Economy | Page 129 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

April 9, 2020 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Hawaiians Leaving Home

We consistently hear of folks coming to Hawaiʻi, but often overlook that many were/are out-migrating from Hawaiʻi.

And, the increased scale of migration between Hawaiʻi and California and other parts of the continent may have started with us to them, rather than the reverse.

There is historical evidence suggesting that Hawaiians began moving to the US mainland as early as the late-1700s for economic survival.

As early as 1811, Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) had already hired twelve Hawaiians on three year contracts to work for them in the Pacific Northwest. By 1824, HBC employed thirty-five Hawaiians west of the Rocky Mountains.

The number of Hawaiians working as contract laborers for the Hudson’s Bay Company steadily grew. The large number of Hawaiian workers in the village at Fort Vancouver led to the name “Kanaka Town” in the early 1850s – “Kanaka” is the word for “person” in the Native Hawaiian language.

Historians suggest “that young Hawaiian males left Hawai’i as workers on whaling ships and traveled to China, Europe, Mexico, and the U.S. mainland. In addition, many ventured into the Pacific Northwest territory, worked in the fur trade, and ended up settling in those areas.” (pbs-org)

In 1839, John Sutter brought a small group of native Hawaiians with him when he arrived in California. They worked for him and eventually intermarried with local Maidu families. They settled in the area of Vernon, which is now called Verona, where the Feather River flows into the Sacramento River in South Sutter County. (co-sutter-ca-us)

At the time of Sutter’s arrival in California, the territory had a population of only 1,000 Europeans, in contrast with 30,000 Native Americans. It was at that point a part of Mexico and the governor, Juan Bautista Alvarado, granted him permission to settle.

In order to qualify for a land grant, Sutter became a Mexican citizen on August 29, 1840 after a year in the provincial settlement; the following year, on June 18, he received title to 48,827 acres and named his settlement New Helvetia, or “New Switzerland.”

Sutter employed Native Americans of the Miwok and Maidu tribes, Kanakas and Europeans at his compound, which he called Sutter’s Fort.

In his memoirs, Sutter recalled the Hawaiians, using a name then common to describe Hawaiian workers, “I could not have settled the country without the aid of these Kanakas.” They also built the first settlers’ homes in Sacramento – grass shacks, or hale pili, made with California willow and bamboo.

“In the summer of 1865 some Hawaiian fishermen and their “wahine,” who had sailed the placid Pacific in search of new realms for their nomad spirits, arrived in San Francisco bay only to discover that the cool fogs bred dire distress in lungs …”

“… used to none but the fervid breezes of a tropic sea, so on they kept until, after a day and night of clear weather, they reached Vernon, a busy farming community on the banks of the Feather river.” (The San Francisco Call – March 26, 1911)

“It was here that San Mahalone and his companions built their huts and that today their children and grandchildren are peopling this colony this begun over 40-years ago, preserving their individuality and accumulating properties and competencies on the fertile lands of Sutter county.” (The San Francisco Call – March 26, 1911)

“Hawaiians also migrated to Yolo County, California to participate in the Gold Rush and created their own Kanaka Village. There is evidence that Hawaiians settled across California in the late-1800s and even intermarried with Native Americans.”

“Many scholars speculate that Hawaiians migrated to the mainland in order to gain more economic opportunity and to flee from the dramatic Westernization that was changing the face of Hawai’i.” (pbs-org)

In 1894, at Iosepa in Utah, “the colony of Hawaiians established in Skull Valley, Tooele county comes in with a splendid showing this year. This is all the more satisfactory when the difficulties which the colonists have had to contend with are considered.” (Deseret Evening News – December 22, 1894)

“Last spring a few members of the colony accepted the government invitation to return to the Sandwich Islands. Several of these have written back, expressing the wish that they were here, and declaring an intention to return to the colony as soon as practical.” (Deseret Evening News – December 22, 1894)

The Hawaiians’ legacy can be seen today in the places named with Hawaiian words. Theses include include Kanaka, Owyhee (an old Hawaiian name for Hawaii) and Kamai (named after the Hawaiian Kama Kamai): the Kanaka Glade in Mendocino County, California …

… Kanaka Creek in Sierra County, California; Kanaka Bars in Trinity County, California; Kanaka Flats in Jacksonville, Oregon; Kanaka Gulch, Oregon; Owyhee River in southeastern Oregon; and Kamai Point, British Columbia.

