Economy | Page 91 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

March 25, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Keʻanae Prison Camp

In June, 1925, Governor Wallace Farrington and the County Board of Supervisors Chairman Samuel Kalama led a grand procession of cars on the official opening of the road from Kailua to Hana.

The road was called the Belt Road and would link the isolated communities of East Maui with the rest of the island. By December, 1926, the governor and the board chairman were able to drive all the way to Hana on the dream road that was fast becoming a reality.

Wait … Let’s step back a bit.

Handy, Handy & Pukui report that in ancient times there were several major population centers on the Island of Maui: Kahakuloa (West Maui) region; the deep watered valleys of Nā Wai ‘Ehā (Waiheʻe, Wai‘ehu, Wailuku and Waikapū;) the ‘Olowalu to Honokōhau region of Lāhainā; the Kula – ʻUlupalakua region and the Koʻolau – Hāna region.

They note the importance of the Koʻolau region in this discussion: “On the northeast flank of the great volcanic dome of Haleakala…the two adjacent areas of Keʻanae and Wailua-nui comprise the fourth of the main Maui centers and the chief center on this rugged eastern coast”

“It supported intensive and extensive wet-taro cultivation. Further eastward and southward along this windward coast line is the district of Hāna…” (Maly)

Settlement in the watered valleys along the Koʻolau coast consisted primarily of permanent residences near the shore and spread along the valley floors. Residences also extended inland on flat lands and plateaus, with temporary shelters in the upper valleys.

Handy, Handy and Pukui further note that “…Ke‘anae lies just beyond Honomanu Valley. This is a unique wet-taro growing ahupua‘a… It was here that the early inhabitants settled, planting upland rain-watered taro far up into the forested area.”

“In the lower part of the valley, which is covered mostly by grass now, an area of irrigated taro was developed on the east side. A much larger area in the remainder of the valley could have been so developed.”

“However, we could find no evidence of terracing there. This probably was due to the fact that the energies of the people were diverted to create the lo‘i complex which now covers the peninsula.” (Maly)

In modern times, when Hāna was without a road, and the coastal steamer arrived on a weekly schedule, Hana-bound travelers unwilling to wait for the boat drove their car to the road’s end at Kailua, rode horseback to Kaumahina ridge, then walked down the switchback into Honomanu Valley. (Wenkam, NPS)

Friends carried them on flatbed taro trucks across the Keʻanae peninsula to Wailua cove. It was a short ride by outrigger canoe beyond Wailua to Nāhiku landing where they could borrow a car for the rest of the involved trip to Hana. Sometimes the itinerary could be completed in a day. Bad weather could make it last a week. (Wenkam, NPS)

It was not until 1847, that the historic and modified trail and road alignments became a part of a system of “roads” called the “Alanui Aupuni” or Government Roads. Work on the roads was funded in part by government appropriations, and through the labor or financial contributions of area residents, or prisoners working off penalties. (Maly)

The law (Sec 1536DD. Warden, Deputy, Duties, Powers) allowed a warden to have “the immediate charge and direction of all Territorial prisons and prison camps and the administration thereof.”

“The warden shall be responsible for the safekeeping of all prisoners and persons who may be committed to said prisons and for the enforcement of proper order and discipline among and concerning prisoners and prison officers and employees.” (Attorney General)

Neighbor Island prison camps were set up, there were 4: Maui had three, the other was on the Big Island (outside Hilo.) Keʻanae camp had 22-prisoners and 3-guards; Olinda camp had 31-prisoners, with Jailer and 3-guards and Paukakulo camp had 27-prisoners, with 1-jailer and 3-guards. The three camps on Maui are engaged in road work and forest lines.

A large part of the road to Hāna was constructed by prison labor based at the Keʻanae Prison Camp. The camp was built in 1926 to house the prisoners who would construct the road, including several bridges from Kailua to Hana.

