Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Nāuhi Cabin

The early Polynesian settlers to Hawaiʻi brought sugar cane with them and demonstrated that it could be grown successfully in the islands.

Fast forward … Hawai‘i’s economy turned toward sugar in the decades between 1860 and 1880; these twenty years were pivotal in building the plantation system.

Sugar‐cane farming gained this prestige without great difficulty because sugar cane soon proved to be the only available crop that could be grown profitably under the severe conditions imposed upon plants grown on the lands which were available for cultivation.  (HSPA 1947)

In 1876, the legislature of Kamehameha III passed a law declaring all “forest lands” to be government property in an effort to conserve the forests from further encroachment on the seaward side by the plantations’ need for fuel and on the mountain side from grazing animals.

Founded in 1895, the Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association (HSPA), dedicated to improving the sugar industry in Hawai‘i, has become an internationally recognized research center.  (It was in 1996 when HSPA expanded its research interest besides sugarcane and acquired its current name Hawai‘i Agriculture Research Center (HARC), expanding its research on tropical crops and forests.)

Interestingly, it was the sugar growers, significant users of Hawai‘i’s water resources, who led the forest reserve protection movement.  On May 13, 1903, the Territory of Hawaiʻi, with the backing of the Hawaiʻi Sugar Planters’ Association, established the Board of Commissioners of Agriculture and Forestry.  (HDOA)

The Forest Reserves were established as a cooperative arrangement between the Hawaiʻi Sugar Planters Association and the territorial government.

Plantations needed wood for fuel, but they also needed to keep the forests intact to draw mist precipitation from the trade winds, which in turn fed the irrigation systems in the cane fields below.

Their own consumption of fuel had clearly been contributing to the decline of the forest at lower elevations, where flume systems transported large quantities of wood, as well as cane.  (Mills)

The link between tree-planting and the sugar planters can be seen particularly clearly in the career of Harold Lyon, who arrived in Hawai‘i in 1907 as a plant pathologist in the employ of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association (HSPA).

Lyon was a strong voice for forests; neglect of the islands’ forests would be “suicidal,” for ‘‘everything fails with the failure of our water supply’’.

Johnny Ah San, who worked as a territorial forester, noted, “And then HSPA had a man down at Nāuhi Nursery, and they planted trees. Then before the war [WWII], Roosevelt had the WPA [Works Progress Administration], so the men planted trees in the forest.” (Johnny Ah San; Maly)

The Nāuhi (‘the yams’) facility was interchangeably referred to as a Nursery and Experimental Station (and, apparently, also called Nāuhi Camp). The Hilo Forest Reserve was the site of cooperative reforestation efforts by the HSPA and Territorial foresters and later by the Civilian Conservation Corps under the direction of the Bureau of Forestry.

Over 100 varieties of temperate trees and plants were tested at the Experiment Station at Nāuhi; many of which succeeded to the point of naturally reproducing.

Nāuhi Cabin (a small building with three out-structures) was part of the Nāuhi Gulch Experiment Station, which was established in 1924. It is located in the ahupua‘a of Honohina at about 5,100 feet above sea level.  A nursery that was part of the Experiment Station is no longer standing. (Tuggle)

The purpose of Nāuhi Gulch Experiment Station, which operated until the beginning of World War II, was to “introduce, propagate and plant out in the adjacent forest lands various species and varieties of temperate zone, both northern and southern, trees and other plants”.

To this end, over 78 varieties of fruit trees and over 30 varieties of other temperate zone trees and plants were tested. Surrounding the cabin now is a wild landscape of feral garden flowers like roses, daisies, and nasturtiums, as well as apple, pear, and plum trees.

In 1941, wild pigs in the Nāuhi gulch-Pihā area were noted by Lyon: “Of special interest to us at this time are your remarks regarding the prevalence of wild hogs in the Nāuhi Gulch-Pihā region. They undoubtedly do a great deal of damage there.”

