Images of Old Hawaiʻi

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Ala Moana Beach Park and ʻĀina Moana (Magic Island)

In 1899, the coastal road from Honolulu Harbor to Waikīkī, formerly called the “Beach Road,” was renamed “Ala Moana.”

At the beginning of the twentieth-century, this stretch of coast makai of Ala Moana Boulevard was the site of the Honolulu garbage dump, which burned almost continually.  The residue from burned rubbish was used to reclaim neighboring wetlands (which later were more commonly referred to as “swamp lands.”)

In the 1920s, Kewalo Basin was constructed and by the 1930s was the main berthing area for the sampan fleet and also the site of the tuna cannery, fish auction, shipyard, ice plant, fuel dock and other shore-side facilities.

In 1928, a channel was dredged through the coral reef to connect the Ala Wai Boat Harbor and the Kewalo Basin, so boats could travel between the two.  Part of the dredge material helped to reclaim swampland that was filled in with dredged coral.

When the area became a very popular swimming beach, the channel was closed to boat traffic.

The City and County of Honolulu started cleaning up the Ala Moana area in 1931. They used funds provided by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal Project to create a city park in the Ala Moana area.

Back in the early twentieth century, most playgrounds consisted of large areas of pavement used to get children off of the street and had no aesthetic value.

In 1933, Harry Sims Bent was chosen as the park architect for the City and County of Honolulu.  Bent’s design went beyond the modern level and into the realm of art deco, allowing for play, as well as contact with nature.  His works at Ala Moana include the canal bridge, entrance portals, sports pavilion, banyan courtyard and the lawn bowling green.

President Roosevelt participated in the dedication of the new 76-acre “Moana Park” in 1934 (it was later renamed Ala Moana Park in 1947.)  During his visit to the islands, Roosevelt also planted a kukui tree on the grounds of the ʻIolani Palace.

Ala Moana Park was developed on a swamp and the Honolulu garbage dump.

In the mid-1950s, reef rubble was dredged to fill in the old navigation channel (between Kewalo and the Ala Wai); it was topped with sand brought from Keawaʻula Beach (Yokohama Beach) in Waianae.

At the same time, a new swimming channel was dredged parallel to the new beach, extending 400-feet offshore; in addition, the west end of the fronting channel was closed by a landfill project that was part of the Kewalo Basin State Park project.  A large fringing reef remained off-shore protecting the beach area.

Reportedly, in 1955, Henry Kaiser was the first to propose building two artificial islands and six hotels over the fringing reef.  His proposal included inlets for boats, walkways and bridges. He called it Magic Island and offered to pay the $50-million cost.  (Sigall, Star-Advertiser)

In 1958, a 20-page booklet was sent to Congress to encourage them to turn back Ala Moana Reef to the Territory of Hawaiʻi for the construction of a “Magic Island.”  Local businessmen and firms paid half the cost and the Territory paid half through the Economic Planning & Coordination Authority)   (Dillingham interests were among contributors, Henry J. Kaiser interests were not.)   (Honolulu Record, February 13, 1958)

The booklet puts forth the argument that “Tourist development is our most important immediate potential for economic expansion,” and displays pictures of the crowded Waikiki area to show the lack of room for expansion.  Then it directs the reader’s attention to land that can be reclaimed from the sea by utilizing reefs, especially the 300-acre area of Ala Moana Reef.  (Honolulu Record, February 13, 1958)

It was supposed to be part of a new high scale beachfront resort complex with a half-dozen hotels that would have included two islands built on the fringing reef, offshore of the Ala Moana Park.

The Interest of the Dillingham’s in developing off-shore areas is obvious, since Hawaiian Dredging is the only local company large enough to undertake such sizable dredging operations. The Dillingham interest in the current “Magic Island” project is more obvious because of the immediate increase in value it would bring to Dillingham land mauka of Ala Moana Boulevard.  (Honolulu Record, February 13, 1958)

The Dillinghams figure to do the dredging and construction of Magic Island, itself, of course, and it must be recalled that the original Dillingham idea was to use Ala Moana Park for hotels and apartments and build the reef island for a park.  (Honolulu Record, May 15, 1958)

But now that Magic Island is being proposed as a hotel and apartment site, it doesn’t mean for a moment the first plan has necessarily been abandoned. There is good reason to fear Ala Moana Park may be wiped out entirely so far as the people of Oahu are concerned if they don’t keep alert and guard” against every effort to encroach upon it.  (Honolulu Record, May 15, 1958)

Substantial changes were made from the more extensive original plan for the Ala Moana reef; rather than multiple islands for several resort hotels built on the reef flat off of the Ala Moana Park, in 1964 a 30-acre peninsula, with “inner” and “outer” beaches for protected swimming, was constructed adjoining the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor and Ala Wai Canal outlet.