When the road was completed in 1927, men from Keʻanae to Hāna town were hired to maintain the road, especially during the rainy season. (McGregor)

Later, an announcement in the Maui News (January 20, 1934) carried the headline, “Conservation Program Will Be Launched Within Week or 10 Days.” Sub-headlines were “$421,000 Is Provided” and “…To be Located at Keʻanae’s Old Prison Site.”

No longer needed, the Keʻanae prison camp was converted into quarters for the Civilian Conservation Corps. This federal program, created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to provide jobs to get the US through the depression, brought in men from other parts of Maui and other islands to plant thousands of eucalyptus and other introduced trees throughout the Hana coast. (McGregor)

In December 1942, during World War II, Governor Ingram Stainback tried to assist the war effort by sending forty inmates from Oʻahu Prison to the former Keʻanae Prison camp to revive the old Nāhiku rubber plantations in the hope of yielding 20,000 to 50,000-pounds of crude rubber annually. The venture was no more successful than the earlier ones had been.

Eventually, the YMCA operated the facilities as Camp Keanae; part of the land area continues to be used as a roadway base yard. Na Moku Aupuni O Ko‘olau Hui are now the stewards of Camp Keanae.

March 16, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hawaiʻi State Capitol

Prior to contact (1778,) Royal Centers served as the rulers’ residence and governing location. Aliʻi moved between several residences throughout the year; each served as his Royal Center and place of governance.

Typically such Royal Centers contained the ruler’s residence, residences of high chiefs, a major heiau (which became increasing larger in size in the AD 1600s-1700s,) other heiau and often a refuge area (puʻuhonua).

The Royal Centers were selected for their abundance of resources and recreation opportunities, with good surfing and canoe-landing sites being favored.

On August 21, 1959 Hawaiʻi became the 50th state.

Today, we reference the location of the governing seat as the ‘capital’ and official statehouse as its ‘capitol.’

The present Hawaiʻi capitol building opened in 1969. Prior to that time, from about 1893 to 1969, ʻIolani Palace served as the statehouse.

After the overthrow in 1893, the Provisional Government first established its offices in the Aliʻiolani Hale; after a few months, the governmental offices were transferred to ʻIolani Palace (that later building’s name was temporarily changed to the “Executive Building” – the name “ʻIolani Palace” was restored by the Legislature in 1935.) (NPS)

The former throne room had been used for sessions of the Territorial House of Representatives. The state dining room was used as the chamber of the Territorial Senate. The private apartment of Kalākaua and later Liliʻuokalani was used as the Governor’s office. (NPS)

The location of the present Capitol was selected in 1944. In 1959, an advisory committee was formed. They selected the Honolulu firm of Belt, Lemmon & Lo and the San Francisco firm of John Carl Warnecke & Associates to design the new state capitol.

Their design was approved by the Legislature in 1961; construction commenced in November 1965. The building opened on March 16, 1969, replacing the former statehouse, ʻIolani Palace.

To quote from an address given by Governor John A. Burns, “The open sea, the open sky, the open doorway, open arms and open hearts – these are the symbols of our Hawaiian heritage. In this great State Capitol there are no doors at the grand entrances which open toward the mountains and toward the sea. There is no roof or dome to separate its vast inner court from the heavens and from the same eternal stars which guided the first voyagers to the primeval beauty of these shores.”

“It is by means of the striking architecture of this new structure that Hawaii cries out to the nations of the Pacific and of the world, this message: We are a free people……we are an open society……we welcome all visitors to our island home. We invite all to watch our legislative deliberations; to study our administrative affairs; to see the examples of racial brotherhood in our rich cultures; to view our schools, churches, homes, businesses, our people, our children; to share in our burdens and our self-sorrows as well as our delights and our pleasures. We welcome you! E Komo Mai! Come In! The house is yours!”

The building is full of symbolism: the perimeter pool represents the ocean surrounding the islands; the 40-concrete columns are shaped like coconut trees; the conical chambers infer the volcanic origins of the Islands; and the open, airy central ground floor suggests the Islands’ open society and acceptance of our natural and cultural environment.

There are eight columns in the front and back of the building; groups of eight mini-columns on the balcony that surrounds the fourth floor; and eight panels on the doors leading to the Governor’s and Lieutenant Governor’s chambers – all symbolic of the eight main islands.

