels. The Catholic population was 35,000; there were 4 academies, a college and 9 parochial schools established by the mission, and the total number of pupils was 2,200.

A new, larger church was needed in Hilo. Father Beissell purchased the property on the corner of Kapiʻolani and Haili Streets from the First Hawaiian Company in 1915.

The large community of active faithful including, among others, Hawaiian and Portuguese families worked together to build their new church.

The cornerstone was laid in 1917 and the church was dedicated at its present location in February 1919. (St Joseph)

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Waianuenue-St Joseph’s in background (left of center)-Bertram

Hilo-St Joseph’s at far right-Bertram

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July 7, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

John Thomas Waterhouse

John Thomas Waterhouse “was born in Berkshire, England, in 1816, and went to school at Wood House Grove boarding school in 1825. The school was a Methodist preacher’s son’s school. I attended that until I was 13 years of age.” He became a businessman.

“I will tell you how the spirit of trade first came upon me. A man was allowed to come on the play ground once a week, Saturdays, to sell notions, etc. I used to invest my little money in sundries which I bought from this man, and sell them again to my playmates during the week at an advance, on credit.”

“Well, I had made a little money, and had heard of the United States, and concluded to cross the Atlantic to (the US.) I had become infatuated with reading the life of John Jacob Astor, and I started out from England, April, 1833, with a determination to become a John Jacob Astor”. (Hawaiian Gazette, September 24, 1889)

Later, his father “was asked if he would head all of the missions of the South Pacific … and he said, ‘All right. I will take the position if I can take all of my family with me.’ Well, he had ten children and some of them were already married, so they all went down to Australia, where he had a Methodist Mission”. (Waterhouse)

Waterhouse “was in business in Hobert Town, Tasmania, for ten years, owning a large number of vessels, and I was a very active man in business there.”

“I had very poor health and was recommended to go to Honolulu, in the Sandwich Islands. Well, I went there in one of my own vessels and purchased the property where I now live.”

“That was in 1851, and from San Francisco I travelled backward and forward a great deal and improved very much in health, and I wish to say right here that the Sandwich Islands are really as fine islands as you can find anywhere in any part of the Pacific, and are known as the ‘Paradise of the Pacific.’” (Hawaiian Gazette, September 24, 1889)

He “started a general merchandise store (JT Waterhouse and Company) here in Honolulu. Had quite a few stores. … (He) was very fond of animals but he wanted to turn this to his benefit so he brought in a camel and he put it in the back yard of the store and if anybody bought so much merchandise, they were allowed to see the camel.”

“He used to make trips every year to England to buy merchandise and one night he had a dream of a carpet – a design on a carpet – so when he went to England, he had that made and he brought them back and sold them as “Waterhouse Dream Carpets” and they sold like hotcakes.”

“He also brought this lokelani (rose) pattern here – in china – and his friends there said, ‘Oh, what’s the good of bringing that cheap china to the Islands?’ He said, ‘I think it could go.’ And it did.” (Waterhouse)

He, “was very fond of animals but he wanted to turn this to his benefit so he brought in a camel and he put it in the back yard of the store and if anybody bought so much merchandise, they were allowed to see the camel.” (Waterhouse)

“There being no recognized coinage indigenous to the Hawaiian Islands, in 1862. JT Waterhouse began issuing tokens redeemable only at his facilities.”

“About the size of a silver dollar, they were of ‘white metal,’ one side bearing a portrait of King Kamehameha IV, the other bearing a beehive with the words ‘John Thomas Waterhouse, Importer’ encircling it, and the words ‘Hale Maikai’ (good house) below the beehive. The tokens were worth fifty cents at Waterhouse’s establishments. (HABS)

“(W)hen he went across the United States on a trip back to England, he noticed that Chicago was a very booming town and Cedar Rapids was a very booming town. He wanted to buy some property in one of the towns and he considered buying some property on Michigan Boulevard in Chicago but he couldn’t decide which town he should invest in, so he tossed a coin and it came out Cedar Rapids.” (Waterhouse)

He was “the owner of some of the finest blocks and most desirable property in and around Cedar Rapids, such as the ‘Waterhouse Block,’ ‘Grand Hotel,’ considerable residence property in the city, and residence with thirty-five acres northwest of city limits, etc.” (History of Linn County)

He owned several pieces of property in the downtown area, among them buildings on Queen Street, retail stores on King and Fort Streets, and a warehouse on Merchant Street. In addition, he was referred to as a “collector of halls,” being the owner of the Lyceum and Olympic Halls, which he lent for lectures and assemblies. (HABS)

“One time, when he thought the taxes were getting too high, he wrapped himself in English rags – so the story goes – and refused to pay his taxes. And so then he went away, back to England, and moved back to England himself but his family were left here.”