The project stopped after the development of “Magic Island,” leaving the State with a man-made peninsula, which they converted into a public park.

In 1972 the State officially renamed Magic Island to ‘Āina Moana (“land [from the] sea”) to recognize that the park is made from dredged coral fill. The peninsula was turned over the city in a land exchange and is formally known as the ‘Āina Moana Section of Ala Moana Beach Park, but many local residents still call it Magic Island.

Between 1955 and 1976 the beach eroded, and in 1976, more sand was brought in from Mokuleʻia on the north coast of Oʻahu.

The image shows one of the Ala Moana Beach Parks bridges.  In addition, I have added other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Lānaʻi City Walking Tour

Lānaʻi City is the last intact plantation town in the State of Hawai‘i. This unique status is in part a result of its isolation, with Lānaʻi being physically detached from any other town or city in Hawai‘i.

A walk through Lānaʻi City is like a walk back through time.  A walking tour has been established in the City that helps recall the people, places and stories of this community.

The walk around the historical business center of Lānaʻi City and Dole Park is about one-half mile long, and depending on how many stops you make, might take you 15 minutes to an hour or more to complete (37-sites have been identified.)

After methodically buying up individual parcels, by 1907, Charles Gay, youngest son of Captain Thomas Gay and Jane Sinclair Gay, acquired the island of Lānaʻi (except for about 100-acres.)  He was the first to establish the single-ownership model for Lānaʻi (with roughly 89,000 acres.)

Around 1919, Gay experimented with planting pineapple on a small scale.  He eventually sold his interest and James Dole’s Hawaiian Pineapple Company, Ltd. purchased the island and began the subsequent establishment of its pineapple plantation.

The story of Lānaʻi City begins when James Dole purchased nearly the entire island of Lānaʻi in November 1922, as a part of the holdings of the Hawaiian Pineapple Company, Ltd.  Prior to 1922, the lands on which the city would be built had been grazed as part of the old Lānaʻi Ranch operations.

Plans for building Lānaʻi City were drawn up in early 1923, as Dole and his partners set out to make Lānaʻi the world’s largest pineapple plantation.

Coming from Connecticut, Dole was familiar with the design of the “town square” and grid system of laying out streets in such a way that everything was connected to the “green” or park in the middle of town.

Under Dole’s tenure, the Lānaʻi plantation and city grew, and at one time the island supported nearly 20,000-acres of cultivated pineapple, making it the world’s largest plantation. For seventy years, from 1922 to 1992 (when the last harvest took place,) the name “Lānaʻi” was synonymous with pineapple.

With the advent of the plantation and establishment of Lānaʻi City, the new Lānaʻi Post Office building (still called Keomoku Post Office at the time, for its original location on the shore), which also served as home to the plantation manager’s office, was opened by November 1924.

That original manager and post office building is now the site of the present day Dole Administration Building (fronted by the flagpole). Immediately below was the park, or town square, around which was laid out all of the stores and shops, the bank, theater, Dole’s “clubhouse”, the Buddhist Church and a children’s playground.

As you begin your walking tour of Lānaʻi City enjoy the following overview of the early history published in a Maui News article in 1926—written at the time that Lānaʻi City and the plantation operations were “debuted” to the world. The article shares with readers, the vision, hard work and investment that went into making Lānaʻi City a vibrant community that has nurtured some five generations of residents:

“…There is more, much more on the fertile island of Lanai than broad fields for a yield of Hawaii’s premier fruit and a machine for getting that fruit from the fields and started toward the great cannery in Honolulu. There is the foundation for a considerable group of productive workers given facilities for production as nearly perfect as business skill and foresight can provide. And with it they are given the things which transform a group of human individuals into a real community.”

“Before this investment of approximately $3,000,000 began to return a penny, the Hawaiian Pineapple Company provided its workers not only with accommodations for living, but with accommodations for enjoyment and recreation to a notable degree.”