“If, for any reason, this Territory is compelled to produce its own food supply, we could organize a campaign which would remove most of these hogs from the forest and, at the same time, yield a goodly amount of excellent food for our people.” (Tuggle)

The cabin was part of a complex that included several buildings and an orchard on 47 acres of land leased from Lili‘uokalani Trust. In 1945, Territorial forester Bryan reported on the conditions at the by-then abandoned station (Bryan 1945):

“There has been no work done at this station for a considerable period of time, and it is in a run-down state at the present time. Fences are in need of repairs, wild pigs are numerous and have done some damages in the orchard, and it will require considerable labor and effort to bring it back to its former appearance.”

Nāuhi Cabin has been used by the National Biological Survey. Formed in 1993, their mission was to gather, analyze, and disseminate the biological information necessary for the sound stewardship of natural resources and to foster understanding of biological systems and the benefits they provide to society. It is now known as USGS’s Biological Resource Division (BRD).

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Moa

The first birds to be introduced into the Islands came with early Polynesians, who brought the Moa – Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus) – for food.

“It is not clearly understood how this species interacted with the terrestrial native birds, how it competed for resources, and what diseases might have been introduced with it, but the introduction of this bird by the Polynesians as a domestic animal probably had some impact.”

“[T]he Red Junglefowl is found in numbers only on Kauai, which lacks the mongoose, but it was formerly established in the wild on all the main islands. Its reproductive potential is high, and it is omnivorous.”

“It seems very likely to us that this species in large numbers could have been a potent competitor to some species of ground-foraging native birds, such as the smaller rails, only one of which survived into historical times.” (Van Riper and Scott)

This “original chicken” is smaller than its domestic descendants and is widespread throughout South and Southeast Asia; can also be found as an introduced species in many regions around the world (especially prevalent on many Pacific Islands, including Hawaii). (eBird)

“Dr. Stanley C. Ball … has studied the Polynesian chickens (moa) and concluded that they were brought from Malaysia to Polynesia, where they were found in all the islands except New Zealand.”

“‘The wooden breast-plates carved by the natives of Rapanui (Easter Island) to represent the cock, and the few traditions which mention this bird, lend weight to the view that the fowl has long been associated with the inhabitants of even the easternmost islands of Polynesia.’”

“‘The Malaysian region, from which fowls were evidently brought to the Pacific islands, was very close to, if not actually the home of, the wild jungle fowl (Gallus gallus),’ Dr. Ball states.”

“It is found from the southern Himalayas, through India, Java, Timor, Lombok, the Philippines, Balabac, Palawan, and Hainan, into Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia.”

“Ball believed (and rightly, without doubt) that the chickens brought by Polynesian migrants were already domesticated, and that wild chickens to be found in the Marquesas, Tahiti, Hawaii, and elsewhere have reverted to the wild.” (Handy, Handy & Pukui)

As noted in Captain Cook’s journal, “The hogs, dogs, and fowls, which were the only tame or domestic animals that we found here, were all of the same kind that we met with at the South Pacific islands. There were also small lizards; and some rats, resembling those seen at every island at which we had as yet touched.”

“Of animal food, they can be in no want; as they have abundance of hogs, which run, without restraint, about the houses; and if they eat dogs, which is not improbable, their stock of these seem to be very considerable … They eat fowls of the same domestic kind as ours, but they are neither plentiful nor much esteemed by them.” (Cook’s Journal)

“Probably Hawaiians regarded their chickens as second-rate fare because chicken meat steamed in an imu is less flavorful for eating with poi than is good fish.”

“We may be sure, nevertheless, that the pioneering voyagers to these islands would not have taken the trouble to keep alive hens and roosters on their long voyages hither if they had not prized them.”

“Mrs. Pukui remembers, however, that even in her childhood older Hawaiians would not eat eggs. ‘It would be like eating the hen’s unborn baby,’ her grandmother said with distaste.” (Handy, Handy & Pukui)

“Mrs. Pukui has, with the help of her mother, Mrs. Pa‘ahana Wiggin, recorded the following colors and names of a variety of native chickens in old Hawaii.”

