Economy | Page 146 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

May 4, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Birth-Beach of the Boogie Board

Many may not realize that today’s Boogie Board was created in Kailua-Kona, at Wai‘aha, a place commonly referred to as “Honl’s” (after the name of the family that used to live there.)

Wai‘aha (“Gathering Water,”) a little strip of white sand beach, just on the outskirts of Kailua Village, is now a County Beach Park. It is a popular surf spot, especially with bodyboarders.

Tom Morey was staying in the house that once stood on the beach at Wai‘aha in July 1971 when he made the first “boogie board” prototype.

He first called the board “S.N.A.K.E.” (Side, Navel, Arm, Knee, Elbow – because all the body parts were involved in its use) – he trademarked the name Morey Boogie in 1973 and founded Morey Boogie in 1974. (He later called it a Boogie Board after his love of music.)

According to Tom Morey’s son, Sol Morey, “the first boogie board was created in 1971 in order to surf shallower breaks that couldn’t otherwise be enjoyed.”

“The surf at our Hawaii rental on the Kailua coast was where it began with the shaping and sealing of the foam to form the first boogie.”

Tom Morey was a traditional surfboard builder/shaper, but looked for inventions and innovation. In 1964, he created the first TRAF polypropylene fin (his term TRAF being FART spelled backward), innovating the first commercial interchangeable fin system. In 1965, the Skeg Works became Morey Surfboards.

In 1965, Karl Pope became his business partner and the name changed again — Morey-Pope Surfboards. They built, tested and marketed Pope’s Trisect, a three-piece surfboard that folded into a suitcase.

But he had different ideas in Kona; he used an electric carving knife and a household iron, whittled some scrap polyethylene foam into a small rectangular mat and covered it with newspaper and hit the swells in front of his home on the Big Island of Hawaii.

With it, the sport of bodyboarding started in 1971 in Hawaii. (Prior to 1971, bodyboards were made from wood or fiberglass and called paipo boards.)

According to Tom Morey, he took his last nine-foot piece of polyethylene foam (that he had planned for a conventional board) and “grabbed a knife and cut it in half.”

“There was no turning back at that point. I looked at the foam and then at the surf and began fooling around with a hot iron and an electric knife.”

“I found that I could shape the foam using the iron if I put a sheet of newspaper down on the foam first. Later that night, I drew a few curves on the foam with a red marking pen and went to bed.”

Morey rose early on July 9, 1971, and cut and ironed out his planned shape. He left his board as wide as possible and left the nose square so that it would have more structural strength and so he could hold on to it.

“I decided I’d shape the rails like those on a Hot Curl surfboard,” says Morey. “Those were the boards from the 20s and 30s; built before boards had skegs. I cut 45-degree Hot Curl rails into my board.”

“They looked great, but I still wasn’t sure how it would ride.” Morey grabbed his board, ran down to Honl’s and the sport of bodyboarding was born.

Wai‘aha is home to the annual Malama Wai‘aha (Honl’s) Roots Bodyboard contest. The contest (started in 2002) was formed to honor the birth-beach and the birthplace of modern bodyboarding (they held their 10th anniversary event on June 30.)

In 2006, the Hawai‘i County acquired the property fronting the beach and it is now part of the County beach park system. Parking for users is also mauka of Ali‘i Drive and was provided by a developer as a condition of a rezoning.

Morey Bodyboards became a division of Mattel Toys and then Wham-O. In 2005, Tom Morey earned a star on the Huntington Walk of Fame and was inducted into the Surfing Hall of Fame.

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April 29, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Esplanade

Coral doesn’t grow in freshwater. So, where a stream enters a coastal area, there is typically no coral growth at that point – and, as the freshwater runs out into the ocean, a coral-less channel is created.

In its natural state, thanks to Nuʻuanu Stream, Honolulu Harbor originally was a deep embayment formed by the outflow of Nuʻuanu Stream creating an opening in the shallow coral reef along the south shore of Oʻahu.

Honolulu Harbor (it was earlier known as Kuloloia) was entered by the first foreigner, Captain William Brown of the English ship Butterworth, in 1794.

