Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hawaiians Study Abroad

In 1880, the Legislative Assembly appropriated $15,000 for the “Education of Hawaiian Youths in Foreign Countries, to be expended in the actual education of the youths, and not traveling and sight seeing”. (Session Laws, 1880)

Subsequently, a Board consisting of the Board of Education and the Minister of Foreign Affairs was proposed to “have the management of the education of Hawaiian youths in foreign countries.” (Proceedings, 1880 Legislative Assembly)

This was a program designed and implemented by King Kalākaua.

From 1880 to 1887, 18 young Hawaiians attended schools in six countries where they studied engineering, law, foreign language, medicine, military science, engraving, sculpture and music.
A ‘studies abroad program,’ as it would be called today, was designed to ensure a pool of gifted and highly schooled Hawaiians who would enable the government to fill important positions in the foreign ministry and other governmental branches.

Seventeen promising young men and one young woman were sent on government funds to the four corners of the world: five to Italy, four to the U.S., three to England, three to Scotland, two to Japan and one to China. Several other students went abroad on funds of their own. (Schweizer)

Kalākaua personally selected the participants in his education program and probably planned to groom these young Hawaiians to become future leaders in his monarchy. Several of the youths were descended from Hawaiian aliʻi (nobility.) Several were the offspring of leaders in Kalākaua’s government.

As members of Hawai’i’s leading social families, some of the students had mingled with visiting dignitaries and intellectuals. Most of Kalākaua’s protégé’s had attended Honolulu’s best private schools where they had studied Latin and the Classics.

They were young Hawaiians with a heritage and background to indicate that they would benefit from an education abroad.

Kalākaua selected Robert William Wilcox, Robert Napuʻuako Boyd and James Kanaholo Booth as the first students in his program. They sailed from Hawaiʻi to San Francisco on August 30, 1880.

Once in Italy, Wilcox was enrolled in the Royal Academy of Civil and Military Engineers in Turin, Boyd in the Royal Naval Academy at Leghorn and Booth in the Royal Military Academy in Naples. (Late in 1884, Booth died from cholera in Naples.)

Early in 1887, two more Hawaiian youths traveled to Italy to study, accompanied by Colonel Sam Nowlein, an officer in Kalākaua’s Royal Guards. August Hering wanted to learn sculpture and Maile Nowlein, Colonel Nowlein’s daughter, and the only female participant in the Hawaiian studies abroad program, would study art and music.

In the summer of 1882, Colonel Charles Judd escorted Henry Kapena, Hugo Kawelo, Joseph Kamauʻoha, John Lovell, Mathew Makalua, Abraham Piʻianaiʻa and Thomas Spencer to the US and Great Britain.

Spencer was enrolled in St Matthew’s School in San Mateo, California (“one of the best schools for boys in California, and acknowledged to be the best military-discipline school in the state.” (Thrum, 1885))

In 1885, two more Hawaiians, Prince David Kawananakoa and Thomas P Cummins, also enrolled at St Matthew’s. Both young men had previously attended Punahou School. Kawananakoa later studied at Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester, England.

Piʻianaiʻa and Makalua were enrolled at St Chad’s, a preparatory school in Denstone, England. Kamauʻoha was admitted to King’s College in London (he died there in 1886.)

In November of 1882, Judd entered John Lovell, Hugo Kawelo, and Henry Kapena as apprentices at the Scotland Street Iron Works in Glasgow.

Also in 1882, James Kapaʻa, James Hakuʻole and Isaac Harbottle sailed for the Orient. That year, Hawaiʻi negotiated to bring Japanese to the Islands to work on the sugar plantations.

Hakuʻole and Harbottle, brothers aged 10 and 11 years old respectively, disembarked in Japan; Kapaʻa went to China. The government planned that the Hawaiian youths would be trained in the Asian languages and culture and then use their knowledge to aid in the government’s immigration plans.

Henry Grube Marchant was the last participant to be appointed in Kalākaua’s program; he trained in Boston in the art of engraving. He also sought “to learn the art of photographing upon the wooden block and such other branches of business that would enable him to become a good wood engraver in all branches of his work.”

Then, in 1887, following the ‘Bayonet Constitution’ and the curtailing of Kalākaua’s power, the “Reform Cabinet” cut the expenditures for Kalākaua’s education program and called most of the students home. (lots of information here is from Quigg.

© 2025 Hoʻokuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kaʻawaloa

Kealakekua translates as ‘pathway of the gods’ and is one of the most significant historic and cultural places in Hawaiʻi.

Kealakekua Bay State Historical Park is comprised of portions of the Kealakekua and Kaʻawaloa ahupuaʻa, which surround Kealakekua Bay. From Kaʻawaloa south to Palemano Point, the bay measures about one and one-half miles in length and about one mile in width.

“The Sandy beech forms the West side, behind which is a grove of Coco nut trees & a pond of indifferent water; on the N side of this beach lies a Village, & the Well we waterd at, which is close to the Sea & under the high hill.”