Of course, this summary only highlights some of the early outmigration of Hawaiians from Hawaiʻi. Recent decades has seen a flurry of movement of Hawaiians (and others) from Hawaiʻi to the continent. (Some areas on the continent show over 100% increases decade-by-decade in the number of Hawaiians living there.)

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Four versions of Kanaka Village layout, based on different historic maps

George Gibbs' illustration of Kanaka Village and stockade, 1851

Hawaii_In_California-SanFranciscoCall-03-26-1911

Hawaiian_Village-SanFranciscoCall-03-26-1911

Iosepa Building A Sidewalk In Iosepa John E Board Archive Kennison and William Pukahi Sr c1910

Iosepa School, Imilani Square, John Mahoe and son Solomon in front

John_Augustus_Sutter_c1850

Sutter’s_Fort_-_1849

Sutter’s_Fort_-1840s

Sutter’s_Fort-1849

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Population for the United States, Regions and States-2000_and_2010

April 7, 2020 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

O‘ahu Sugar Company

“‘I doubt if any plantation was ever confronted from its very inception with a more Herculean task in clearing the land than we have seen,’ Ahrens reported.”

“‘Ridding ourselves of the tangled masses of lantana and mimosa were mere child’s play compared to that which did not show on the surface — stones, big stones, and close together. In fact, stones as big as houses.’”

“But in 1899, the harvest of O‘ahu Sugar’s first crop signaled the birth of a new plantation town.” (Star Bulletin)

“The idea of a 10,000-acre sugar company was inspired by a prospectus written by Benjamin F. Dillingham in 1894. The idea took root, and, led to the incorporation of O‘ahu Sugar Company.”

“The company was to be situated on the slopes of the Waianae and Koolau mountains, east of Honolulu … this arid land was mostly covered with rocks, lantana and guava.” (Plantation Archives)

Dillingham partnered with J Hackfeld and Company (Paul Isenberg) and Mark Robinson (who provided land for the mill site) to form the company, which was incorporated in March 1897.

“The O‘ahu Sugar Company … is one of the new plantations that is creating wide-spread interest. Having many natural advantages that are lacking in some other estates, O‘ahu is expected to be a great money maker.”

“The corporation was organized four years ago and 13,000 acres of land were secured, mostly leased, for sugar growing. Planting commenced at once under the supervision of August Ahrens, manager, who had then been connected with sugar plantations nineteen years.”

“There are now only 6,500 acres under cultivation, but some of it will yield ten tons to the acre, satisfactorily to the farmer in almost every instance. Some Japanese will clean up $300 at the end of the year and are ready to go back to Japan with their families. Prosperity in this case depends almost entirely upon the industry of the laborer.” (Paradise of the Pacific, April 1902)

The Company’s managers from 1897-1940 were: A. Ahrens (1897-1904); E.K. Bull (1904-1919); J.B. Thomson (1919-1923); E.W. Greene (1923-1937); and Hans L’Orange (1937-1956). (Plantation Archives)

The O’ahu Sugar Company (OSC) plantation and mill began in Waipahu as a development project of Benjamin F. Dillingham, who had leased land from James Campbell, prompting noted historian Muricio Michael’s observation: “The town of Waipahu is a child of O‘ahu Sugar [Company].”

O‘ahu Sugar Company’s first harvest was in 1900 and yielded 7,900 tons of raw sugar. The population of Waipahu grew as the plantation increased production and required more field and mill laborers, tradesmen, supervisors, and engineers.

By the late 1920s, Waipahu extended southward along Waipahu Road with a business district centered at Waipahu Depot Street, while residential areas were located both north of the mill and to the east along Waipahu Road.

By the 1930s, Waipahu “included second and third generations” that “had grown up on the plantation and considered Waipahu their home”. In 1940, Waipahu had a population of 6,900. (NPS)

The skilled employees at O‘ahu Sugar came primarily from Germany. As typical of plantations during this time period, O‘ahu Sugar faced a shortage of unskilled laborers with the exception of a small number of Hawaiian workers. Mostly laborers came from the Philippines, Japan, China, Portugal, and Norway.

