Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ala Wai Canal

A son of Mā’ilikūkahi (who ruled about the time Columbus crossed the Atlantic) was Kalona-nui, who in turn had a son called Kalamakua. Kalamakua is said to have been responsible for developing large taro fields in what was once a vast area of wet-taro cultivation on Oʻahu: the Waikiki-Kapahulu-Mōʻiliʻili-Mānoa area.

The early Hawaiian settlers gradually transformed the marsh above Waikīkī Beach into hundreds of taro fields, fish ponds and gardens.  For centuries, springs, taro lo‘i, rice paddies, fruit and vegetable patches, duck ponds and fishing areas were a valuable means of subsistence for native Hawaiians and others.

Formerly the home of Hawaiian royalty, including King Kamehameha, Waikīkī, meaning “spouting waters,” once covered a much broader area than it does today.

The ahupuaʻa, or ancient land division, of Waikīkī actually covered the area extending from Kou (the old name for Honolulu) to Maunalua (now referred to as Hawai’i Kai).

Waikīkī’s marshland, the boundaries of which changed seasonally, once covered about 2,000-acres (about four times the size of Waikīkī today) before the marshes were drained.

During the first decade of the 20th-century, the US War Department acquired more than 70-acres in the Kālia portion of Waikīkī for the establishment of a military reservation called Fort DeRussy.

They drained and filled the area, so they could build on it.  Thus, the Army began the transformation of Waikīkī from wetlands to solid ground.

In the early-1900s, Lucius Pinkham, then President of the Territorial Board of Health and later Governor, developed the idea of constructing a drainage canal to drain the wetlands, which he considered “unsanitary.”  This called for the construction of a canal to reclaim the marshland.

The Waikīkī Reclamation District was identified as the approximate 800-acres from King and McCully Streets to Kapahulu Street, near Campbell Avenue down to Kapiʻolani Park and Kalākaua Avenue on the makai side (1921-1928.)

The dredge material not only filled in the makai Waikīkī wetlands, it was also used to fill in the McKinley High School site.

During the 1920s, the Waikīkī landscape would be transformed when the construction of the Ala Wai Drainage Canal, begun in 1921 and completed in 1928, resulted in the draining and filling in of the remaining ponds and irrigated fields of Waikīkī.

The initial planning called for the extension of the Ala Wai Canal past its present terminus and excavate along Makee Island in Kapiʻolani Park, connecting the Canal with the ocean on the Lēʻahi side of the project.

However, funds ran short and this extension was contemplated “at some later date, when funds are made available”; however, that never occurred.

By 1924, the dredging of the Ala Wai Canal and filling of the wetlands stopped the flows of the Pi‘inaio, ‘Āpuakēhau and Kuekaunahi streams running from the Makiki, Mānoa, and Pālolo valleys to and through Waikīkī.

Walter F. Dillingham’s Hawaiian Dredging Company dredged the canal and sold the material he had dredged to create the canal to build up the newly created land.  The canal is still routinely dredged.

During the course of the Ala Wai Canal’s initial construction, the banana patches and ponds between the canal and the mauka side of Kalākaua Avenue were filled and the present grid of streets was laid out.  These newly created land tracts spurred a rush to development.

With construction of the Ala Wai Canal, 625-acres of wetland were drained and filled and runoff was diverted away from Waikīkī beach.  The completion of the Ala Wai Canal not only gave impetus to the development of Waikīkī as Hawai‘i’s primary visitor destination, but also expanded the district’s potential for residential use.

During the period 1913-1927, the demand for housing in Honolulu grew along with the city’s population.  Waikīkī helped satisfy this demand; the large kamaʻāina landholdings virtually disappeared and the area started to be subdivided.

Before reclamation, assessed values for property were at about $500-per acre and the same property was reclaimed at ten cents per square foot, making a total cost of $4,350-per acre.  The selling price after reclamation, $6,500 to $7,000-per acre, showed the financial benefit of the reclamation efforts.

From an economic point of view, without the Ala Wai Canal, Waikīkī may never have developed into the worldwide tourist attraction it is today.

In 1925, the City Planning Commission requested the citizens of Honolulu to submit suitable Hawaiian names for the renaming of the Waikīkī Drainage canal; twelve names were suggested.