The Hawaiʻi State Capitol is a five-story building with an open central courtyard. According to the architects, “The center of the building, surrounded by a ring of columns, is a great entrance well open on all sides at ground level and reaching upward through four floors of open galleries to the crown canopy and the open sky. Visitors can walk directly into the spectators’ galleries overlooking the House and Senate chambers situated at ground level, and they can reach any of the upper floors by elevators.”

Caucus rooms, clerks’ and attorneys’ offices, a library, a public hearing room, and suite for the President are at the Chamber level. The three legislative office floors (2-4) are of similar design, with peripheral offices for the legislators.

The suites for the Governor and Lieutenant Governor are on the uppermost floors, overlooking the sea on the outside and the courtyard on the inside. Public circulation on the upper floors is through lanais that overlook the court. Parking is provided in the basement.

The Capitol building is a structure of steel reinforced concrete and structural steel. The building is rectangular with dimensions of 360 feet x 270 feet (although it is often referred to as the “Square Building on Beretania.”) It is 100-feet high. (Lots of info here from NPS.)

March 15, 2022 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Panama-Pacific International Exposition

In 1903 President Theodore Roosevelt announced that the U.S. would complete a canal across the Isthmus of Panama, begun years earlier by a French company.

The canal would cut 8,000 miles off the distance ships had to travel from the east coast to the west. No canal of this scale had been built before, and many said it could not be done.

At the turn of the 20th Century, San Francisco was the largest and wealthiest city on the west coast of the United States. In 1906, a disastrous earthquake struck San Francisco. The ensuing fire was more devastating than the Chicago fire of 1871.

Less than 10 years after most of San Francisco was destroyed, the proud city was rebuilt and its people were ready to hold a party, one designed to dazzle the world and showcase the new city.

Even as San Francisco was rebuilding after the earthquake, local boosters promoted the city in a competition to host a world’s fair that would celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal.

The new San Francisco was the perfect choice, and Congress selected the city over several other aspirants, including New Orleans and San Diego.

In order to build this grand fair, over 630 acres of bayfront tidal marsh, extending three miles from Fort Mason to east of the Golden Gate (today’s Marina District and Crissy Field), were filled.

On this new land, 31 nations from around the world and many US states built exhibit halls, connected by 47-miles of walkways. There were so many attractions that it was said it would take years to see them all.

Locals simply called it ‘The Fair.’

For nine months in 1915, the Presidio’s bayfront and much of today’s Marina District was the site of a grand celebration of human spirit and ingenuity. Hosted to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, the Panama-Pacific International Exposition reflected the ascendancy of the US to the world stage and was a milestone in San Francisco history.

Over 18-million people visited the fair; strolling down wide boulevards, attending scientific and educational presentations, “travelling” to international pavilions and enjoying thrilling displays of sports, racing, music and art. The fair promoted technological and motor advancements.

It was the first world’s fair to demonstrate a transcontinental telephone call, to promote wireless telegraphy and to endorse the use of the automobile. Each day, the fair highlighted special events and exhibits, each with their own popular souvenirs.

The fair was so large and spread out over such a length of land that it was virtually impossible for any visitors to successfully see it all, even over the course of several visits.

The Panama-Pacific International Exposition looked to the future for innovation. Things we take for granted today – cars, airplanes, telephones, and movies – were in their infancy and were shown off at the fair, and some well-known technological luminaries were involved in the fair.

Henry Ford, who brought mass production to American manufacturing and made the automobile affordable to middle class society, built an actual Model T assembly line at the fair. Fords were produced three hours a day, six days a week.

New farming and agricultural technologies were also introduced at the fair. Luther Burbank, creator of many new kinds of plants including the Burbank potato, Santa Rosa plum, Shasta daisy, and the fire poppy, was in charge of the Horticulture Palace.

Author Laura Ingalls Wilder was particularly impressed with new dairy techniques. She wrote, ‘I saw…cows being milked with a milk machine. And it milked them clean and the cows did not object in the least.’