They called the harbor “Fair Haven” which may be a rough translation of the Hawaiian name Honolulu (it was also sometimes called Brown’s Harbor.) The name Honolulu (meaning “sheltered bay” – with numerous variations in spelling) soon came into use.

Tradewinds blow from the Northeast; the channel into Honolulu Harbor has a northeasterly alignment. Early ships calling to Honolulu were powered only by sails. The entrance to the harbor was narrow and lined on either side with reefs. Ships don’t sail into the wind. Given all of this, Honolulu Harbor was difficult to enter.

Boats either anchored off-shore, or they were pulled into the harbor (this was done with canoes; or, it meant men and/or oxen pulled them in.)

It might take eight double canoes with 16-20 men each, working in the pre-dawn calm when winds and currents were slow. In 1816 (as stories suggest,) Richards Street alignment was the straight path used by groups of men, and later oxen, to pull ships through the narrow channel into the harbor. (Richards Street was named for a man selling luggage to tourists in his shop on that street.)

As Honolulu developed and grew, lots of changes happened, including along its waterfront. What is now known as Queen Street was actually the water’s edge.

The reef belonging to the land of Waikahalulu, on the south side of Honolulu Harbor, had been purchased by the government from the Queen Dowager Kalama.

Then, from 1856 to 1860, the work of filling in the land to create an area known as the “Esplanade” or “Ainahou,” and building up a water-front and dredging the harbor to a depth from 20 to 25-feet took place.

About 22-acres of reef land were added to the downtown area between Fort Street and Alakea Street; it was filled in with material dredged from the harbor.

Following the demolition of Fort Kekuanohu (Fort Honolulu) in 1857; its walls became the 2,000-foot retaining wall used to extend the land out onto the shallow reef in the harbor.

The remaining fort materials were used as fill to create what came to be known as the Esplanade (it’s where Aloha Tower and surrounding land now stand.)

The old prison was built in 1856-57, to take the place of the old fort (that also previously served as a prison.) The new custom-house was completed in 1860. The water-works were much enlarged, and a system of pipes laid down in 1861.

An 1887 Hawaiian Government Survey map of Honolulu shows continued urban expansion of the Downtown Honolulu area.

Many dredging and filling operations soon followed, and the 1890s and 1900s saw the construction of many new piers and channels in the harbor, the dredged material going to create new dry land areas.

The dredging of Honolulu Harbor and expansion of the Esplanade soon followed; major alteration of Honolulu from its natural configuration began in 1890 with the dredging of the main channel to 200 ft width by 30 ft deep for about 1000 ft through the sand bar at the entrance.

Piers were constructed at the base of Richards Street in 1896, at the site of Piers 17 and 18 in 1901 to accommodate sugar loading and at Piers 7 and 12 in 1907. Further dredging was conducted at the base of Alakea Street in 1906.

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Honolulu_Harbor-Esplanade_Lots-Reg0279 (1857)

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Honolulu_Harbor-InteriorDept-Wall-Reg_1119 (1886)

Honolulu Harbor-Ships pulled by canoes-Henry Walker-1843

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April 24, 2019 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Hale‘iwa Hotel

While the Moana is touted as the First lady of Waikīkī, the Hale‘iwa Hotel, at the end of the OR&L train line in North Shore O‘ahu was constructed a year before the Moana.

In 1898, as part of the O‘ahu Railway & Land Company (OR&L) rail system, the Hale‘iwa Hotel (“house of the ‘iwa”, or frigate bird) was completed.

The hotel was part of a bigger plan to expand and diversify operations of the OR&L rail line. OR&L primarily serviced the sugar plantations, adding a hotel at the end of the line opened up opportunities to expand the number of people riding the train.

Passenger travel was an add-on opportunity that not only included train rides; they also operated a bus system. However, the hauling for the agricultural ventures was the most lucrative.

Typical hotels, like the Moana and later the Alexander Young Hotel in downtown Honolulu, served the traditional function of accommodating visitors; Ben F. Dillingham’s hotel sought that, as well as the diversified use of his train line.

On the continent, railroads were building hotels on their lines as a means to enhance the passenger counts – Hawai‘i, through OR&L, was doing the same.