“The moa of Hawai‘i were smaller than the haole (introduced) chicken, legs shorter, and bodies longer. A pure white moa was called moa-ke‘oke‘o,  -Iawa, or -wakea. A black moa was called a hiwa or hiwa-pa‘a.”

“The moa nene were speckled like the Hawaiian goose (nene) . Those with yellowish-cream feathers were called pua-hau, for the yellow hau flower. Smoky gray ones were called lehu or nalehu. (ashy). Speckled with feathers of variegated colors were the ‘opule-pule (mixed-up-crazily).”

“With a ring of feathers around the neck like the plover, it was the moa ‘a‘i kolea. The ‘ulahiwa ranged in shade from a light red to a deep ocherous red. White with red feathers on the back was termed lawa a‘ea‘e (mixed).”

“(The Pukui-Elbert dictionary, 1957, adds two others: the completely black chicken, similar to the mud hen ‘alae, is called moa ‘alae; the black chicken with red feathers at neck and rump is moa ‘alae hulu ‘ula.)”

“The long, curving, irridescent tail feathers of the cocks are always present. These were prized in the Marquesas for warriors’ headdresses, and in Hawaii for making the tall feather-trimmed standards (kahili) that were emblems of rank.” (Handy, Handy & Pukui)

“We have often heard the shrill crow of wild roosters in the forests around Koke‘e, above Waimea Canyon on the island of Kauai. These cocks are bright-hued. They have crossbred with Indonesian jungle fowl imported some years ago.”

“In the Marquesas the hours before dawn were named ‘first-cock’s-crow,’ ‘second-cock’s-crow,’ and ‘third-cock’s-crow’; in Hawaii likewise: ‘moa-kua-kahi,’ ‘moa-kua-lua,’ ‘moa-kua-kolu.’”

“In Hawaii, if a cock crew much too early it was a sign that canoes might be expected to make an appearance. If a cock came right to the house door to crow, it announced the imminent arrival of visitors and warned the family to make preparations.”

“The Hawaiian fowl is traditionally identified with the Lono-Pele migration, specifically with ‘Olopana, paramount chief of Ko‘olau on Oahu. The first predacious exploit of the doughty Kamapua‘a (‘Hog-child,’ a demigod) was killing jungle fowl belonging to his uncle ‘Olopana.”

“And it was Ka-wa‘u-hele-moa (The-fowl-scratching-as-it-goes), a native sprite in the form of a fowl, who saw the thievery and gave the alarm to ‘Olopana, thus precipitating notable warfare. Ka-wa‘u-hele-moa lived in Palolo Valley, above the southerly shore of Oahu, and plays an active role in several legends.” (Handy, Handy & Pukui)

“Cock-fighting (haka-moa) was a very fashionable sport with the aliis”. (Malo) Chickens were thought to be forms of the mo‘o (reptile) class of ancestral gods (‘aumakua).

“Their greatest importance to Hawaiians was their use as offerings to temple gods and to family gods. Often a chicken of a particular color was called for as an offering in a healing rite. Sacrificed chickens played an important part in any ritual performed to fend off black magic.” (Handy, Handy & Pukui)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hawai‘i Transportation Evolution

The canoe was a principal means of travel in ancient Hawaiʻi, extensive cross-country trail networks.   Overland travel was on foot and followed the traditional trails.

Then, in 1803, American ship under Captain William Shaler (with commercial officer Richard Cleveland,) arrived with three horses aboard – gifts for King Kamehameha.

In the 1820s and 1830s, more horses were imported from California, and by the 1840s the use of introduced horses, mules and bullocks for transportation was increasing.

In 1825, Andrew Bloxam (naturalist aboard the HMS Blonde) noted in Honolulu that, “The streets are formed without order or regularity.  Some of the huts are surrounded by low fences or wooden stakes … As fires often happen the houses are all built apart from each other.  The streets or lanes are far from being clean …” (Clark, HJH)

By the 1830s, King Kamehameha III initiated a program of island-wide improvements on the ala loa, and in 1847, a formal program for development of the alanui aupuni (government roads) was initiated.