“He went back to England and he rented an estate somewhere in England and everything was going fine until the fox hunting season arrived and then they drove the hounds over his grounds and he was so furious he sold everything and came back to the Islands.” (Waterhouse)

“His personal success has been brilliant. His signal achievements spurred emulation, enriched the country and benefitted all. As a business man was a marvel.”

“In Hawaii he found opportunities and made the most of them. Mr. Waterhouse from a small beginning reached the top of the ladder commercially. In the wider field of the business arenas of the United States or Europe he could not but have become a conspicuous figure.”

“His matchless energy and rare abilities stamped him as a man in a million. … Mr Waterhouse is very wealthy. His fortune is estimated at several millions. He is one of the heaviest tax-payers in Honolulu; has investments in California and New York and owns much property at Cedar Rapids, la. He practically created that town.”

“Of the four children living two his sons, John and Henry, conduct the large establishment of JT Waterhouse; while the third son, William, is now in Cedar Rapids, where he manages his father’s affairs, and conducts the leading hotel that flourishing city, which included his father’s possessions. Their daughter, the wife Hon HW Rice, is a resident of Kauai.” (Hawaiian Star, January 5, 1895) He died at his home in Nuʻuanu on January 8, 1895.

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John Thomas Waterhouse-Token

June 29, 2017 by Peter T Young 4 Comments

Dole Water Tower

The most-visited tourist attraction in the state of Hawaii is the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument (also known as the Pearl Harbor bombing site). The second most visited attraction is about 20 miles north: the Dole pineapple plantation. (Smithsonian)

“I first came to Hawaii … with some notion of growing coffee – the new Territorial Government was offering homestead lands to people willing to farm them – and I had heard that fortunes were being made in Hawaiian coffee.”

“I began homesteading a (64 acre) farm in the rural district of the island of Oahu, at a place called Wahiawa, about 25 miles from Honolulu.” (Dole; JPHS)

“On August 1, 1900 (I) took up residence thereon as a farmer – unquestionably of the dirt variety. After some experimentation, I concluded that it was better adapted to pineapples than to (coffee,) peas, pigs or potatoes, and accordingly concentrated on that fruit.”

The first profitable lot of canned pineapples was produced by Dole’s Hawaiian Pineapple Company in 1903 and the industry grew rapidly from there. (Bartholomew)

The pineapple canning industry began in Baltimore in the mid-1860s and used fruit imported from the Caribbean. (Bartholomew) Commercial pineapple production which started about 1890 with hand peeling and cutting.

Operations soon developed a procedure based on classifying the fruit into a number of grades by diameter centering the pineapple on the core axis and cutting fruit cylinders to provide slices to fit the No. 1, 2 and 2-1/2 can sizes. (ASME)

Despite knowing nothing about canning, Dole opened the Hawaiian Pineapple Company in 1901, which the local press begged as being “a foolhardy venture.” And in its early years, it did indeed operate at a loss.

However, Dole invested in developing new technologies – notably hiring a local draftsman to develop machinery that could peel and process 100-pineapples a minute. (Smithsonian)

With the expanding plant, in 1927, the Hawaiian Pineapple Co, needed a water tower for its cannery’s fire-prevention sprinkler system. The company was enlarging its cannery operations, which now covered some 19 acres.

Hawaii architect Charles William Dickey (Dole’s brother-in-law) proposed to company engineer Simes Thurston Hoyt that the water tank might be fashioned to resemble a pineapple.

Hoyt designed a 100,000-gallon tank, complete with 46 leaves, in eight sizes, rotated “to avoid too much regularity.” The tallest leaf was nearly nine feet tall, the smallest three feet.