“Schools, churches, a model playground, a fine baseball field, a swimming pool, tennis courts, an ample and well equipped auditorium, and moving picture theater are as much a part of Lanai City as the fine roads, and well appointed office, or the model machine shop; as much a part of the whole enterprise as the harbor that has been hewn out of the cliff walled beach…“  (Maui News – December 24, 1926)

Here is a list of key locations identified in the Walking Tour:
1. Old Dole Administration Building and the Lānaʻi Culture & Heritage Center
2. First Hawaiian Bank
3. The Lānaʻi Theater, Playhouse & Fitness Center
4. Mike Carroll’s Gallery
5. Island of Lānaʻi Properties & Lānaʻi Visitor’s Bureau
6. Canoes Lānaʻi Restaurant
7. Blue Ginger Restaurant
8. Coffee Works
9. Gifts with Aloha from Lānaʻi & The Local Gentry
10. Launderette Lānaʻi
11. Lānaʻi Art Center
12. Maui Community College / Lānaʻi Education Center
13. Lānaʻi Senior Center
14. Lānaʻi High & Elementary School
15. Lānaʻi Gym
16. Union Church
17. Sacred Hearts Church
18. Old Police Station, Court House & Jail
19. The Sweetest Days Ice Cream Shoppe
20. Pele’s Other Garden Restaurant
21. Sergio’s Filipino Store, Ganotisi’s Variety Store, and Nita’s in Style Beauty Salon
22. Pine Isle Market, Ltd.
23. International Store
24. Cafe 565
25. Lānaʻi Community Center & Dole Park
26. Dis-n-Dat
27. Richard’s Market
28. Bank of Hawaii
29. Lānaʻi Community Hospital
30. Hotel Lānaʻi
31. Lānaʻi Plantation Labor Yard/Machine Shop
32. Lānaʻi City Service & Lānaʻi Hardware
33. Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Jordanne Fine Art Studio & Lānaʻi Beach Walk
34. Kingdom Hall of the Jehovah’s Witnesses
35. Department of Land & Natural Resources
36. Assembly of God Church
37. Lānaʻi Baptist Church

Click here for a link to the various sites plotted in Google Maps (this is part of the prototype for a web-based map that will have all of the various posts noted in the location where they occurred.)

(Click on the numbered icons for images of the respective sites – the square icons show some historic photos.)

The image shows Lanai City in 1924.  Much of the information here is from ‘A Historical Guide to Lānaʻi City (Prepared for the Lānaʻi Culture & Heritage Center.)  The Walking Tour map and images of each site are noted in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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American Independence Day

“(O)n the Fourth of July 1814, there were moored in the quiet and newly discovered harbor of Honolulu, three American merchant ships, engaged in the north-west trade, the Isabella … the O Kane (O’Cain) … and the Albatross. … King Kamehameha I, who, in his royal double canoes, each seventy-live feet in length, manned by two hundred brawny arms, always first boarded each vessel, and taking command, brought her within the harbor.”

“In the afternoon, a royal banquet was prepared, such as the days of Kamehameha I only witnessed, and mats and tables spread on the open plain, just in rear of the Catholic Church lot” (at that time “from where Nuʻuanu street now is, towards the Palace, was then an open plain, without a dwelling, the only houses were along the beach and up the valleys.”)

“His Majesty, the warm friend of the foreigner, had ordered his servants to prepare liberally for the feast, and the tables and mats were loaded with all that royal beneficence could provide. It was a grand day.  … Ten thousand natives crowded around to witness the feast.  Such was the first 4th of July ever celebrated in the Hawaiian Kingdom.”  (The Friend, August 19, 1856)

Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Here are a couple myths about the 4th of July and the Declaration of Independence:

#1 Independence Was Declared on the Fourth of July

America’s independence was actually declared by the Continental Congress on July 2, 1776.  The Lee Resolution, also known as the resolution of independence, was an act of the Second Continental Congress declaring the United Colonies to be independent of the British Empire.  Richard Henry Lee of Virginia first proposed it on June 7, 1776; it was formally approved on July 2, 1776.

So what happened on the Fourth? The document justifying the act of Congress – Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence – was adopted on the fourth, as is indicated on the document itself.

#2 The Declaration of Independence Was Signed July 4

Hanging in the grand Rotunda of the Capitol of the United States is a vast canvas painting by John Trumbull depicting the signing of the Declaration. Both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams wrote, years afterward, that the signing ceremony took place on July 4. When someone challenged Jefferson’s memory in the early 1800s Jefferson insisted he was right.  However, David McCullough remarks in his biography of Adams, “No such scene, with all the delegates present, ever occurred at Philadelphia.”

So when was it signed? Most delegates signed the document on August 2, when a clean copy was finally produced by Timothy Matlack, assistant to the secretary of Congress. Several did not sign until later. And their names were not released to the public until later still, January 1777.