The Commission felt that Ala Wai (waterway,) the name suggested by Jennie Wilson was the “most euphonic”.  (An engineer with the Planning Commission was quick to note that, “the fact that Mrs. Wilson is the mayor’s wife had nothing to do with the choice of the name.”)

In November 1965, a storm, classified as a 25-year event, overflowed the Ala Wai Canal banks and flooded Ala Wai Boulevard.

Ala Wai Canal and the historic walls lining the canal are owned by the State of Hawaiʻi. The promenades on the mauka side of the Ala Wai Canal are owned by the State, and by, Executive Ordered to the City and County of Honolulu, the promenades on the makai side are owned by the City.

The promenades on both sides of the Ala Wai Canal are maintained by the City Department of Parks and Recreation.  The Ala Wai Canal is listed in the National and State registers of historic places.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

The ‘Big House’ at Riverside Park

Within what is now called Hilo Bay is a small bay referred to as ‘Reed’s Bay.’  It is named after William H Reed. Born in 1814 Belfast, Ireland, Reed was a businessman. He created Reed’s Landing, which he used to moor boats carrying lumber for one of his businesses.  (Hawaiʻi County)

Reed arrived in the Islands in the 1840s and set up a contracting concern specializing in the construction of wharfs, landings, bridges and roads.  Other interests included ranching, trading and retailing.  (Clark)

Across Hilo Bay, on January 1, 1856, Reed leased a 26-acre island – originally known as ‘Koloiki’ (‘little crawling,’) – it was once surrounded by the Wailuku River and Waikapu Stream.

Reed cleared a portion of the site and had a cattle pasture; he then purchased the island for $200 on February 18, 1861, and it became known as Reed’s Island.  (Warshauer)

Reed married Jane Stobie Shipman on July 8, 1868 (she was a widow, previously married to William Cornelius Shipman, a missionary assigned to Waiʻōhinu in the district of Kaʻū.  Shipman died in 1861, leaving Jane with her three children, William Herbert, Oliver Taylor and Margaret Clarissa.)

(Son William Herbert (1854-1943) was an important businessman on the Island of Hawaii; son Oliver Taylor (1857-1942) became a tax assessor and county supervisor, and daughter Margaret Clarissa (1859-1891) married politician Lorrin Thurston who organized the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

Jane was born in Scotland. At an early age she came to the US with her parents, lived in Quincy, Illinois, and was educated to be a teacher; and in 1853 was married to Reverend Shipman.  (The Friend, December, 1902)

Following his death, Jane moved to Hilo, with her three children and maintained the family by keeping a boarding school until 1868 (when she was married to Reed.)  (The Friend, December, 1902)

William Reed died on November 11, 1880 with no children of his own; Jane inherited the Reed land holdings.  (In 1881, Reed’s stepson William Herbert Shipman and two partners (Captain J. E. Eldarts and Samuel M Damon) purchased the entire ahupuaʻa of Keaʻau, about 70,000-acres from the King Lunalilo estate.)

“[B]efore Reed’s Island was in demand for residence sites DH Hitchcock grew a crop of pineapples there that was sufficient to supply the demand in Hilo.” (Hawaii Herald, June 29, 1899)

Apparently, upon the death of Reed, the land was under the control of his stepson, WH Shipman, who sold the island to AB Loebenstein.   (Warshauer)

The November 6, 1897 Hilo Daily Tribune reported that “Mr CS Desky has purchased Reed’s Island, in the Wailuku River, and the same will be subdivided and sold.  It is proposed to construct a fine bridge to span the stream, and lay out streets and otherwise make this pretty spot an ideal one for homes.” For a while the development was renamed Riverside Park.

JR Wilson, owner/operator of the Volcano Stables, who operated a daily stage between Hilo and Volcano, “purchased of Bruce Waring & Co the celebrated lot on the Riverside Park, on the point near the bridge”.  (Hilo Daily Tribune, March 11, 1899)

The April 6, 1899 Hawai‘i Herald reported, “The handsome steel bridge over the Wailuku was finished last week.” It goes on to report, “JR Wilson was the first person to drive over the bridge at Riverside Park and the around the Island.  In spite of this Mr Pratt felt that it is necessary to test the bridge by running the steam roller over it.”

On April 20, 1899, the Hawaii Herald reported, “The recent improvements made by Bruce Waring & Co upon the Riverside Park property, commonly called Reed’s Island, makes this by far the most attractive residence property in Hilo.”