The tank would be 40 feet tall with a 24-foot circumference, constructed of 5/16 steel plates. He decreed that it should be painted in the “appearance of a pineapple.” (Honolulu Magazine)

Engineer Hoyt developed the tank design and contracted its manufacture to the Chicago Bridge and Iron Co. (CB&I) factory in Greenville, Pennsylvania. The tank was shipped to Honolulu in three pieces.”

“The Watertower, Chicago Bridge and Iron’s newsletter, predicted the tank would “no doubt be one of the important objects of interest to visitors at Honolulu.”

Erection of the tank was completed in January of 1928. The tank measured 24-feet in diameter and 40-feet in height. It was placed on top of a 100-foot steel structure.

When the delicate leafy crown and red aircraft beacon were placed, the Pineapple Water Tank stood out as the tallest structure in Honolulu.

Since 1968, land in central Oahu, once used to cultivate pineapple land, was being used for the development of the bedroom community of Mililani. Pineapple production on Oahu began a steady decline.

Finally, the Iwilei cannery ceased operations in 1992. Along with this, the Pineapple Water Tank, the largest pineapple in the world, that Honolulu icon for 65 years, had gotten old.

In 1993, the rusting tank and tower were taken down. The tank was “stored” in its original three pieces. It was treated like that once favorite toy of which the child had tired. Sitting in a vacant lot at the Cannery, it continued to corrode, eventually rusting into oblivion.

The Pineapple made CB&I famous and started a trend. CB&I later built other product based water tanks including the Gerber Baby Food Jar in Rochester, New York and the Sir Walter Raleigh Tobacco Can in Louisville, Kentucky. (Dannaway) Other product-based water towers were also built.

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Dole Water Tower

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June 25, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Free Health Care for Hawaiians?

In King Kamehameha IV’s initial speech to the legislature in 1854, the King voiced his desire to create a hospital for the people of Hawai’i. At that time, the continued existence of the Hawaiian race was seriously threatened by the influx of disease brought to the islands by foreign visitors.

Queen Emma enthusiastically supported the dream of a hospital, and the two campaigned tirelessly to make it a reality. They personally went door-to-door soliciting the necessary funding. The royal couple exceeded their goal in just over a month, raising $13,530. In turn, the Legislature appropriated $6,000. (Queen’s)

Hawaiians called the hospital and dispensary Hale Ma‘i o ka Wahine Ali‘i (literally, sick house of the lady chief,) or Hale Ma‘i for short. Opening day was August 1, 1859. (Greer)

“The Queen’s Hospital was founded in 1859 by their Majesties Kamehameha IV and his consort Emma Kaleleonalani. The hospital is organized as a corporation …”

“… and by the terms of its charter the board of trustees is composed of ten members elected by the society and ten members nominated by the Government ….” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 31, 1901)

“(A) number of persons, resident in Honolulu and other parts of the Kingdom have entered into a voluntary contribution, by subscription, for the purpose of creating a fund, for the erection and establishment of a Hospital at Honolulu, for the relief of indigent sick, and disabled people of the Hawaiian Kingdom, as well as of such foreigners, and others, as may desire to avail themselves of the same …”

The “subscribers … resolved that they should associate themselves together as a Body Politic and Corporate, for the purpose of carrying into effect the objects and intentions of the said subscribers …”

“…the following on behalf of the said subscribers were elected by ballot to act as Trustees, on behalf of the said subscribers, viz, BF Snow, SC Damon, SN Castle, CR Bishop, IW Austin, EO Hall, TJ Waterhouse, WA Aldrich, WL Green and H Hackfeld …”

“His Majesty then designated the following ten persons, Trustees, on behalf of the Government, viz, His Royal Highness Prince L (Lot) Kamehameha, David L Gregg, Wm Webster, GM Robertson, TC Heuck, John Ladd, James Bissen, HIH Holdsworth, AB Baker, L John Montgomery.” (Charter of the Queen’s Hospital)

The initial intent was “to establish a temporary Dispensary, with suitable Hospital accommodations at Honolulu, until the permanent Hospital, contemplated by this Charter, shall have been established, and for that purpose, to hire, and furnish, a suitable house premises …