By the early-1900s, the expanded railway cut across the island, serving several sugar and pineapple plantations, and the popular Hale‘iwa Hotel. They even included a “Kodak Camera Train” (associated with the Hula Show) for Sunday trips to Hale‘iwa for picture-taking.

When the hotel opened on August 5, 1899, guests were conveyed from the railway terminal over the Anahulu stream to fourteen luxurious suites, each had a bath with hot-and-cold running water.

Thrum’s ‘Hawaiian Annual’ (1900,) noted, “In providing so tempting an inn as an adjunct and special attraction for travel by the Oahu Railway – also of his (Dillinghams’s) creation – the old maxim of ‘what is worth doing is worth doing well’ has been well observed, everything About the hotel is first class…”

The weekend getaway from Honolulu to the Hale‘iwa Hotel became hugely popular with the city affluent who enjoyed a retreat in “the country.”

Reportedly, a round-trip, two-day excursion by train from Honolulu to Hale‘iwa, around Ka‘ena Point, cost $10. It included an overnight stay at the Hotel, a tour through Waialua sugar mill and a ride up to Wahiawa to tour the plantations.
The original manager was Curtis Iaukea, who had been chamberlain to Kalākaua’s royal household and was famed for his knowledge of protocol.

To while away the time there, the hotel recreational activities offered guests golf (reportedly the second course to be constructed in the islands,) tennis, fishing, canoeing and glass-bottom boat rides.

With the opening of the Hale‘iwa Hotel, the business climate expanded and tourism began to play a hand in the area. Many of the early business families and their original business buildings still remain in Hale‘iwa town today. Some of the town’s buildings are protected landmarks.

As noted in ‘The Union Pacific Magazine,’ (1924) “there are few more charming spots in the Hawaiian Islands than this delightful hotel with its bungalow cottages for guests and its beautiful grounds sloping gently back to the bank of a crystal clear river that runs out between lava rocks to the sea”.

By the late-1920s, it was hard to maintain the luxury and level of service at the hotel. What had been built two decades before to lure passengers to ride the train no longer applied, as more and more people owned cars.

In 1930 the railroad closed the hotel and it became a private ‘Haleiwa Beach Club.’ Later, the Haleiwa Hotel became the ‘Haleiwa Army Officer’s Club.’

During the height of its popularity, the hotel had made the name Hale‘iwa famous, and when its, ultimately, doors closed in 1943; its name remained as the name of the surrounding community – Hale‘iwa.

The last ride on OR&L’s train operations was on December 31, 1947, ending 58-years of steam locomotives hauling all kinds of people, freight and other around O‘ahu.

By 1953, the aged, termite-ridden structure had been torn down. Hale‘iwa Joe’s restaurant now stands where the Hale‘iwa Hotel once stood.

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circa 1910, from The Advertiser’s archives shows the old Hale’iwa Hotel

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Driveway at Haleʻiwa Hotel circa 1915

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April 23, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Mayor of Pasadena

A severe Indiana winter during 1872-73 prompted a group of friends from Indianapolis to form an investment group with the purpose of moving to the warmer climate of Southern California. Sent to scout the area, D. M. Berry recommended purchasing a portion of the Rancho San Pasqual, which later became Pasadena.

The word Pasadena literally means “valley” in the Ojibwa (Chippewa) Indian language, but it has been interpreted to mean “Crown of the Valley” and “Key of the Valley,” hence the adoption of both the crown and the key in the official city seal.

Pasadena is home of the Rose Bowl, constructed in 1922. It originally had a seating capacity of 57,000 and currently seats 100,184 people. The Rose Bowl is home for the UCLA Bruins Football team.

The Tournament of Roses annual parade of flower covered floats has been held in Pasadena since January 1, 1890. It was patterned after a European festival of roses and was meant to show off Pasadena’s natural beauty and sunny climate while most of the nation lay buried beneath snow. (City of Pasadena)

Dr. James W Smith and his wife Melicent Knapp Smith arrived in the Hawaiian Islands aboard the Sarah Abigail along with fellow Kauai missionaries, Rev. and Mrs. George B. Rowell. Smith was 32, and Melicent was 26.