“At the other end of the beach is the Morai, or Oheekeeow (heiau of Hikiau.) A field of Taboo’d ground seperates the Morai from a Village to the s, or rather a continued range of Stragling houses in that direction.” (King; Maly)

Kealakekua was selected by the aliʻi as one of the seven royal centers of Kona in the 1700s, because of its sheltered bay and abundance of natural resources.

Kaʻawaloa, meaning ‘ the distant ʻawa plant’, is a flat, fan-shaped lava peninsula near sea level, which rises gradually to the edge of the 600-ft Pali Kapu O Keoua. These forty acres of land define the northwest side of Kealakekua Bay.

Historically, Kaʻawaloa was the royal burial grounds of Hawaiʻi’s rulers and their families, including Kalaniopuʻu, the ruling chief in power when Captain Cook sailed into Kealakekua Bay.

The British ships, Discovery and Resolution, under the command of Captain James Cook, sailed into Kealakekua Bay on January 17, 1779; Cook was killed at Kaʻawaloa on February 14, 1779.

In their journals, Cook’s crew recorded four “villages” of about 80 houses each along the shoreline around Kealakekua Bay. Settlements lined the bay in the pre-contact period, as do the small residential communities of Nāpōʻopoʻo and Keʻei, today.

“The Towns of the Natives are built along the Sea side. At Cari’ca’coo’ah (Kealakekua) Bay there were three, one (Kealakekua-Nāpoʻopoʻo) on the SE-tern side of the Bay which was very large extending near two miles along the shore, another (Kaʻawaloa) upon the NWtern side which was not so large, and a small Village (Palemano) in the cod or bottom of the Bay.”

“At the back of the villages upon the Brow of the Hill are their plantations of Plantains, Potatoes, Tarrow, Sugar Canes &c, each mans particular property is fenced in with a stone wall; they have a method of making the Sugar Cane grow about the walls so that the stones are not conspicuous at any distance, but the whole has the appearance of fine green fences.” (Clerke; Maly)

“Kaʻawaloa, at the landing-place on the north side of Kealakekua bay, however conveniently accessible to the people of the district, who live much along the shores, was cramped and rocky, being composed almost exclusively of lava.”

“It was hot, dry, and barren, affording neither brook nor well, nor spring of fresh water, nor field, nor garden-spot for plantation, though a few cocoanut trees, so neighborly to the sea, find nourishment there.” (Bingham; Maly)

As the west learned of Hawaiʻi, this area became known as one of the first major shipping and provisioning port for ships involved in exploration, whaling and trans-Pacific trade.

About 40-years after Cook’s visit, the missionaries arrived and established one of the earliest mission stations in Hawai‘i at Kaʻawaloa in 1824.

Access was improved to Kaʻawaloa and Nāpoʻopoʻo with the development of cart roads to transport goods from the bay to upland communities.

By the 1850s, traditional fishing and farming were giving way to ranching and coffee. Cattle were herded down the roads to wharfs at Nāpoʻopoʻo and Kaʻawaloa where they were loaded onto ships in the bay.

Nāpoʻopoʻo Light was established in 1908 at Kaʻawaloa on the north side of Kealakekua Bay (but apparently named for Nāpoʻopoʻo Landing on the south side of the bay.) The 22-foot light tower was built in 1922.

Several families remained at Kaʻawaloa until World War II, but most of the activity had shifted to Nāpoʻopoʻo by that time.

In 1969 the state set aside the entire bay as a marine life conservation district (MLCD.) The MLCD is inshore of a straight line between Kaʻawaloa point and the north end of Nāpōʻopoʻo Beach Park. The cove fronting the Captain Cook Monument is a popular snorkeling area.

On December 12, 1973 the Kaʻawaloa area was designated as the Kealakekua Bay Historical District (a District w/multiple sites) and placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The obelisk monument commemorating Captain Cook was constructed in 1874, near the spot where Cook died. (Contrary to urban legend, the monument site is not owned by the British Government; ownership is in the name of the British Consul General (the individual) – a representative would check in with DLNR, from time to time.)

While at DLNR, we issued a curator agreement to Hale Mua – The Royal Order of King Kamehameha I to help protect the sites under DLNR’s jurisdiction and to help provide public access.

The photo captures the awa ceremony we participated in to commemorate the signing of the Curator Agreement. (It was a moving experience; I was proud and honored to be there.  Yes, that is me, all by myself (representing the State,) and the descendent families, members of the Order and others on the other side.)

© 2025 Hoʻokuleana LLC

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Karsten Thot

An inventory of bridges on Oʻahu, published in 1983, listed 127 built before 1940 and still standing.

Oʻahu’s 127 historic bridges are composed of five different types: reinforced concrete arch bridges, steel bridges, timber bridges, reinforced concrete deck girder bridges and reinforced flat slab bridges.