“… also to purchase, or rent, or lease, a suitable site for, and provide for and proceed with the erection, furnishing, establishing and furthering into operation, a permanent Hospital at Honolulu, with a Dispensary, and all necessary furnishings and appurtenances …”

“… for the reception and accommodation, and treatment of indigent, sick, and disabled Hawaiians, as well as such foreigners, and others, who may choose to avail themselves of the same.” (Charter of the Queen’s Hospital)

While there was no specific provision in the hospital’s charter for free medical service to native Hawaiians, “all native Hawaiians have been cared for without charge, while for others a charge has been made of from $1 to $3 per day.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 31, 1901)

In part, the Hospital was funded with government funds (taxes and appropriations.) On May 13, 1859, the king approved an ‘Act to Aid in the Establishment of Hospitals for the Benefit of Sick and Disabled Hawaiian Seamen.’

It provided that each passenger arriving from a foreign port should pay a tax of $2.00 to the Collector of Customs for the support of such hospitals.

Additional revenue was expected from a tax on seamen sailing under the Hawaiian flag. The Civil Code of 1859 provided that: (1) ship owners or masters arriving from foreign ports should pay twenty-five cents a month for each seaman employed on board since the last entry at any Hawaiian port;

(2) masters of coasting vessels should pay, quarterly, twenty-five cents a month for each seaman employed. The tax was withheld from wages, and funds realized were retained as a ‘Marine Hospital Fund’ for the relief of sick and disabled Hawaiian seamen. (Greer)

However, when Hawai‘i became a US Territory, “‘There is a possibility that the legislative appropriation will be cut off after the first of the year,’ said George W Smith yesterday, ‘but even se we shall have funds enough to get along, although the hospital will be somewhat crippled.’”

“You see there is a provision in the United States Constitution that public property shall not be taken for private use, or that the people shall be taxed to support private institutions.”

“Under the Monarchy and the Republic $10,000 was annually appropriated for its support, but now that the Islands are a part of the United States this sum may be eliminated from the appropriation list.”

“We have already lost the $1 tax which was exacted from everyone who landed on the Islands, which amounted to something over $30,000 annually, and likewise the seamen’s tax, which netted us another $2,000 or more, so with this additional money lost we shall be out a considerable portion of our revenue.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 30, 1900)

“The Legislature at its last session made an appropriation for the Queen’s Hospital of $40,000, to be used in the next biennial period. This was in line with the previous policy of the Government in making appropriation for the hospital, similar appropriations being made at the same time to other like Institutions.”

“There was, however, one very peculiar incident in connection with the appropriation made for the Queen’s Hospital. In the past the sum of $20,000 had always been given to the hospital for the biennial period, and Governor Dole recommended that the Legislature make the usual appropriation.”

“Instead that body appropriated just double the amount asked, or $40,000. Attached to the bill, however, was a rider providing that no distinction should be made as to race in the care of patients at the hospital.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 31, 1901)

“Under the provisions of the Organic Act the Legislature has no power to give a subsidy to any institution and, under the construction likely to be placed by the Board of Health of the intentions of the Legislature, the Queen’s Hospital must be placed under the control of the Government before it may receive the appropriation of $40,000.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 31, 1901)

Today, the Queen’s Medical Center is a private, non-profit, acute medical care facility. It is the largest private hospital in Hawaiʻi, licensed to operate with 505 acute care beds and 28 sub-acute beds. The medical center has more than 3,000 employees and over 1,200 physicians on staff.

As the leading medical referral center in the Pacific Basin, Queen’s offers a comprehensive range of primary and specialized care services. (Queen’s)

Since its founding in 1859, The Queen’s Medical Center has strived “to fulfill the intent of Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV to provide in perpetuity quality health care services to improve the well-being of Native Hawaiians and all of the people of Hawai‘i.” (Queen’s) (The image shows the original Queen’s Hospital in 1860.)

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June 21, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Chinese Wo Hing Society Temple and Cookhouse

Some suggest Captain James Cook’s crew gave information about the “Sandwich Islands” when they stopped in Macao in December 1779, near the end of the third voyage.