Sidewalks were constructed, usually of wood, as early as 1838.  The first sidewalk made of brick was laid down in 1857 by watchmaker Samuel Tawson in front of his shop on Merchant Street.

It wasn’t until 1850 that streets received official names.  On August 30, 1850, the Privy Council first named Hawaiʻi’s streets; there were 35-streets that received official names that day (29 were in Downtown Honolulu, the others nearby).

At the time, “Broadway” was the main street (we now call it King Street;) it was the widest and longest – about 2-3 miles long from the river (Nuʻuanu River on the west) out to the “plains” (to Mānoa).

It wasn’t until 1852 that the Chinese became the first contract laborers to arrive in the islands.  At about that time, Honolulu had approximately 10,000-residents.  Foreigners made up about 6% of that (excluding visiting sailors).  Laws at the time allowed naturalization of foreigners to become subjects of the King (by about that time, about 440 foreigners exercised that right).

The majority of houses were made of grass (hale pili,) there were about 875 of them; there were also 345 adobe houses, 49 stone houses, 49 wooden houses and 29 combination (adobe below, wood above).  In 1847, Washington Place was built by future-Queen Liliʻuokalani’s father-in-law.

The earliest public transit was the Pioneer Omnibus Line, with a horse-pulled vehicle serving parts of Honolulu for a few years beginning in the spring of 1868.  (Schmitt)

In the quarter century from 1872 to 1896 the population just about doubled in the kingdom from 57,000 to 109,000; Honolulu doubled from 15,000 to 30,000.

In 1884, the legislature passed a law “granting to William R. Austin and his associates the right to construct and operate a street railroad upon certain streets of the city of Honolulu.” Later amended, the law granted authority the Hawaiian Tramways Company, Limited (from England.)  (Kuykendall)

In 1888, the animal-powered tramcar service of Hawaiian Tramways ran track from downtown to Waikīkī. In 1900, the Tramway was taken over by the Honolulu Rapid Transit & Land Co (HRT).

That year, an electric trolley (tram line) was put into operation in Honolulu, and then in 1902, a tram line was built to connect Waikīkī and downtown Honolulu. The electric trolley replaced the horse/mule-driven tram cars.

The first automobiles appeared on the streets of Honolulu on October 8, 1899, the date on which both Henry P Baldwin and Edward D Tenney took possession of their newly arrived vehicles (both described as Wood electrics.)  (Schmitt) 

By 1900, Honolulu had a population of more than 39,000 and was in the midst of a development boom, creating tremendous need for more housing.

“[T]here were only four automobiles on Oahu in 1901 – you lived downtown because you worked downtown, you couldn’t live in Kaimuki or in Manoa.”  (Star Bulletin)

The “first gas-engined automobile complete with steering wheel and tonneau,” acquired by CM Cooke in 1904, and the Honolulu Automobile Club later adopted this date for the “first real automobile” in the Islands.  (Schmitt)

Spurring a boom, in 1903, Henry Ford officially opened the Ford Motor Company and five years later released the first Model T.  In 1907, Henry Ford announced his goal for the Ford Motor Company: to create “a motor car for the great multitude.”  (pbs)

“The automobile owner uses his car six days a week either in direct pursuit of his business or as a means of quickly transporting himself and others to and from that place of business.”

“The fact that he may take his family out on a Sunday is not a pleasure trip, but a necessary recreation in order, to ‘keep fit’ for his work.”  (McAlpine, Schuman Carriage, Honolulu Star Bulletin, November 3, 1907)

“The census of 1908 gave 259 cars imported into the islands in that year, thus showing that the automobile is in use pretty generally, as it is now estimated that there are nearly seven hundred cars in the islands, an increase of more than 100 per cent in one year.” (Beringer, Overland Monthly, July 1909)

“The automobile is here to stay. If we had better roads there would be more automobiles sold, naturally.”    (Gustav Schuman, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, June 24, 1916)

The first traffic lights in the Islands were installed at the intersection of Nuʻuanu Avenue and Beretania Street, Honolulu; an overhead signal was put into operation February 19, 1936.