Each employee received a house free of charge, complete with firewood, fuel, and water for domestic purposes. By the 1930s, garbage collection, street cleaning and sewage disposal were provided.

The plantation store sold produce and retail goods to employees at cost. Other store buildings were rented to tenants of various nationalities to give employees a wide choice in the selection of goods.

O‘ahu Sugar provided clubhouses, athletic fields, and playgrounds. Baseball was a favorite past time and O‘ahu Sugar’s team maintained an outstanding record in plantation league tournaments.

A hospital was built in 1920 and the services of a resident physician were provided free of charge to unskilled employees. There was a moderate charge to skilled employees and “outsiders”, people not employed with OSC, who sought medical assistance.

By 1925, the population of the plantation ranged between 9500-10,000 people. There were approximately 2,850 names on the payroll and it was estimated that at least ¾ of the residents of Waipahu earned a living in connection with the production of sugar.

The greatest portion of work performed at Oahu sugar was done on the “contract” or piecework system. For example, cutting and piling cane was paid for by the ton; plowing and planting was by the acre; irrigation, cultivation, and general care of the fields was based on crop yield. (Plantation Archives) Oahu Sugar Company operated until 1995.

The Company donated labor and materials to local schools. One lasting legacy of the plantation is the August Ahrens Elementary School.

Founded on September 1, 1924 to serve students from the surrounding sugar plantation area, August Ahrens opened its doors to 605 students and 13 teachers.

August Ahrens Elementary School continues to provide educational services for pre-kindergarten through sixth grade on its 14-acre campus in Waipahu. It is the largest single-track elementary school in the state with approximately 1,500 students and 220 faculty and staff.

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April 4, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Surf versus Palms

A couple pioneers in neighbor island hospitality stand out in Hawaiʻi’s early fledgling visitor industry. At the time, emphasis and facilities were focused in Waikīkī. However, two locally-grown chains saw the opportunities and put their attention on the neighbor Islands.

Attention to the neighbor islands was not their only similarity. Each started as locally-owned and family-run. They grew to provide more than just a place to sleep and eat – their operations included tours and travel. Sadly, they are both gone.

The first, Inter-Island Resorts under the Child family, grew into a number of “Surf Resorts” on the neighbor islands; the other, Island Holidays, under the Guslanders, had several neighbor island “Palms Resorts.”

Here’s some background on each, as well as the connection that existed between them.

Walter Dudley Child, Sr. came to Hawaiʻi in the early-1920s; he first worked in the agriculture industry with the Hawaiʻi Sugar Planters Association (HSPA.) After a decade, he left HSPA and entered the hotel industry, purchasing the Blaisdell Hotel in downtown Honolulu; he later bought the Naniloa Hotel in Hilo.

In the early-1950s, Child became a director of Inter-Island Resorts, Ltd and later acquired the controlling interest in the company.

The fortunes of the company rose along with the growth in the visitor industry, and Inter-Island Resorts began to grow into a chain, starting with the Naniloa, the Kona Inn and the Kauaʻi Inn (at Kalapakī Beach.) In those early days of Hawaiʻi tourism, Inter-Island Resorts became a pioneer in selling accommodations on the neighbor islands. (hawaii-edu)

When Walter Sr. suffered a debilitating stroke in 1955, Dudley Child succeeded his father as president. Dudley’s first big move came on July 1, 1960 with the opening of the Kauaʻi Surf on beachfront property on Kalapakī Beach. Child at the time called the Surf a “whole new philosophy in Neighbor Island hotels.”

This led to the Islands-wide “Surf Resorts” joining the Kona Inn under the Inter-Island banner. (The company later opened the Kona Surf (Keauhou) in 1960 and the Maui Surf (Kāʻanapali Beach in 1971.) In 1971, the company formed the “Islander Inns,” in a 3-way partnership of Inter-Island Resorts, Continental Airlines and Finance Factors.)