“The plans for the Wilson residence are to be placed in the hands of local contractors this week … a representative of this paper was permitted to see the plans drawn by a local architect [KL Kerr] and which Mr Wilson took with him to Honolulu for revision, and they show a residence unique and attractive in every way designed especially for the lot, which commands a view extending over the harbor on the east, and the mountains westward.”

“It promises to be the handsomest residence in town at present, and the interior plans show it to be as commodious and convenient as it is handsome.”  (Hilo Daily Tribune, May 27, 1899)

Wilson’s was the first house to be built in the new subdivision. They moved into the house in mid-April, 1900. (Hawaii Heald)  “The Wilson residence built where it commands a view of all Hilo and the country from the sea to mountain is completed and Mr Wilson and family are enjoying ‘all the comforts of a home.’” (Hawaii Herald, April 19, 1900)

Then, on March 1, 1901, the newspaper reported, “Mr WH Shipman has purchased the Wilson residence at Riverside Park, for $12,000.”  (Hilo Daily Tribune, March 1, 1901)

The newspaper further noted, “Mr Shipman had previously been contemplating the erection of a new home on the site of is present dwelling, at Waiakea, but for various reasons has decided to make a home nearer town.” (Hilo Daily Tribune, March 1, 1901)

The ‘Big House,’ as the early Shipmans called it, stands at the lower end of Reed’s Island, a landlocked area within walking distance of downtown Hilo but cut off by the deep gulches of the Wailuku River and the Waikapu Stream. (Thompson)

Around this time, Wilson was formulating and developing the Ho‘olulu Race Track.  “Hilo is going to have a race track and base ball grounds. … Mr Wilson selected a site at Waiakea … The track will be almost circular in form”. (Hawaii Herald, March 1, 1900)  The baseball field was located inside the race track.  (Hilo Daily Tribune, March 17, 1900) That venture was considered a success.

A possible motivation for selling the home after only 1-year was noted in the newspaper, “JR Wilson has disposed of his interests in the Volcano Stables Co and will retire from the management of the corporation on April 1 next. The change on the part of Me Wilson was made solely on account of his health which has not been good since his return from the Coast.”  (Hawaii Herald, January 17, 1901)

Several April 1901 notices in the paper noted, “During my absence from the islands WS Wise will act for me under full pwer of attorney.” (Dated April 3, 1901) (Hawaii Herald)  In 1902, the paper reported, “JR Wilson formerly of this city, now in Nevada …” (Hilo Tribune, March 7, 1902)

(So, the land that had once been owned by his stepfather and, then, at the stepfather’s death transferred to his mother and WH Shipman sold it in 1897 to Loebenstein and Wilson built a house on the best part of it, returned back to WH Shipman and became his home.  The house is still owned by members of the Shipman family.)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Mauna Loa Boys School

“In 1945 Governor Ingram Stainback requested that Director of Institutions, Thomas B. Vance, concentrate his efforts on developing self-supporting prison industries.”

“With that in mind, Kulani Prison Camp, opened in 1945 as the successor to Waiakea Prison Camp, operated a lumbering enterprise producing logs and milled lumber of native hardwoods as materials to be processed and sold from Oahu Prison’s industrial area.” (Department of Institutions Summary 1939-1958)

The development of Kulani Camp and its means of access, the Stainback Highway, fell under the management of Vance. (Maly)

“Kulani … provided a reservoir of manpower for the construction of public roads on Hawaii …. – roads that would have been economically prohibitive if built under contract.” (Department of Institutions Summary 1939-1958)

Today, Kulani Correctional Facility (KCF) is a 200-bed minimum security prison located on the slope of Mauna Loa, approximately 20 miles south east of Hilo, Big Island of Hawai’i.

In addition to the Kulani Prison Camp, in 1946, they planned the Mauna Loa Boys School. “There is nothing experimental about the boys’ school project. It is to be built four miles from the proposed new prison site”. (Honolulu Advertiser, October 2, 1946)

The plan was to “move delinquent boys from Waialee [on the North Shore of O‘ahu] to Mauna Loa, on Hawai‘i.” (Star-Bulletin, Jan 4, 1947)

In addition, “The purpose of the Mauna Loa camp is to segregate the older juveniles from Koolau where they are an influence on younger delinquents.” (Hawaii Tribune Herald, July 31, 1953)

“Work got under way thus week on Mauna Loa boy’s forestry camp on the Big Island. Because all bids were higher than the territorial department of institutions could afford, prisoners from Kulani project and the boys who will occupy the camp are to finish the work.”