American Revolutionary War

By the time the Declaration of Independence was adopted in July 1776, the Thirteen Colonies (New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia) and Great Britain had been at war for more than a year.

That war lasted from April 19, 1775 (with the Battles of Lexington and Concord) to September 3, 1783 (with the signing of the Treaty of Paris.)  It lasted 8 years, 4 months, 2 weeks and 1 day; then, the sovereignty of the United States was recognized over the territory bounded roughly by what is now Canada to the north, Florida to the south, and the Mississippi River to the west.

In the Islands at the Time

At the time of the American Revolutionary War, the Hawaiian Islands were divided into four kingdoms: (1) the island of Hawaiʻi under the rule of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who also had possession of the Hāna district of east Maui; (2) Maui (except the Hāna district,) Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and (4) Kauaʻi and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

Shortly after Kalaniʻōpuʻū’s death in 1782, Kamehameha began his conquest to unify the islands under his rule.  After several battles on several of the islands, and subsequent agreement with King Kaumualiʻi of Kauaʻi, Kamehameha became sole ruler of the Islands in 1810 (a couple years later, on the continent, the US and Britain engaged in the war of 1812.)

The image shows the signed Declaration of Independence.

Happy Fourth of July!

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Tap

In 1960, Taylor Allderdice (“Tap”) Pryor formed the Makapuʻu Oceanic Center when the Pacific Foundation for Marine Research secured a lease from the State for land near Makapuʻu Point.

His goals were to develop an institution for marine education, marine science and ocean industry. The facility featured an aquarium and park for visitors (Sea Life Park,) a marine research facility (now known as Oceanic Institute (OI)) and a pier and undersea test range for vessels and submersibles (Makai Undersea Test Range (now Makai Ocean Engineering.))

“We envision Hawaiʻi as an ocean-oriented community that can serve as a focal point through which the nation will enter the sea.  Once we establish underwater industry – mining, oil and gas recovery – there will be a need for thousands of people.”  (Pryor quoted in Life, October 27, 1967)

“Besides being earth’s last frontier, the sea contains most of the world’s remaining mineral resources, the largest existing protein resource and probably most of the oil and gas resources left to us.  (Pryor quoted in Life, October 27, 1967)

Tap Pryor was born in 1931; his father Sam Pryor was a Pan American Vice President and friend and supporter of Charles Lindbergh.  The Pryor’s had a home near Hāna where Lindbergh was a frequent guest; Lindbergh later purchased land next to the Pryor’s and built a home there, too.

Tap Pryor graduated from Cornell University in 1954, then he joined the US Marine Corps, serving in Parris Island, Quantico, Pensacola and MCAS Kāneʻohe, Hawaiʻi – he flew helicopters and fixed-wing.  After being discharged as Captain in 1957, he attended graduate school at the University of Hawaiʻi.

Sea Life Park, the popular marine attraction near Makapuʻu Point in East Oʻahu, opened in 1964.  It was one of the early pioneers in marine animal exhibitions.

On the continent, the first large oceanarium was developed as part of the film industry.  Marine Studios opened in 1938, to film movies under water; it later became Marineland of Florida.  (pbs)

The oceanarium-studio was integrated into the Florida tourism industry; in 1949, it began featuring short dolphin performances. In the early-1950s, Marineland spun off Marineland of the Pacific, in Palos Verdes, California.  (pbs)

Then, the Sea Life Park facility brought the oceanarium experience to Hawaiʻi – combining a dolphin research facility with a tourist attraction.

“From Hawaiʻi’s Sea Life Park, located at Makapuʻu Point, comes a message teeming with life and youthful vitality. There, Taylor Alderdice Pryor, known as ‘Tap,’ and his wife, the former Karen Wylie, are staking their all on “the world’s largest exhibit of marine life” opening this month.  Now she has a full-time job at Sea Life Park as chief porpoise trainer.  … She has a staff of three for the porpoises and reports with pride that so far they can ‘hula on their tails in the air.'”  (The Miami News, January 1, 1964)

At Sea Life Park, Karen Pryor began using marker-based teaching and training techniques, called ‘clicker training.’  Clicker training (also known as magazine training) is a method for training animals that uses positive reinforcement in conjunction with a clicker, or small mechanical noisemaker, to mark the behavior being reinforced (the marine mammal trainers used whistles.)