Dudley Child and Inter-Island Resorts understood and responded to the changing nature of the growing visitor industry. The company acquired/formed Trade-Wind Tours, Gray Line Tours and Island U-Drive, and developed close alliances with other major travel companies, providing a full range of travel services for Hawai‘i visitors. (hawaii-edu)

One of the significant contributions of Dudley Child and Inter-Island Resorts was the development of full service beach properties on the Neighbor Islands in the 1960s and 70s, which stimulated statewide tourism.

Inter-Island Resorts eventually sold its properties to other operators, but the vision of its founding family was instrumental in the development of Hawai‘i tourism. (hawaii-edu)

Lyle Lowell “Gus” Guslander, started in the hotel business as a bellhop and cook. After studying hotel operations at Cornell University, Guslander was in management at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, eventually working his way up to become assistant manager.

In 1947, Guslander came to Hawaiʻi and worked at the Niumalu Hotel for Walter Child, Sr. Both were characterized with short fuses and it didn’t take long for a disagreement to come between the two and Child “canned” him. Guslander moved to the Moana Hotel as assistant manager.

Then Guslander set out on his own; he initially leased, then purchased the 24-room Coco Palms Lodge on Kauaʻi – and later expanded it to nearly 400-rooms, naming it, simply, Coco Palms. He hired Grace Buscher to run it; he later married her.

Grace Guslander and Coco Palms are synonymous. She was an innovator – Hawaiians traditionally used torches as a light source when walking or fishing at night. But it wasn’t until the 1950s and Guslander that it became common to stick torches in the ground and pioneered the torch-lighting ceremony, which hotels throughout the islands eventually copied. (AP, Seattle Times, September 12, 2012)

Grace Guslander was later recognized for her accomplishments (she won a worldwide title of Hotel Manager of the Year in 1965 and in 1979 was the first woman to win the Man of the Year award at the International Hotel, Motel and Restaurant show in New York.)

Movies and television shows were filmed at the Coco Palms – Elvis Presley filmed the finale of his film “Blue Hawaiʻi” there in 1961, immortalizing its lush coconut groves and picturesque lagoons.

They also had closer ties with that industry – “Film stars John Wayne, Fed McMurray and Red Skelton have bought into a hotel company which operates three hotels in the outer Hawaiian Islands …”

“… the three own 18 percent of the Lyle Guslander Island Holiday Hotels Co. Hotels owned by the company are the Kona Palms, Maui Palms and Coco Palms.” (Independent Press-Telegram, July 24, 1955)

As the Coco Palms became successful, Gus expanded his operations eventually acquiring hotels on Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Maui and the Big Island of Hawaiʻi under the Island Holidays chain, with several of the hotels under the “Palms” brand.

Guslander also recognized, with his growing hotel operations, the need to expand in service and formed Island Holidays Tours. He had help from Myrtle Chun Lee.

In 1969, Guslander sold his operations to Amfac Inc and stayed on as an Amfac vice president until his retirement in 1978. In 1992, Hurricane Iniki severely damaged Coco Palms Hotel, several attempts have been made to repair and revive it. Gus died in 1984 at the age of 69, and Grace died in 2000 at 76.

In the 1950s and 60s, these two chains pioneered neighbor island hotel development – and for a while, competed head-to-head. Later, the mega-multi-national chains – Sheraton, Hilton, etc – entered the Hawaiʻi market.

A few other island hotel chains were/are also part of the Hawaiʻi hotel experience, i.e. Outrigger, Aston and others – (many were more Waikīkī focused) but I’ll save those for other stories.

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Coco Palms-Outrigger Bed with its Fishnet Bedspread, and Paddle Lights in the Wailua Kai Wing