On February 24 the overhead lights were “replaced by side bracket lights, flashing the green go and red stop light from a post at each corner.” The new lights were “operated by the flow of traffic itself.”  (Schmitt)

In 1938 automobile registration stood at 43,785. In 1945 the number of automobiles on island had grown to 52,527; a dozen years later, in 1957, automobile registration stood at 159,227, a 329.8 percent increase since 1945.

This tremendous influx of automobiles resulted in myriad needs having to be addressed, ranging from the reduction of traffic congestion to improved parking, and enhanced traffic safety measures.

The Territory undertook two other major highway projects, the Mauka and Makai Arterials, to divert traffic off downtown streets.  (HHS)

“‘A super highway through Honolulu, 120 feet wide and running mauka of the business district from Kalihi to Kaimuki … would be invaluable in solving Honolulu’s pressing traffic problem,’ engineer John Rush told the City Council in 1939.”

The 1945 Territorial Legislature enacted a liquid fuel tax in order to generate the funds necessary to match the federal funds available for the highway’s construction. This tax was increased to five cents a gallon in 1955 to help offset Hawaii’s match for the increasing federal dollars coming to the islands for highway construction.

From 1952 to 1962, Honolulu officials kept adding to the Mauka Arterial, described as the first road in the state “tailored to the flight patterns of people.”

The Lunalilo Highway project was expanded to become the H-1, a 28 mile roadway running from Palailai at Campbell Industrial Park to Ainakoa Avenue, with the Lunalilo Highway being the section running through Honolulu.  (DOT)

A companion Makai Arterial that would have run past Waikiki, down Ala Moana and along an elevated roadway near the Honolulu waterfront never materialized as planned.  (DOT)

Instead, the eight lane Makai Arterial, named Nimitz Highway, opened to traffic in November 1952, ten years after construction had commenced at the Pearl Harbor gate.  (HHS)

A section of the Federal-Aid to Highways Act of 1959 required that a study be undertaken to consider the eligibility of Hawai‘i and Alaska for interstate highway funding.

As a result of the study, the Hawaii Omnibus Act, which President Eisenhower signed into law on July 12, 1960, removed the language in the Federal-Aid Highway Act which limited the interstate system to the continental US.

It also authorized three interstate highways for Hawaii, H-1, H-2 and H-3 to address national defense concerns, an allowed interstate highway justification which resulted from a 1957 amendment to the original act.  (DOT)

An interesting remnant of apparently changed alignment (and probable interconnection of the Mauka and Makai Arterials) is a stub out to nowhere at the on/off ramps at Kapiʻolani Boulevard to H-1.  (Lots of information here is from DOT, HHS and Leidemann.)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Harry Irwin

“Every last one of us has felt in one way or another the impact of the personality of Harry Irwin. He learned out of the crucible of hard tough law practice … and was quick to praise and not slow to condemnation when he felt it was deserved.”

“He had the courage to wade into the political bull ring and take on the biggest … if he felt the cause was right, he was battling to the finish.” (Martin Pence, HTH)

“At the request of the House Committee on Territories Chair Charles F Curry, the two territorial proposals were revised and resubmitted as one piece of legislation, House Resolution 12683. Territorial Attorney General Harry S Irwin drafted the new legislation for Kūhiō to introduce.”

“Attorney General Irwin designed what would be called the ‘Kuhio Bill’ …  [after some opposition] As to the issue of reconciliation, Kūhiō recognized: ‘It is a fact, though, that the constitution granted by Kamehameha III recognized that the common people had the same interest in the lands of the kingdom as the king and the chiefs.’” (Andrade)

“In July 1921, the United States Congress enacted and President Warren G Harding signed into law the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920, establishing a land trust of approximately 203,500 acres of former Crown and Government Lands to provide homestead leases at a nominal fee for native Hawaiians, those individuals of fifty percent or more Hawaiian blood.” (Andrade) (Irwin prepared much of the original Hawaiian Homes Commission Act.)