The couple would provide missionary, educational and medical help to the islands for the next 45 years, and establish a family dynasty of service to Kauai.

Dr. Jared K. Smith (1849-1897) carried on his father’s medical practice – his life ended tragically when he was murdered by a victim of leprosy. His sister, Juliette, ran the Koloa Industrial School for Boys.

Another son, William Owen Smith (1848-1929) would become a lawyer; he was an active participant in both the “Bayonet Revolution” and the Committee of Safety, which spearheaded the overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani in 1893. WO Smith wrote the will for Princess Pauahi Bishop and the will for Queen Liliuokalani , creating those two trust estates.

His sister Lottie (Charlotte Lee Smith 1845-1896) married Alfred Stedman Hartwell, who was also involved with the political changes of the era. And another sister, Melicent Lena Smith (1854-1943), married William Waterhouse (1852-1942) (They married on February 24, 1876.) (Kauai Historical Society)

William Waterhouse’s father was John Thomas Waterhouse. William was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1852. He was educated in the schools of Hawaii and also in England; married to Melissa P. Smith on February 24, 1876;

When the elder Waterhouse “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)

William and Lena moved to Cedar Rapids where William managed “his father’s affairs, and conducts the leading hotel that flourishing city, which included his father’s possessions.” (Hawaiian Star, January 5, 1895)

After his father’s death, William and Lena moved to Pasadena, and the family business interests in Iowa were eventually sold. (Kauai Historical Society)

William was elected mayor of Pasadena in 1905 and served one term. Mr. Waterhouse’s administration was known for securing a municipal lighting system after complaints were made that the Edison Company was not living up to specifications in the quantity and quality of the light furnished.

The mayor and city attorney directed the holding up of warrants for contract payments by the auditor, and refusal to make payments, which ended up in the courts. The important outcome of this regime was a proposition to approve by vote to establish the first unit of a Municipal Lighting Plant.

Mr. Waterhouse and his wife helped to establish the Lake Avenue Congregational Church, and both of their families were an important part of the “upbuilding” of the modern civilization as missionaries in the Hawaiian Islands after his time in office. (Pasadena Library)

After serving one term as Mayor of Pasadena, the Waterhouses moved back to Hawaii and made their home there where family interests controlled several banks and sugar industries.

They frequently returned to Cedar Rapids, continuing his interest as did his father during his life in the extension of religious education and the establishment of churches to which he contributed substantial sums. (Annals of Iowa)

Their son, Dr. Alfred Herbert Waterhouse (1877-1948) became the third generation of the medical family serving Kauai, as company doctor for Koloa and McBryde Plantations, later going into private practice.

Dr. Waterhouse is also known for his efforts to develop affordable housing and educational opportunities for sugar plantation workers and their children. (Kauai Historical Society) William Waterhouse passed away on December 18, 1943 at the age of 91.

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William Waterhouse

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Rose Bowl

April 19, 2019 by Peter T Young 4 Comments

Manini

“The number of foreigners residing at the islands is far greater than I supposed. Four American mercantile houses – two of Boston, one of New York, and one of Bristol, Rhode Island – have establishments at this port, to which agents and clerks are attached.”

“Their storehouses are abundantly furnished with goods in demand by the islanders; and, at them, most articles contained in common retail shops and groceries, in America, may be purchased.”

“There is another class, consisting of fifteen or twenty individuals, who have dropped all connexion with their native countries, and become permanent residents on different islands; and who hold plantations and other property under the king awl various chiefs.”

“Of these, Marini (Don Francisco de Paula y Marin) a Spaniard, interpreter for the government; … “Marini (has) been at the islands more than thirty years; and (was a companion and counsellor) of Tamehameha.”

Marin “accumulated much property, holds many plantations, and owns extensive flocks of goats, and herds of cattle; and is said to have money in fund, both in the United States and in England.”

“He has introduced the grape, orange, lemon, pine-apple, fig, and tamarind trees, but to a very limited extent; and seemingly from a motive entirely selfish: for he has perseveringly denied the seeds, and every means of propagation, to others, and been known even secretly to destroy a growth that had been secured from them without his knowledge.”