Coco-Palms Lodge-became_Coco_Palms_Lobby-(kamaaina56)-c1952

Coco-Palms Queen's Bath Pool-(kamaaina56)-c1955

Coco-Palms_Lodge-became_Coco_Palms_Lagoon-(kamaaina56)-c1952

Coco-Palms_Lodge-Blue Hawaii Room-(kamaaina56)-c1960s

Coco-Palms_Lodge-Lagoon_Lanai_Room-(kamaaina56)-c1960s

Kauai Surf Hotel

Kauai Surf

Kauai Surf Hotel Kalapaki Beach, HI

Surf Lanai Guest Room, Kauai Surf Hotel Kalapaki Beach

Kona Surf Hotel

Kona Surf

Aerial View Of The Kona Surf Hotel

Kona Surf Hotel On The Big Island Of Hawaii Honolulu

Lobby of Kona Surf Hotel

The Maui Surf Hotel

Maui Surf Hotel

Maui Surf Kaanapali Beach

Naniloa Hotel Hilo

The Naniloa Hotel Hilo

Naniloa Resort Complex Hilo

Naniloa Hotel Hilo

Entrance Naniloa Hotel – Hilo, Hawaii

March 31, 2020 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

CCC

After a decade of national prosperity in the Roaring Twenties, Americans faced a national crisis after the Crash of 1929. The Great Depression saw an unemployment rate of more than twenty-five percent in the early 1930s. (pbs)

As a means to make work, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) succeeded the Emergency Conservation Work agency, which started in 1933. In 1939, the CCC became part of the Federal Security Agency. It was eliminated in 1943. (UH Mānoa)

The purpose of the CCC and its predecessors was to provide employment in forestry and conservation work. It “brought together two wasted resources, the young men and the land, in an effort to save both.” (NPS)

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a program developed by Franklin D Roosevelt’s New Deal (1933) at the end of the Great Depression. During FDR’s inaugural address to Congress in 1933, he told the lawmakers in his first message on Unemployment Relief …

“I propose to create a Civilian Conservation Corps, to be used in simple work, not interfering with normal employment, and confining itself to forestry, the prevention of soil erosion, flood control and similar projects.”

From FDR’s inauguration on March 4, 1933, to the induction of the first CCC enrollee, only 37 days had elapsed. The goals of the CCC according to the law were: “1) To provide employment (plus vocational training) and 2) To conserve and develop ‘the natural resources of the United States.’”

By the end of the third year, there were 2,158-CCC camps in the nation and 1,600,000-men had participated in the program. (NPS)

Although the Civilian Conservation Corps began on the US mainland in 1933, “it was not until one year later, [on] April 1, 1934, that the first units of this Corps began work here in Hawaii under the direction of the Territorial Division of Forestry”. The Civilian Conservation Corps was defined by nine Corps regions. The Territories of Alaska and Hawaiʻi were part of the Ninth Corps Area. (NPS)

The goal of the CCC was to provide young men with jobs during a time when many were unemployed, times were hard, and starvation was a concern. (NPS)

It was estimated that 8 to 10 percent of Hawaiʻi’s young men were enrolled by the Civilian Conservation Corps during its tenure from 1934 to 1942. There were CCC camps on Oʻahu, Maui, Kauai, the island of Hawaiʻi and Molokai. (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, NPS)

Each CCC enrollee was paid $30 a month and was provided with food, clothing, shelter and free medical care (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, September 18, 1942). Of that amount, $25 dollars a month was automatically deducted and sent home to their families. (NPS)

There were five primary CCC camps built in Hawaiʻi (the CCC Compound at Kokeʻe State Park, the most intact today; what is now a YMCA camp at Keʻanae on Maui; a research facility on the Big Island; Hawaiian Homes Property with only two buildings remaining on the Big Island; and part of Schofield Barracks in Wahiawa on Oʻahu.) Other temporary campgrounds were spotted in work areas around the Islands.

Their projects were numerous and included road and building construction, erosion control, masonry, firefighting, trail maintenance, vegetation and insect control among many others. One of the main goals of the CCC was to renew the nation’s decimated forests, so lots of tree planting went on. (NPS)

Within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park (then known as Hawaiʻi National Park,) as well as many other parks and forests, much of the work that the CCC did is still evident and still in use. From the research offices to the hiking trails, the CCC laid the foundations for much of the infrastructure and roads that we see and use today in the Park. (NPS)

The old Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp in Kokeʻe State Park on Kauai is a complex of eleven wood frame buildings surrounding an open grassed quadrangle. These buildings were constructed in 1935 and are sheltered on three sides by koa/ʻōhia forest. (Hui O Laka/Kōkeʻe Museum use and operate within these structures, today.) The CCC at Kokeʻe provided forest management, building trails, roads and fences, as well as planting over a million trees on Kauaʻi.