In 1788, British Captain John Meares commanded two vessels, the Iphigenia and the Felice, with crews of Europeans and 50-Chinese. Shortly thereafter, in 1790, the American schooner Eleanora, with Simon Metcalf as master, reached Maui from Macao using a crew of 10-Americans and 45-Chinese. (Nordyke & Lee)

Crewmen from China were employed as cooks, carpenters and artisans, and Chinese businessmen sailed as passengers to America. Some of these men disembarked in Hawai’i and remained as new settlers.

The growth of the Sandalwood trade with the Chinese market (where mainland merchants brought cotton, cloth and other goods for trade with the Hawaiians for their sandalwood – who would then trade the sandalwood in China) opened the eyes and doors to Hawaiʻi.

The Chinese referred to Hawaiʻi as “Tan Heung Shan” – “The Sandalwood Mountains.” The sandalwood trade lasted for nearly half a century – 1792 to 1843. (Nordyke & Lee)

Starting in the 1850s, when the Hawaiian Legislature passed “An Act for the Governance of Masters and Servants,” a section of which provided the legal basis for contract-labor system, labor shortages were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America. The first to arrive were the Chinese (1852.)

“These Chinese were taken to the plantations. There they lived in grass houses or unpainted wooden buildings with dirt floors. Sometimes as many as forty men were put into one room.”

“They slept on wooden boards about two feet wide and about three feet from the floor. … (T)hey cut the sugarcane and hauled it on their backs to ox drawn carts which took the cane to the mill to be made into sugar” (Young – Nordyke & Lee)

The sugar industry grew, so did the Chinese population in Hawaiʻi. Between 1852 and 1884, the population of Chinese in Hawai’i increased from 364 to 18,254, to become almost a quarter of the population of the Kingdom (almost 30% of them were living in Honolulu.) (Young – Nordyke & Lee)

During the years 1852-1898, many thousands of Chinese came to Maui to work on sugar plantations and in sugar mills. Chinatown in Lahaina began as one-story shops and housing on Front Street, and as more Chinese were attracted to the area, two-story wooden buildings were built to accommodate them.

Between 1869 and 1910 over thirty secret societies that have their roots in seventeenth century China were established in the Islands, six on Maui. These secret societies were formed to politically re-establish the deposed Ming dynasty.

The societies in Hawai‘i were not significantly interested in the political aspects of the parent societies. However, these societies made financial contributions to the 1911 Chinese revolution conducted by Sun Yat-Sen.

These local clubs were mutual aid societies which met social and recreational needs of its members providing funeral services and burial, protective services and made contributions to their members.

The Wo Hing Society – Wo, meaning “peace and harmony” and Hing, meaning “prosperity” – a branch of the Chee Kung Tong in Lahaina was incorporated in 1905 and the original structure repaired in 1906. “The extensive improvements at the Wo Hing Society House will be completed in season for the Chinese New Year’s festivities.” (Maui News, December 23, 1905)

The Society was an important aspect of cultural and social life for its immigrant Chinese members. Since many of the early Chinese immigrants were single men the society provided a fraternal structure which was a substitute for the absent family.

The Chinese Tong Society was a club opened to men sixteen to sixty. An initiation fee was paid and members participated in rigorous initiation rites and took an oath based on thirty-six codes of morality, brotherhood, patriotism and chivalry. Members could be identified by special gestures, secret chopstick maneuvers and passwords.

The members would meet to exchange news of China with people from other island , and read, or have read to them Chinese newspapers. The festivals and celebrations have included the Kuan Ti festival , to celebrate the god, the New Year festival to celebrate the Chinese New Year, the Ching Ming in April , when offerings were made to ancestral graves.

In 1912, using private donations, the society built a two-story temple on Front Street; the society provided social contacts, support in times of crisis, and housing for retired workers. It is believed that the present building replaced the older structure.

Upstairs is a temple with an altar for religious ceremonies, downstairs was the social hall and adjacent was the cookhouse. It served the growing Chinese population centered in Lahaina.

By the 1940s the declining Chinese population in Lahaina slowly made the building redundant and the property was neglected. In 1983, Lahaina Restoration Foundation took steps to restore this valuable site for Lahaina.

Under a long-term agreement with the Wo Hing Society, the foundation provided funds to bring the buildings back to life and maintain them as a museum. (Lots of information here is from Lahaina Restoration Foundation and National Park.)

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