“The camp is five miles north of Kulani Project.” “It is built on the same plan as the new Koolau Boys’ home on Oahu. Forty boys whose ages range from 16 to 19 will be quartered there.” (Star-Bulletin, Oct 5, 1950)

“The Mauna Loa Forestry Camp will open officially tomorrow … ‘I believe that the Mauna Loa Forestry Camp program will quickly evolve into one of the most forward looking steps that the territory has taken in mapping a solution to the problem of youth offenders.’”

“The fourteen young men from Koolau are almost all in the 18 and 19 year old age group. They are a highly selected group of young men who have not only volunteered for the forestry camp assignment but who have insisted on it”.

“‘The plan for the young men to take over the forestry camp at this time,’ Mr. Vance [Director of Public Institutions] said, ‘came about as a result of the Lions trip to the summit of Mauna Loa.’”

“‘Four of the young men from Koolau spent Thursday and Friday nights, at the forestry camp March 20 and 21 and joined the Lions on the Mauna Loa summit trip March 22. They asked their superintendent, Mr. Henry, for a conference with me before the Lions left the mountain summit.’”

“‘The conference was held at the United States weather bureau laboratory atop Mauna Loa. The four young men from Koolau asked for the privilege of completing their own structure at the forestry camp, rather than having Kulani do it for them. They reason that it is their plant.’”

“‘They are not boys; they are young men who are just as capable or heavy construction work as the men at Kulani. Many of the forestry camp’s young men will soon be due for parole or discharge. Before that time, they want to make a constructive contribution to the building of the camp.’”

“‘I was somewhat surprised to find that occupancy of the forestry camp and the initiation of a CCC type of operation represents the realization of a dream to the young men in our training school system just as much as it does to me.’”

“‘When the four Koolau boys’ home visitors to the forestry camp returned to Koolau, they presented their plan to William G Among, superintendent, division of training schools. He and I then conferred and the plan was approved.’”

“‘The fourteen young men at the forestry camp will be housed in the duplex staff apartment of the main structure until they complete their own quarters.’” (Superintendent William Henry, Hawaii Tribune Herald, April 3, 1952)

By 1953 the facility was operational, but legislative appropriations did not make ends meet, “‘We find it impossible to operate Mauna Loa within our budget.’ [William Among, superintendent of the division of training schools] said. “There is an $11 per capita per day expense at Mauna Loa and the legislature has only given $2.60 to meet this.” (Star Bulletin, Sept 8, 1959)

When Territorial House members toured the camp in 1953 they called the project “one of the most expensive and impractical projects ever constructed in the Territory of Hawai‘i”. (DLNR)

“Before it went into full operation there was a change of administrations”. “One man’s dream of a better life for delinquent boys has become an efficiency expert’s nightmare.” “Defenders of the original plan say it was not given a chance.” The camp was closed on October 1, 1953.

However, it was not always rosy when it was operating. “The propensity for escape by these inmates debuted July 19, 1952, when 14 boys walked away from a picnic on Coconut Island and scattered all over Hilo. … It took 25 policemen more than 14 hours to round up the escapee”. There were other escapes.

Likewise, “Inmates at reform schools have a penchant for stealing cars, and those at Mauna Loa Forestry Camp were no exception. On Sept. 17, 1952, three youths stole a panel truck and went for a joy ride up the Stainback Highway …”

On their return, the driver “lost control of the speeding truck. It went off the road and overturned several times.” One of the occupants “was pinned under the wreckage and killed. … [the driver] was later charged with negligent homicide and sentenced to five years in Oahu Prison.” (Warshauer)

“Nobody knows what to do with the Mauna Loa Forestry Camp, rising like a fortress of concrete and steel in a rain-drenched mountain fortress 28 miles from Hilo.” (Star Bulletin, Sept 8, 1959) It was temporarily turned into a warehouse.