“A considerable quantity of wine is yearly made from his vineyard; and his lemons and pines, by sales to ships and in the town, bring quite an income.”

“He has a numerous breed of mules; and several horses, some twenty or thirty of which have within a few years been brought from the coast of California, and are now rapidly increasing.”

“Flocks of beautiful doves, also an importation, are domiciliated at his establishment; and some few miles from the town, along the coast, there is an islet, covered with the burrows of English hares, belonging to him.” (CS Stewart.)

Don Francisco de Paula Marin (known to the Hawaiian as “Manini”) was a Spaniard who arrived in the Hawaiian Islands in 1793 or 1794 (at about the age of 20.) Manini’s nickname appears to be the closest way that the Hawaiians could pronounce his name.

His knowledge of Western military weapons brought him to the attention of Kamehameha, who was engaged in the conquest of O‘ahu. Marin almost immediately became a trusted advisor to Kamehameha I.

Marin spoke four languages (he arrived fluent in Spanish, French and English, and learned Hawaiian) and was employed by Kamehameha as Interpreter, Bookkeeper and part time Physician (although he had no formal medical training, he had some basic medical knowledge.) He also served as purchasing agent for the arms that proved decisive to Kamehameha’s victory of the Battle of Nu‘uanu (1795.)

Kamehameha granted Marin a couple acres of land Ewa of the King’s compound on the Honolulu waterfront (near Nu‘uanu Stream.)

Marin then proceeded over the next several years to erect the first stone house built in Hawai‘i on the property, pre-fabricated wooden houses imported from New England, a cut coral breakwater wall, a wharf, storehouses, bullock pen and stone perimeter fencing.

Kamehameha also rewarded him with large tracts of land, including Ford Island in Pearl Harbor, which Marin used to raise cattle.

He was known for his interest in plant collecting and brought in a wide variety of new plants to Hawai‘i. His gardens were filled with trees, vines and shrubs.

He turned this hobby into a “ship supply” business and provided fresh fruits and vegetables to the crews of ships docked at Honolulu Harbor.

Marin was responsible for introducing and cultivating many of the plants commonly associated with the Islands. To name only a few, here are some of the plants he introduced and/or cultivated in Hawai‘i: pineapple, coffee, avocado, mango and grape vines.

He also successfully cultivated and raised oranges, figs, roses, beans, melons, turnips, tobacco, wheat, barley, cloves, tomatoes, saffron and cherries.

Marin also planted lots of potatoes, yams, breadfruit, melons, cabbage, onions, celery, and garlic, as well as wheat, rice and Indian corn. He made castor oil, soap, molasses, pickles, sugar, butter, cigars, coconut oil, candles and hay.

Hawai‘i’s first accommodations for transients were established sometime after 1810, when Marin “opened his home and table to visitors on a commercial basis … Closely arranged around the Marin home were the grass houses of his workers and the ‘guest houses’ of the ship captains who boarded with him while their vessels were in port.”

He fermented the first wine in Hawai‘i and distilled brandy. He also made rum from sugarcane and brewed beer, all of which he sold at his boarding house-saloon near the waterfront.

Marin Street near Honolulu Harbor was named for him and the Marin Tower, built in 1994, occupies the site of his boarding house.

His “New Vineyard” grapevines were located Waikiki side of Nu‘uanu Stream and makai of Vineyard Street; when a road was cut through its mauka boundary, it became known as Vineyard Street.

In April of 1819, Marin was summoned to the Big Island of Hawai‘i to assist Kamehameha, who had become ill. Marin was not able to improve the condition of Kamehameha, and on May 8, 1819, King Kamehameha I died. Marin died in Honolulu on October 30, 1837.

Marin’s contributions are best noted by Robert C. Wyllie, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, when addressing the Royal Agricultural Society of Hawai‘i in 1850, saying:

“From the brief accounts of the life and works of the don in 1809 to 1820, few of you will doubt that most of the present wealth of these islands is owing to the seeds, roots and plants introduced by Francisco de Paula Marin, and to whom the Hawaiian people are so greatly indebted.”

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