The scale and design of the fair were exceptional. The Palace of Machinery, the largest structure in the world at the time, was the first building to have a plane fly through it. The Horticulture Palace had a glass dome larger than Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

The Tower of Jewels reached 40 stories skyward and held 102,000 pieces of multicolored cut glass that sparkled by day and were illuminated by intense electric lights at night. When the fog came in, 48 spotlights of seven different colors illuminated the sky to look like the northern lights.

The physical structures of the fair were built to be temporary. Most were torn down shortly after the fair closed. However, a few reminders of the fair remain. The railway tunnel under Fort Mason and the San Francisco Yacht Harbor still exist, and the shape of an old race track may be seen on perimeter of the grass Crissy airfield.

The most impressive remnant of all is the Palace of Fine Arts. This landmark, much loved by San Franciscans and visitors from around the world, was spared demolition and was restored and reinforced in the 1960s. It continues to dazzle many millions of people each year. (NPS)

A few agencies and municipalities purchased the smaller buildings that could be transported by boat to new locations. San Mateo County purchased the Ohio Building; Marin County purchased the Wisconsin and Virginia Buildings; the army maintained the Oregon Building on its Presidio location as a military clubhouse.

Some of the larger buildings that were too big to move, like the Tower of Jewels, were disassembled and sold to scavengers. Unfortunately, because the fair buildings were only constructed of plaster, faux travertine and chicken wire, they did not last as long as permanent buildings; once the buildings reached a serious level of deterioration, they were demolished. (NPS)

One of the most popular attractions at the Exposition was a daily show at the Hawaiian Pavilion featuring Hawaiian musicians and hula dancers. It’s where millions of people heard the ‘ukulele for the first time. (Mushet)

“Kamehameha Day at the exposition, or Hawaii Day as they called it here, was all that had been hoped for it. There was splendid weather; the water pageant and the singing of Hawaiian music made a deep sentimental and esthetic effect, and the program as a whole drew tremendous crowds.” (Hawaiian Gazette, June 15, 1915)

At the corner of what is now Baker Street and Marina Boulevard in San Francisco’s Marina District was where the Hawaiian Pavilion stood during the Panama-Pacific International Exposition.

These Hawaiian shows had the highest attendance at the entire fair and launched a Hawaiian cultural craze that influenced everything from American music, to movies, to fashion. (Mushet)

“The hugely popular Hawaii pavilion … showcased Hawaiian music and hula dancing, and was the unofficial launching pad for ukulele-mania.” Hapa-haole songs were featured in the Hawaii exhibits.

“After the expo, Tin Pan Alley and jazz writers and musicians took interest in the cheery little instrument. Songs such as “Ukulele Lady” and “Oh, How She Could Yacki Hacki Wicki Wacki Woo (That’s Love in Honolulu)” were published in sheet-music format.”

“Guitar maker CF Martin & Co. built more ukuleles in 1926 than in any previous year. But the uke’s popularity, along with Martin’s production of the instrument, dwindled in the 1930s.” (San Francisco Examiner)

Everyone began writing hapa-haole songs, and in 1916, hapa-haole recordings outsold other types of music. Over the decades they were written in all popular styles—from ragtime, to 30’s swing, to 60s surf-rock. (Ethnic Dance Festival, 2015)

The Panama Pacific International Exposition closed in November 1915. It succeeded in buoying the spirits and economy of San Francisco, and also resulted in effective trade relationships between the US and other nations of the world. (Lots of information here is from NPS.)