Irwin was born in born at Shelburne, Nova Scotia, Canada on December 21, 1874. He was the son of Robert Gore and Isabelle (Archer) Irwin. He was educated in grammar, high and normal schools of Nova Scotia and studied law at Boston University Law School and Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, earning a law degree in 1898.

It is interesting that Irwin and Kūhiō were in South Africa during the Boer War. Irwin “served with Canadian forces in the Boer War in South Africa at the turn of the century.” (SB July 2, 1957)

Irwin was a volunteer with “Strathcona’s Horse” from 1899-1901, being discharged as sergeant. (Siddall) Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal, the Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, raised a regiment at his own expense for service in the British Army in South Africa. The unit was known as Strathcona’s Horse. (Canadian War Museum)

“The Boers were Dutch farmers of the Orange Free State in southern Africa.  Incensed over British farmers moving into their land, the Boers declared war against Britain. … The British Empire, not to be trifled with, rushed half a million troops into the area.  The Boers, never more than a few thousand in number, fought back using guerilla tactics.”  (Star Bulletin, May 26, 1981)

After Kūhiō married Kahanu on October 8, 1896 they left Hawai‘i on a self-imposed exile.  (DHHL)  Kūhiō and Kahanu “remained away two years, during which time they visited many interesting places” (Hawaiian Star, May 28, 1904), “vowing never to return to a Hawai‘i that appeared inhospitable to Hawaiians.” (Star Bulletin, March 26, 1996)

“They went to South Africa [where the] Prince was given an opportunity of enjoying some big game hunting.  (Hawaiian Star, May 28, 1904) “[T]he prince was anxious to see some of the fighting.  But the authorities always managed to keep him away from the scene of the skirmish although they saw bullets flying from a distance.”  (Star Bulletin, February 20, 1932)

“[D]uring the Boer war … Prince Kūhiō had some exciting experiences with the British in their engagements with the Boer forces. The prince was on a train that was attacked by the Boers. He met the late Cecil Rhodes and was entertained by Sir J. Somers Vine.” (Hawaiian Star, May 28, 1904)

Kūhiō returned to the Islands and got into politics.  Irwin “came to the Islands in 1901. He taught at several Big Island schools, and was principal of Honokaa School in 1904, the same year he started practicing law.” (SB, July 2, 1957)

In 1906, Irwin became an American citizen. (Hawaii Herald, July 12, 1906). “[Irwin] married the former Ruth Guard in 1908, and was appointed [First District Magistrate, Honolulu, 1917-1918], deputy attorney general in 1918, and served as attorney general from 1919 to 1922.” (SB, July 2, 1957)

After government service, Irwin practiced law. According to fellow attorney (later US District Judge, Martin Pence) stated, “I used to say my business was the Woolworth Five and Ten – meaning it was of the ordinary people with low income, you see.”

 “The plantations had Carlsmith, Carlsmith who represented all of the big companies, who represented all of the banks and so on. They had Harry Irwin and Tiny Smith. They were the two other haoles and I was the other haole.” (Martin Pence)

When my grandparents, John Alexander (Jack) Young and Alloe Louise Marr, were married on September 20, 1911 at Hilo, Harry Irwin (First District Magistrate, Honolulu, 1917-1918 and territorial Attorney General) was Jack’s best man and Florence Shipman (daughter of WH Shipman who later married Roy Blackshear) was bridesmaid.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Pūlaholaho

In former times, the area we now call downtown Honolulu was not called Honolulu; instead, each land section had its own name.  (A map in the album notes many of the different areas and their respective place names. )

‘Kou’ was later used to describe the district roughly encompassing the present day area from Nuʻuanu to Alakea Streets and from Hotel to Queen Streets Street (Queen Street was, then, only a pathway along the water’s edge.)

The harbor was known as Kuloloia.  It was entered by the first foreigner, Captain William Brown of the English ship Butterworth, in 1794.  He named the harbor “Fair Haven.”  The name Honolulu (meaning “sheltered bay” – with numerous variations in spelling) soon came into use.