In 1934, the CCC took over the Keʻanae prison camp (initially built to house prisoners who worked at building the Hāna Highway.) CCC assembled men from other parts of Maui and other islands to plant thousands of eucalyptus and other introduced trees throughout the Hāna coast. (McGregor) Eventually, in 1949, the camp was acquired by the YMCA. Part of the land area continues to be used as a roadway base yard.

The CCC took over the Territorial foresters’ camp at Keanakolu (on the side of Mauna Kea, near Humuʻula on the Big Island) and expanded it into a field camp. The camp consisted of a bunkhouse that housed as many as 40 teenage boys, a mess hall, foreman’s quarters, and other service buildings. Another foreman’s quarters was added next to the koa cabin. (Mills)

Major duties included maintenance of trails, developing the Mana/Keanakolu wagon road into an auto road (placing cobble stones to form a single-lane road,) construction of fences to keep cattle and sheep out of the forest, and the planting of a variety of forest and fruit trees.

In all, over 20-varieties of pear, 25-varieties of plum and 60-varieties of apple were planted. (Mills) By the 1940s, the CCC camp at Keanakolu was converted into a field station for territorial rangers and is now used by DLNR.

From April 1934 until May 13, 1941, the CCC operated a “side camp” in the Haleakalā Section of the Hawaiʻi National Park; CCC participants were housed in tents and moved to where the work areas were. (NPS)

Major park improvements through the CCC program on Haleakalā included the construction of the approximately 11-mile Haleakalā Road, Haleakalā Observation Station, two Comfort Stations (public toilets) and the Checking Station and Office at the park entrance. Several trail projects were completed within the Park. (NPS)

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CCC camp in Haleakala Crater-(NPS)-1933-1941

Civilian Conservation Corps Enrollers Marching In The Kamehameha Day Parade In Hilo-195455pv-1934

Construction Work, Rock-Lined Ditch, Desert Hill. Hawaii Volcanoes-195457pv-1934

CCC enrollees working in the field. NPS Photo-Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park archives

Franklin Delano Roosevelt At The Rim Of Halemaumau Crafter-1934

CCC workers in Haleakala Crater-(NPS)-1933-1941

CCC builds stone walls along Crater Rim Drive-(NPS)-March 1934

CCC enrollees standing at attention. NPS Photo-Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park archives

Kamehameha Day Parade in Hilo, 1934. NPS Photo-Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park archives

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Keanae-YMCA-Camp-former_CCC-location-map

Prior_CCC_Camp-now-DLNR's-Facilities-Mauna_Kea_Keanakolu-Hawaii

One of the many legacies built by the CCC boys, Kīlauea Visitor Center today-NPS

Prior_CCC_Camp-now-DLNR's-Facilities-Mauna_Kea-Hawaii-(typical_day)

Prior_CCC_Camp-now-DLNR's-Facilities-Mauna_Kea-Hawaii

Prior_CCC_Camp-now-Kokee_State_Park-Kauai-(red_roofs)

Prior_CCC_Camp-now-YMCA_Camp_Keanae-Maui-(lower_left)

Hawaii_Volcanoes_National_Park-Roads-summary

Kauai-Kokee-CCC-camp-from_original_drawings-(NPS)-1930s

Overview of Crater Rim Drive - Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Overview of Hilina Pali Road - Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Overview of Mauna Loa Road - Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

March 29, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kona Airport at Kailua

Interisland air travel was initiated in Hawaiʻi on November 11, 1929, by Stanley Kennedy, a WWI aviator who acquired two Sikorsky S-38 Amphibian aircraft and initiated direct service from Honolulu to Hilo (3 times a week) via Maʻalaea, Maui, and to Port Allen, Kauai (2 times a week). Later, service was added to Molokai.

For a number of years, Kailua-Kona was only serviced by seaplanes. Then (after clearing an area of rocks the week before,) on August 21, 1935, Alfred W Smith landed his single-seated monoplane about a mile north of Kailua, the first airplane ground landing ever made in Kona.

By the late-1930s, there was a public push to provide an airport at Kailua, Kona. An area parallel to the beach, previously used for small aircraft operations, and known as Kailua Airstrip, was determined to be the only suitable area in the vicinity. It was located about 1½-miles northwest of the Kona Inn.