Karen Pryor was one of the first people to work in a concentrated and applied way to discover what dolphins in captivity could be trained to do. Her writings and lectures taught a generation of marine mammal trainers and researchers around the United States.  (pbs)

In 1965, Pryor was appointed Senator to the Hawaiʻi State Senate. In 1966 (at age 35,) he was named by President Johnson as one of eleven Commissioners to the President’s Commission of Marine Science, Marine Engineering and Marine Conservation.

Ultimately called the “Stratton Commission”, the group’s report ‘Our Nation and the Sea’ was published in January 1969.  This group was responsible for the formation of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 1970.

As part of the Makai Undersea Test Range, in 1968, Pryor and others developed ‘Aegir,’ an undersea habitat, which accommodated six people and was successfully tested at 600-foot depth for two weeks at ambient pressure off Makapuʻu Point.  (whaleresearch-org)

Pryor and others later developed Kumukahi, the first plexiglass submersible also tested at the Makai Range (1968-69.) During that time the Oceanic Institute acquired Star II. They also invented an inexpensive, diver-operated pontoon-platform for launching and recovering submersibles beneath the surface so that they could operate in all weather with only a vessel-of-opportunity towing the submersible and its launcher to and from the dive sites. Because of that, Star II subsequently logged more undersea work time than any submersible anywhere.  (whaleresearch-org)

In 1970, Pryor was named Salesman of the Year for the State of Hawaiʻi in recognition of his promotion of Hawaiʻi and it opportunities for marine science and engineering development.

Following his work on the Stratton Commission, he developed and operated the System Culture Seafood Plantation at Kahuku on Oʻahu, principally the production of table oysters, using his own patented on-land technique for culturing phytoplankton in 32 quarter-acre ponds to feed the oysters on stacked trays in raceways and recycling the water.  (whaleresearch-org)

But, dreams faded and the organization was financially-overextended in efforts to develop undersea mining and deep-sea fish farming and underwent bankruptcy reorganization.

According to a June 25, 1972 The Honolulu Advertiser story, The “TAP” Pryor Story: From Dreams to Debts, Pryor had briefly studied zoology at UH but had no other science credentials. Nevertheless, he soon became a spokesman for oceanography and was even named to the prestigious Stratton Commission and to the state of Hawaiʻi commission on ocean resources. In 1970, Pryor was awarded the Neptune Award of the American Oceanic Organization – an award that was mischaracterized as “the highest honor in oceanography.”  (SOEST)

As part of the bankruptcy reorganization in 1972, Sea Life Park, Makai Pier and Test Range, and Oceanic Institute were spun off into separate entities.

On Monday 30 April 1973 an editorial in The Honolulu Advertiser entitled “Our oceanographic dream” asked the rhetorical question, “Was the great dream of Hawaiʻi as a center for oceanographic research just that – a dream?” (SOEST)

Oceanic Institute is a not-for-profit research and development organization dedicated to marine aquaculture, biotechnology, and coastal resource management. Their mission is to develop and transfer economically responsible technologies to increase aquatic food production while promoting the sustainable use of ocean resources. OI works with community, industry, government and academic partners, and non-governmental organizations to benefit the state, the nation, and the world.  (CTSA)

Later, in 1978, Oceanic Institute formed a cooperative agreement with Tufts University in Massachusetts for teaching and research in marine science, aquaculture, marine biology, marine medicine, and marine nutrition. Later (2003,) the OI facility became associated with Hawaiʻi Pacific University (HPU.)

The image shows the present-day Sea Life Park, Oceanic Institute and Makai Pier.   In addition, I have added other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Waikīkī – Kauhale O Ho‘okipa Scenic Byway

PUBLIC MEETING

What: The Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association (NaHHA) will be holding a community meeting to discuss the proposed Waikīkī – Kauhale O Ho‘okipa “Home of Hospitality” Scenic Byway as part of the Hawai‘i Scenic Byways Program. The public is invited and encouraged to attend this meeting.

When: Wednesday, July 3, 2013 at 4:00 pm.

Where: Capital One Café
1958 Kalākaua Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96815

Admission: Free and open to the public.

Background: The Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association (NaHHA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works to perpetuate an authentic spirit of aloha and Hawaiian culture in the hospitality industry through corporate and community initiatives. For more information, visit nahha.com.

The Hawai‘i Scenic Byways Program is part of the National Scenic Byways Program that showcases roads throughout Hawaii with an important story to tell to both visitors and local residents alike. For more information, visit hawaiiscenicbyways.org.

Feel free to visit our website: Hookuleana.com