Since closure the facility was used intermittently by Kūlani Correctional Facility and by the military for training. (DLNR) “On June 15, 1969, the Division of Forestry and Fish and Game of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources issued a permit to the 29th Infantry for field training. The assaulted the abandoned building June 19-23, 1969, leaving it the wreck it remains today.” (Warshauer)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Dave Guard, Bob Shane and Nick Reynolds

Donald David Guard (October 19, 1934 – March 22, 1991) was born in San Francisco and grew up in Hawai‘i.  Robert Castle Shane (Schoen) (February 1, 1934 – January 26, 2020) was born in Hilo.  Nicholas Wells Reynolds on July 27, 1933 – October 1, 2008) was born in San Diego.

Upon completion of his final year of high school in 1952 at Menlo School, a private prep school in Menlo Park, California, Guard attended nearby Stanford University (graduating in 1957 with a degree in economics).

Shane was born to Margaret (Schaufelberger) and Arthur Castle Schoen, who owned a wholesale business, and whose German family had settled in Hawaii. (Shane was a phonetic spelling of Schoen, adopted by Bob in 1957.)

Shane and Guard were Punahou classmates; they began performing at parties, in the school glee club and school variety shows.

Reynolds was the son of a US Navy Captain; Nick grew up in nearby Coronado, California where he graduated from high school in 1951.

Planning a career in hotel management, Reynolds attended San Diego State College and the University of Arizona. He transferred to Menlo Business College where he met Shane and Guard (from Stanford).

They began performing together at fraternity parties and local beer gardens as Dave Guard and the Calypsonians, sometimes as a trio or occasionally with other friends. At the time, calypso music was extremely popular, and the group played songs like “Jamaica Farwell” and “Come Back, Liza” that Harry Belafonte, the reigning king of calypso, had made popular.

In 1956 Shane graduated and moved back to Hawai‘i to work in his family’s sporting goods business. During that time, he worked up a solo act and got a regular gig at the Pearl City Tavern in Honolulu.

Shane says. “I was billed as Hawaii’s Elvis Presley in 1956, which was the same year he got really popular. It was a great idea because they didn’t have much television in Hawaii yet, so you could do whatever you wanted.”

“I had sideburns and I wore a bright sport coat and stuff like that. And I’ll never forget when I met Elvis in ’63, just briefly, and I told him that’s how I got my start. And he said, ‘What did you want to do that for?’ That’s exactly the way he said it. That’s the only thing I ever said to him.” (Simmons)

While Shane was in Hawai‘i, Reynolds and Guard continued to perform in the Bay Area. They joined up with Menlo College student Joe Gannon and singer Barbara Bogue.

They refashioned themselves as the Kingston Quartet (they maintained their link to calypso music by naming themselves after the capital of Jamaica) and tried to get jobs at various local nightspots; but, they had little success.

The struggling quartet crossed paths with publicist and talent agent Frank Werber, who liked them but felt that Gannon’s bass playing wasn’t good enough. When he suggested he might sign them on if they got rid of Gannon, Bogue said she would leave the group if Gannon was kicked out – so they did, and then she did.

Guard and Reynolds called Bob Shane in Hawai‘i, who was finding life in the family sporting goods business uninspiring. And although he was doing pretty well as a solo performer, he really missed singing in harmony. In March 1957 he came back to California to join the now-renamed Kingston Trio under the management of Frank Werber. (Simmons)

Their close-cropped hair and matching (usually striped) shirts projected a wholesome college-boy image, appealing to television sponsors and to baby boomers reaching their teens.

Most of the songs were led by Shane, whose baritone voice and accomplished guitar accompaniment were essential to the group’s acoustic sound. (Guardian)

In the summer of 1957, comedian Phyllis Diller was forced at the last minute to cancel a weeklong booking at the Purple Onion nightclub, a leading night spot in San Francisco.

Werber, who had an office above the venue, saw this as a perfect opportunity for the new act he had just signed to get some much needed stage experience. He persuaded the Purple Onion to give the slot to his group, the Kingston Trio.

Guard then sent out postcards to 500 people that all three of them knew at Stanford and Menlo, inviting them to a week’s worth of shows at the Purple Onion. The result was a series of sold-out shows. (Eder)

The Kingston Trio was asked to stay on for another week, and then another, and then another. Eventually, their one-week trial booking stretched from June until December.