Kamehameha I, who had been living at Waikīkī since 1804, moved his court here in 1809.  His immediate court consisted of high-ranking chiefs and their retainers.

In 1815, Kamehameha I granted Russian representatives permission to build a storehouse near Honolulu Harbor.  Instead, directed by the German adventurer Georg Schaffer (1779-1836,) they began building a fort and raised the Russian flag.  When Kamehameha learned of this, he sent several chiefs to remove the Russians.

The partially built blockhouse was finished by Hawaiians; they mounted guns protected the fort.  Its original purpose was to protect Honolulu by keeping enemy or otherwise undesirable ships out.

By 1830, the fort had 40 guns mounted on the parapets; it was called Fort Kekuanohu (literally, ‘the back of the scorpion fish,’ as in ‘thorny back,’) because of the rising guns on the walls.  (Fort Street is so named, because of the fort on the waterfront.)

One of the areas nearby was called Pūlaholaho (it is down near the old waterfront, ʻEwa side of where the fort was.  (In today’s perspective, it runs from Merchant, Nuʻuanu, Queen Streets and up through the breezeway of the Harbor Court project (this used to be the location of Kaʻahumanu Street.)

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.)

Charlton had been in London during Kamehameha II’s visit in 1824 and secured an introduction to the king and his entourage.  By the time he arrived in Hawai‘i in 1825, instructions had already arrived from Kamehameha II that Charlton was to be allowed to build a house, or houses, any place he wished and should be made comfortable.  This apparently was due to favors Charlton had done for the royal party.  (Hawaiʻi State Archives)

Charlton didn’t play well with others.  A report by Thrum noted, “July 13th (1827) – Last evening the English consul, in conversation with Boki told him he would cut Kaahumanu’s head off and all the residents were ready to join in it. Guards were ordered out in all parts of the village. Mr. Charlton may be ready to take up arms against the chief but few, if any, I believe would follow or join with him.” (Thrum)

In spite of that, Charlton did receive land for his home and for Consular offices.  The records suggest that the land under the present Washington Place premises were part of a grant from the chiefs to Charlton in 1825-26 to provide a permanent location for a British Consulate.  (HABS)

(Charlton later sold that property to Captain John Dominis (December 26, 1840,) who later built Washington Place. … By the way, Beretania Street was so named because of the British Consulate there.)

Charlton claimed this and other lands as his personal property.  He also claimed land down by the waterfront.  There was no disagreement over a small parcel, Wailele, but the larger adjoining parcel he claimed (Pūlaholaho) had been occupied since 1826 by retainers and heirs of Kaʻahumanu.

In making his claim for Pūlaholaho, Charlton showed a 299-lease dated October 5, 1826 issued to him by Kalanimōku.  That claim, made in 1840, however, was made after Kalanimōku and Kaʻahumanu had died.

Following Charlton’s presentation of his claim to rights of the entire land section of Pūlaholaho, Kamehameha III sought a means of providing security for the native residents on the land, and claimed that Pūlaholaho belonged to the crown.  (Maly)

In rejecting Charlton’s claim, Kamehameha III cited the fact that Kalanimōku 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 Kalanimōku 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.

On November 26, 1845, legal title to Charlton’s land claim was secured and was sold to British businessman, Robert C Janion (of Starkey, Janion and Co – that company later became Theo H. Davies & Co and one of Hawaiʻi’s ‘Big 5.’)   (Liber 3:221; Maly)  Charlton stayed in Honolulu until February 19, 1846, when he left Hawai’i for the last time.

Pūlaholaho was subdivided and Janion auctioned off the properties in 1846.  Captain Heinrich (Henry) Hackfeld opened a store on one of them in October 1849.  His company, H Hackfeld & Co, later became American Factors, Amfac, another Hawaiʻi ‘Big 5’ company.

A lasting legacy is the Melchers Building, the oldest commercial building in Honolulu, erected in 1854, at 51 Merchant Street, built for the retail firm of Melchers and Reiner. Its original coral stone walls are no longer visible on most sides, under its layers of stucco and paint (check the makai side of the building to see the coral blocks.)

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