Pan-Pacific, 1915; San Francisco-PP-19-8-006-00001

Panama-Pacific Exposition-1915-LOC

Pan-Pacific, 1915; San Francisco-PP-19-8-005-00001

Pan-Pacific, 1915; San Francisco-PP-19-7-020-00001

Pan-Pacific, 1915; San Francisco-PP-19-8-004-00001

Pan-Pacific, 1915; San Francisco-PP-19-7-009-00001

Pan-Pacific, 1915; San Francisco-PP-19-7-008-00001

Pan-Pacific, 1915; San Francisco-PP-19-7-003-00001

Panama-Pacific Exposition – 1915-LOC

Pan-Pacific, 1915; San Francisco-PP-19-8-017-00001

Palace of Fine Arts – originally constructed for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition

Palace of Fine Arts-originally constructed for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition

Aeroplane view main group of exhibit palaces Panama-Pacific International Exposition

March 13, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Spring Forward

In Hawaiʻi’s prior subsistence society, the family farming scale was far different from today’s commercial-purpose agriculture. In ancient time, when families farmed for themselves they observed and adapted; products were produced based on need and season.

Hawaiians divided the year into two seasons – Kau (Summer – when it was dry and hot; beginning in May when Makaliʻi (Pleiades) set at sunrise;) and Hoʻoilo (Winter season when it was rainy and chilly; beginning in October.)

Months were measured not by the number of days, but were based on the phases of the moon – each beginning with the appearance of a new moon and lasting until the appearance of the next new moon.

When the stars fade away and disappear it is ao, daylight, and when the sun rises day has come, it is called la; and when the sun becomes warm, morning is past. When the sun is directly overhead it is awakea, noon; and when the sun inclines to the west in the afternoon the expression is ua aui ka la.

After that comes evening, called ahi-ahi (ahi is fire) and then sunset, napoʻo ka lā, and then comes pō, the night, and the stars shine out. (Malo)

“The days are divided … not into hours but into parts: sunrise, noon, sunset; the time between sunrise and noon is split into two, as is the time between noon and sunset.” (Lisiansky; Schmitt)

It wasn’t until the Westerners arrived that clocks and watches were used to measure passage of time during the day.

However, shortly after contact, there wasn’t always agreement about what time or date it actually was … time-keeping practices varied in the 18th century, depending on circumstances.

Noon marked the beginning of the day in astronomical reckoning, the middle of the day in civil reckoning, and the end of the day in nautical reckoning. Logs were kept on ship’s time but on entering a harbor reverted to civil time.

In addition, determining dates was not always consistent … folks travelling across the Pacific west to east may have differing dates that those travelling east to west. The International Date Line (generally on the 180th meridian) marks changes in days – but some early travelers didn’t make the adjustment.

To further confuse the issue, “The date line as originally drawn had a kink to the westward of the Hawaiian Islands to include Morrell and Byers islands which appeared on nineteenth-century charts at the western end of the Hawaiian chain. It was then proved that they did not exist, so the date line was straightened out.” (Howse)

In the 1880s, changes were being made in timekeeping practices. Several large nations still recognized prime meridians other than the one through Greenwich, and some continued to differ on the definition of a “day.”

In 1883, the US railroad industry divided the continental US into five (later four) time zones, establishing official time zones with a set standard time within each zone. (National Geographic)

The civil population nevertheless adopted ‘Railroad Time’ almost spontaneously; 85% of US towns of over ten-thousand inhabitants had done so by October 1884. However, it was not until 1918 that an Act of Congress set standard time all over the US. (Howse)

Hawaiʻi did not adopt standard time until 1896, with various notices published in the papers: “Hawaiian standard time will be ten and one-half hours slow of Greenwich. The half hour is chosen for the reason that the Hawaiian group, while limited in area, is almost centrally on the line between the ten-hour and eleven-hour belt, and the inconvenience of a wide difference between standard and local time is thus avoided.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 9, 1896)

“The meridian adopted, 157 deg 30 min, is not far from central to the group. The Kauai people will be expected to set their local time ahead 8-minutes and Niihau 10-minutes; the Maui people will set back local time on an average four minutes. The Hilo people, if they fall into line, will set back ten minutes, and Kona from 7 to 8 minutes.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 9, 1896)

The 1918 act of Congress also provided for nationwide daylight saving time from March through October.