The group followed the Purple Onion engagement with a national tour that took them to Mr. Kelly’s in Chicago and the Village Vanguard in New York, all of them successful appearances. (Eder)

During that time, word about the Trio’s powerful singing and hilarious stage patter made its way down south to Los Angeles. Various music industry figures, and the occasional movie star, made the trek north to San Francisco to check out what the fuss was all about. Voyle Gilmore, a producer at Capitol records, liked what he heard and signed them to a contract.

In February 1958 the Kingston Trio recorded their first album. (Simmons)  With it, they achieved chart success with the murder ballad Tom Dooley. (The song is based on the true story of Tom Dula, hanged in Statesville, NC in 1868 for the murder of Laura Foster.)  Their rendition reached No 1 in the US singles charts and No 5 in the UK, earning them a Grammy. (Guardian)

On a commercial level, from 1957 until 1963, the Kingston Trio was the most vital and popular folk group in the world, and folk music was sufficiently popular as to make that a significant statement. (Eder)

The Kingston Trio was one of the most critically and commercially successful acts in the American music industry and opened the door for later artists like Bob Dylan and Peter, Paul & Mary. (Menlo College)

Equally important, the original trio,  in tandem with other, similar early acts such as the Limeliters, spearheaded a boom in the popularity of folk music that suddenly made it important to millions of listeners who’d previously ignored it.  (Eder)

In 1959 they performed at both the Newport jazz and folk festivals and recorded four albums, all of which were in Billboard’s Top 10 at the same time.  (Guardian)

The trio made the cover of Life magazine on August 3, 1959, and were voted the Best Group of the Year for 1959 in the pages of both Billboard and Cashbox magazines, the twin recording industry bibles; they also won two Grammy Awards.

By the early-60s, there were lots of Kingston Trio imitators running around: the Highwaymen (from Wesleyan University); Bud & Travis; the Journeymen; the Halifax Three from Canada; and, on the “big-band” folk side, the New Christy Minstrels under Randy Sparks, the Serendipity Singers from the University of Colorado, and the Big 3 (with Cass Elliot) and, later, the Shilos.

For the next few years, the Kingston Trio toured relentlessly, playing on college campuses and in nightclubs across the country.  (Simmons)

The pressure of touring and Guard’s and Shane’s different personalities led to conflict between the two men, and Guard left the group in 1961, to be replaced by John Stewart.  (After leaving the Trio, Guard founded a quartet called the Whiskeyhill Singers.)

Within a few years the American folk music scene had changed, displaying a more political edge, and the Beatles became the new favorites of American teens.

From 1958 to 1964, the Kingston Trio played thousands of shows and had released 19 albums, five of which made it to the top spot on the Billboard charts.  The Beach Boys’ song Sloop John B came from the trio.

The Kingston Trio brought the urban folk revival into the mainstream of American popular culture and made Martin guitars and long-necked banjos must-have items for musicians everywhere. (Simmons)

The trio continued to release albums and enjoy success but Shane failed to change their musical direction to reflect new trends, and they disbanded in 1967. (Guardian)

After a couple of years playing solo, Shane leased and later bought the trio name from the other two members to form the New Kingston Trio, playing past hits and contemporary songs, but without the earlier success.

The reunion gig of the three original members in 1981 was broadcast by PBS in 1982 but plans for further reunions were cancelled when Guard died in 1991. Shane continued to front various lineups of the Kingston Trio until 2004 (when he died). (Guardian)

This era was later recalled and satirized in Christopher Guest’s comedy film A Mighty Wind, in which the Kingston Trio and other collegiate-type folk groups of the period were parodied in the guise of “the Folksmen.” (Eder) There have subsequently been different members in the Kingston Trio – and, it started with a couple guys from Punahou and their friend.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Honolulu – About 1850

On the continent: the Donner Party was trapped in heavy snow (1846;) California Gold Rush was underway (1848;) and the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American War, giving the United States Texas, California, New Mexico and other territories (1848.)  Europe was in political upheaval with the European Revolutions of 1848 (aka “Spring of Nations” or “Springtime of the Peoples.”)

In Hawaiʻi, Kauikeaouli, Kamehameha III, was King and the Great Māhele (1848) was taking place; it was the most important event in the reformation of the land system in Hawaiʻi that separated land title to the King, the Chiefs and the Konohiki (land agents,) and eventually the people.

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.

Kawaiahaʻo Church (Stone Church) generally marked the eastern edge of town; it was constructed between 1836 and 1842.  The “Kauikeaouli clock,” donated by King Kamehameha III in 1850, still tolls the time to this day.