“It is believed that the proposed airport would result in a great increase in tourist interest in the area and also in the development of vacation homes for residents of Honolulu,” stated a Department of Public Works report.

“The general opening up of the area by providing means for quicker transportation to Honolulu would tend to interest young people of Oahu in the possibility of establishing themselves in the Kona area (where land is relatively available) and thus help solve the land scarcity problem which is critical on Oahu.” (hawaii-gov)

“The shipment of Kona fruits and vegetables to Honolulu by air freight would be economically practicable both for sale in Honolulu and, during certain periods of the year, for trans-shipment to California.” (hawaii-gov)

In late-1940, applications were prepared and processed under the provisions of the 1940 National Airport Act. The next year funds were allotted, but construction never started. Finally, in 1944 the Post War Planning Division of the Territorial Public Works Department proposed proceeding with the airport when the war was over.

Surveys were made and plans prepared by the Department of Public Works, and in May 1948 bids were opened for construction of a runway 100-feet wide by 3,500-feet long, an aircraft parking mat and an access road connecting the main road through the village of Kailua.

Work was started June 10, 1948. Due to the multiple ‘Kailua’ names for various items, including airports (there was another private airport at Kailua, Oʻahu,) on February 7, 1949 the airport was named Kona Airport.

On July 10, 1949 between 3,000 and 4,000 people gathered at the new Kona Airport for the official opening and ceremonies. Acting Governor Oren E Long officially declared the airport open for commercial air transportation, and said he “hoped that in spite of the trade and prosperity that the district would inherit, Kona would remain noted for its hospitality and not become a Great White Way marred by neon signs and a Coney Island atmosphere.” (hawaii-gov)

Hawaiian Airlines President Stan Kennedy announced that additional weekend flights would be made by his airline on the Kona Coaster every Friday afternoon from Honolulu and returning every Sunday afternoon. “Kona will become, now more than ever, a must for the tourist as well as for local travel,” Kennedy said.

Hawaiian Airlines was the first commercial plane to arrive at the airport from Honolulu via Molokai at 11:30 am bringing a full load of passengers and the first direct air mail from Oahu. It took off at noon bound for Honolulu with passengers and air mail.

Over the next few years the facility was expanded and the runway lengthened. However, the location of the airport, with planes flying over Kailua-Kona and nearby residences, started to raise concerns – especially with the increasing number of flights and the need for further expansion with a longer runway to accommodate larger aircraft.

Less than 10-years after it opened, in 1957, there were discussions and planning for the relocation of the airport. Part of the plan was to sell the old airport site for the development of a tourist resort, in order to fund construction of a new airport to replace those facilities.

However, in the interim, in 1966, the runway was lengthened as a stop gap measure to accommodate the growing size of the interisland carriers’ planes.

On June 30, 1970, Kona Airport was closed and all operations were moved to the new Keāhole Airport with operations beginning at the new airport on July 1, 1970, with the new Queen Kaʻahumanu Highway built to that point.

For three summers, I worked for Aloha Airlines, starting at the “Old” Kona Airport – initially throwing bags, then as a ramp agent greeting and saying farewell to the planes as they landed/departed.

The summer of 1970, we moved the airline office furniture and supplies, slowing moving with our tugs and baggage carts piled high along the new Queen Kaʻahumanu Highway to the new Keāhole Airport (extension of Queen Kaʻahumanu Highway to Kawaihae was completed in 1975.)

After the old airport’s closure, its runway was used as a drag strip until the State and the County converted it to a recreational park around 1976. The runway is used as a parking area and access road for the former State park area.

While the State still owns the site, while I was at DLNR, the Board of Land and Natural Resources approved the set aside (assignment of management jurisdiction) of the former airport site to the County of Hawai‘i for park and recreational purposes.

In October 2010, the State completed the Kona International Airport at Keāhole Airport Master Plan which provides a long-range vision of the developments on airport property. Recently (March 2013,) an EIS preparation notice was filed for proposed airfield improvements and airport facilities related to that plan that are anticipated to be implemented within the next five to ten years.

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