It hit the islands, as well, “Daylight saving plan was again agitated for these islands the early part of this year, and, in April, on official orders from Washington, the navy department here set their clocks forward an hour, but it did not last long. Cutting a foot off the end of Pat’s blanket to add to its head was found to give no greater length or warmth.” (Thrum)

In 1933, the Hawaiʻi Legislature decreed daylight saving for the period between the last Sunday of each April and last Sunday of each September, but less than a month later repealed the act.

WWII brought daylight saving back to the Islands. Year-round daylight saving time, one hour ahead of Hawaiian Standard Time, was established in the Territory during World War II by General Order No. 66 of the military governor, taking effect on February 9, 1942. The new time became known as “Hawaiian War Time.”

In 1947, the Territorial Legislature permanently returned to the pre-war standard time – however, they also advanced Hawaiian Standard Time by 30 minutes, making it 10 (instead of 10-1/2) hours slower than Greenwich Mean Time, and thus two hours (not 2½) behind Pacific Standard Time. This change became effective the second Sunday of June, 1947. (Schmitt & Cox)

Later, the federal Uniform Time Act of 1966 was enacted (April 13, 1966) “to promote the adoption and observance of uniform time within the standard time zones” (called for in the 1819 law.) It sought to simplify the official pattern of where and when daylight saving time is applied across US. States/territories could opt out; the 1967 Hawaiʻi Legislature voted to exempt the Islands.

In 2005, Congress passed the Energy Policy Act of 2005, effective starting in 2007, that declared daylight saving time starts on the second Sunday in March (‘spring forward’) and ends on the first Sunday in November (‘fall back’,) with the time changes taking place at 2 am local time.

So, today daylight saving time begins in most of the continental US; Hawaiʻi, Arizona (except for the Navajo Nation, which does observe daylight saving time,) Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and the US Virgin Islands do not observe daylight saving time.

Since Hawaii does not, we will have the new time differences with most of the continent:
• 3-hours for Pacific
• 4-hours for Mountain
• 5-hours for Central
• 6-hours for Eastern

The image shows Ohio Clock in the US Capitol being turned forward for the country’s first daylight saving time in 1918.

March 8, 2022 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Hawaiʻi Population Distribution 1853

In 1853, thirty-three years after the first missionaries landed, a census of the islands was taken by the Government with the help of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) – the first year for which a census report of the islands by districts is available.

In interpreting the distribution of population in 1853, keep in mind that Hawaiian culture of that year included characteristics not originally Hawaiian. During the seventy-four years which had elapsed since ‘Contact’ was made, interactions with foreigners were frequent and trade and commerce were actively carried on.

Thousands of natives were killed by disease. In 1848 and 1849 epidemics of measles, whooping cough and influenza occurred. Likewise, Hawaiians were leaving and worked on whaling ships.

The distribution of population in the census districts in 1853 is indicated by the awards of land made by the Board of Land Commissioners formed by King Kamehameha III about the time of the “Great Māhele.”

For the first time the common people, formerly tenants of the chiefs, received title to small holdings, known as kuleana. The land commission awarded titles to kuleana involving the hearing and taking of testimony in connection with nearly 12,000-individual claims.

The number of people in a district and their distribution was closely related to the food supply of the area, which was obtained principally from planted crops and fish, supplemented by hogs and in a small way by other animals.

Although sandalwood, whaling and the beginning of sugar and other agriculture formed the foundations of an economy, life was maintained largely by traditional means of subsistence agriculture and fishing.

With people heading to California during the gold-rush of 1849, the lack of sufficient supplies, and the isolation of California from other food-producing areas on the continent gave people in the Hawaiian Islands an opportunity for a while to supply the growing market there.

Since agricultural produce from Hawaiʻi could be marketed in California directly by boat, and therefore cheaper than by overland routes of that time, the use of arable land in the islands was stimulated.

In 1853, there were 73,138 people in the Hawaiian Islands of whom 71,019 were Polynesians, and 2,119 were classed as “foreigners.”

Following is the head count in Hawaiʻi – in addition, maps are included that graphically display the population distribution to the various districts and portions of each island.

Niʻihau had a population of 790-people. The distribution of people as shown on the population map is based on a map of Niʻihau made by a man named Wilcox between 1850 and 1855, depicting groups of houses.