Honolulu Harbor was bustling at that time.  Over the prior twenty years, the Pacific whaling fleet nearly quadrupled in size and in the record year of 1846; 736-whaling ships arrived in Hawai‘i.

Shortly after, however, in 1859, an oil well was discovered and developed in Titusville, Pennsylvania; within a few years this new type of oil replaced whale oil for lamps and many other uses – spelling the end of the Hawaiʻi whaling industry.

At the time, Honolulu Harbor was not as it is today and many of the visiting ships would anchor two to three miles off-shore – cargo and people were ferried to the land.

What is now known as Queen Street was actually the water’s edge.

From 1856 to 1860, the work of filling in the reef to create an area known as the “Esplanade” (where Aloha Tower is now situated) and building up a water-front and dredging the harbor was underway.

Fort Kekuanohu (Fort Honolulu) was demolished in 1857; its walls became the 2,000-foot retaining wall used to extend the land out onto the shallow reef in the harbor – some of the coral blocks are still visible at Pier 12.

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

The city was regularly laid out with major streets typically crossing at right angles – they were dirt (Fort Street had to wait until 1881 for pavement, the first to be paved.)  Sidewalks were constructed, usually of wood (as early as 1838;) by 1857, the first sidewalk made of brick was laid down on Merchant Street.

Honolulu Hale was then located on Merchant Street (now the park/vacant lot between the Kamehameha V Post Office and Pioneer Plaza.)  County governance was still 50-years away (1905) and what we now know as Honolulu Hale today was 75-years away (1928.)

To get around people walked, or rode horses or used personal carts/buggies.  It wasn’t until 1868, that horse-drawn carts became the first public transit service in the Hawaiian Islands.

At that time, folks were 50-years away from getting automobiles (the first gasoline-powered arrived in 1900;) that same year (1900,) an electric trolley (tram line) was put into operation in Honolulu, and by 1902, a tram line was built to connect Waikīkī and downtown Honolulu. The electric trolley replaced the horse/mule-driven tram cars.

Honolulu was to be a planned town. Kinaʻu (Kuhina Nui Kaʻahumanu II) published the following proclamation (1838:) “I shall widen the streets in our city and break up some new places to make five streets on the length of the land, and six streets on the breadth of the land… Because of the lack of streets some people were almost killed by horseback riders ….”  By 1850, there was much improvement.

By the 1840s, the use of introduced horses, mules and bullocks for transportation was increasing, and many of the old traditional trails – the ala loa and mauka-makai trails within ahupua‘a – were modified by removing the smooth stepping stones that caused the animals to slip.

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.)

There were five food markets in Honolulu (in thatched sheds) one of which was more particularly a vegetable market.  Irish potatoes were $2-$3 per bushel (about 50-lbs;) eggs were $0.25 to $0.75 per dozen; oranges $0.25 per dozen and turkeys and ducks were about $.05 each, chickens started at about $0.25 a piece.

Butter was mostly made on the Big Island and Kauai – about 19,000-lbs produced – and sold at an average price of $0.30 per pound; milk was 12 1/2 cents a quart.  Fresh beef sold for $0.06 per pound.

The fledgling sugar industry was starting to spread across the islands.

It wasn’t until 1852 that the Chinese became the first contract laborers to arrive in the islands.  Of the nearly 385,000 foreign contract workers that eventually came, many thousands stayed to become a part of Hawai‘i’s unique ethnic mix.

Founded in 1839, Oʻahu’s first school was called the Chief’s Children’s School.  The school was created by King Kamehameha III to groom the next generation of the highest ranking chief’s children of the realm and secure their positions for Hawaii’s Kingdom.

Missionaries Amos and Juliette Cooke were selected by King Kamehameha III to teach the 16 royal children and run the school.

Here, Hawai‘i sovereigns (who reigned after Kamehameha III over the Hawaiian people after his death in 1854) were given Western education, including, Alexander Liholiho (King Kamehameha IV,) Queen Emma, Lot Kapuaiwa (King Kamehameha V,) King William Lunalilo, King David Kalākaua and Queen Lydia Lili‘uokalani.

Lots of information here from ‘The Polynesian’ (January 1, 1847,) Greer and Gilman.  The image shows Honolulu from the Harbor in 1854.

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