In 1853 there were 6,981-people on the Island of Kauai. The population was concentrated chiefly on the lower flood plains and delta plains of rivers where wet land taro was raised on the rich alluvial soil.

Nearly half of the population of Oʻahu was concentrated in the City of Honolulu and on the adjoining coastal plain. In the city and vicinity there were between 7,000 and 8,000-people; nearly 1,200 of these were foreigners.

Honolulu was an important center of trade and commerce chiefly in connection with the whaling industry. In 1852 as many as 585 vessels called at the port. “The settled portion of the city was then substantially limited by the present Alapaʻi and River Streets, and mauka at School Street.”

Nearly all the remaining population of Oʻahu was scattered around Pearl Harbor, along the east coast of the island, and at Waialua near the center of the north coast.

Molokai had a population of 3,607. The outstanding characteristic of the distribution and density of people was the concentration along the eastern third of the south coast.

The population of Maui was 17,574. Nearly all the people were scattered around the shores of the island and on each side of the isthmus.

The largest settlement on the island was at Lāhainā, the port of which had advantages in that the roadstead was accessible “at any season of the year, … at any hour of the day or night,” and a pilot was not needed to enter it or leave it. In the spring of 1853 seventy whaling ships called at the port. The town of Lāhainā extended for two miles along the shore.

The population of Lanaʻi in 1853 was 600, all of whom were Polynesians. On the east coast of the island it was possible to raise wet land taro in a small area in the upper part of Maunalei Gulch …

… where the higher land, intercepting the trade winds, caused sufficient precipitation for a small stream of water throughout the year. Hawaiians who lived on the central part of the east coast climbed the highlands to plant their taro patches.

Kahoʻolawe is remarkable by contrast with the other islands in the Hawaiian group. Much of it is a wind-swept plateau devoid of vegetation of any kind. It is not mentioned in the census report of 1853. In 1841 men from the Wilkes’ Exploring Expedition who visited the island found only a few fishermen and fifteen convicts. Kahoʻolawe was used as a place of exile, as late as 1852.

Hawaiʻi, the largest island in the Hawaiian group, had the largest population, 24,450. The most densely-peopled continuous area was along the coasts of North and South Kona.

Dry land taro was an important crop in the Kona districts. Breadfruit, bananas and coconuts grew there, all of which were used for food.

Peas, beans, carrots and cabbages were raised in the vicinity of Kealakekua Bay, near which there was also a “coffee estate,” and between Kealakekua Bay and Kailua “oranges, grapes” and “tall plantains” grew.

For the District of Puna there is an inconsistency between the number of people recorded in the census and the number of land grants which were given after the “Great Māhele.” There were 2,700 people and only nineteen grants. These were large areas and included several ahupuaʻa. Puna was isolated; there was no road into the area until 1898 or 1899.

The eastern, tradewind coast of Hawaiʻi was densely populated. Many streams flowed down the slopes of Mauna Kea into the ocean; near the mouths of which the land was used for irrigated taro.

The distribution and density of people in the Hawaiian Islands in 1853 was closely related to the food supply obtained from agriculture, aquaculture and fishing.

Taro, the most important plant raised for food, was cultivated both by wet land and dry land farming. Other dry land crops were also raised.

Areas where wet land taro was extensively cultivated were more densely populated than areas of dry land farming. Land in the vicinity of fish ponds was densely populated.

Most of the foreign population lived in Honolulu or other ports of call for whalers where they engaged in trade and commerce, although a few carried on pastoral industries or raised crops for export. (Coulter wrote a paper on this subject and it and its images are the basis of this summary.)

Niihau_Population_Distribution-(Coulter)-1853

Kauai_Population_Distribution-(Coulter)-1853

Oahu-Population_Distribution-(Coulter)-1853

Molokai_Population_Distribution-(Coulter)-1853

Maui_Population_Distribution-(Coulter)-1853

Lanai_Population_Distribution-(Coulter)-1853

Hawaii_Island_Population_Distribution-(Coulter)-1853