The historic steel bridges are further divided into three separate types; warren truss, steel girder and metal flume. A bridge is considered historic if built before 1940 and is associated with people and events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of Hawaii’s history.

The Karsten Thot Bridge was identified as worthy of historic recognition.

It was built in Wahiawa over the north fork of the Kaukonahua stream in 1932, by the John L Young Construction and Engineering Company for a price of just over $65,500.

The bridge is named after Karsten Thot, who was a prominent community-minded citizen and it was built by a prominent Honolulu businessman, who was a prolific builder.

The bridge-building company merged with another construction company and upon completion of the Thot bridge called itself the Hawaiian-American Construction Co.

Built in the style of steel railway bridges throughout the continent, it is the only structure of its type in existence on Oʻahu; due to salt water erosion problems steel bridges were phased out on Oʻahu.

The structure is a Warren-type through-truss steel bridge, with a single span 210-feet in length and 40-feet wide, with a vertical clearance of the bridge is 13’5″.

Karsten Thot was born in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, on Feb. 12, 1889. He came to Hawaii in 1904. Thot worked as a field supervisor for Hawaiian Pineapple Co.

In addition, an announcement in the paper noted, ‘Karsten Thot, manager of the Hawaii Preserving Company, has opened a butcher shop at Castner Station, near Schofield Barracks.’ (Honolulu Star-bulletin, July 09, 1915)

Thot died in 1932, the year the bridge was under construction. He was survived by a wife and three children.

He “was very active in community affairs when the Honolulu Board of Supervisors under Charles Crane asked if they could name the bridge after him. This was not carried out until Fred Wright became mayor in 1937. In 1974 a memorial plaque was placed on the bridge by the family.” (Thompson)

When built, the bridge was said to be an important transportation link between the North Shore and Honolulu, contributing to the growth of Wahiawa.

That ultimately changed after the construction of the H-2 freeway, when Kamehameha Highway no longer was “the primary circum-island road.”

Critical emergency structural repairs have been made to the 80+-year-old steel bridge, including replacing rivets and repairing and replacing steel beams.

(Lots of information here from a report by Bethany Thompson, Honolulu-gov and Watanabe, Star-Bulletin.)

© 2025 Hoʻokuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ice

Refrigeration first came to Hawai‘i in the middle of the nineteenth century.

“The first Boston ice brought to these islands, was received on the 14th inst. (September 14, 1850) by brig Fortunio, Hasty, via San Francisco.” (Polynesian, September 21, 1850)

Then, “(a) few tons of ice were brought to this port from San Francisco by the bark Harriet T Bartlet, Capt Heeren, and a part sold by our friend Thompson, at auction, on Tuesday.”

“This is the first importation of the kind, in any quantity, to this market, and but the beginning, it is to be hoped, of a regular supply of this luxury to the inhabitants of this city.” (Polynesian, June 26, 1852)

More came … “Ice! Ice! Ice! Just Received – 400 Tons Fresh Pond Boston Ice … have just been received by the (Mountain Wave) and are for sale by the Honolulu Ice Co. CH Lewers, Proprietor” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, October 21, 1858)

Then, they started to make ice in the Islands.

“Ice Manufacture. The establishment on the Esplanade for the manufacture of ice by chemical process, has been in operation during several days past. “

“Like all new beginnings, difficulties have had to be met and overcome, but yesterday the machinery was in the full tide of successful experiment, and to-day we expect to be able to see home-made ice.”

“It is expected that enough will be manufactured to supply the demand for the city, and at such rates as will prevent the necessity of importing the luxury from California.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, September 2, 1871)

“Manufactured Ice – The ice machine has resumed work again and arrangements are now complete for a regular supply, which we understand will be furnished at about one-third less than the imported article has lately been sold.”

“The proprietor has not only been at a great expense in bringing this machine here, but in having it altered to suit the temperature of the water in this climate. A regular supply of ice at the reasonable price asked, will doubtless cause it to become an actual necessity.” (Hawaiian Gazette, October 4, 1871)

“Ice and Iced Drinks. We are glad to know that the Ice Manufactory is at length established as a permanency, and is capable of turning out about 3,000 pounds daily of a fine article of pure ice.”

“We approve of the enterprise for several reasons. First on the policy of encouraging all home enterprises that are laudable, and second, we believe that the general and moderate use of ice is healthy, and that iced drinks are social reformers.”

“A loss by perspiration, whether by heat or labor, or both combined, excites the feeling of thirst, and that thirst must be satisfied. How much better, on all accounts, a glass of iced lemonade, soda water, or ginger pop, slowly imbibed, than imported tipple of beer, stout, whiskey, or suicidal absinthe!”

“And what an improvement does the house-wife find in satisfactorily carrying on her culinary duties with a few pounds of ice in the chest. Thus our experience of the benefits of ice, even in this hot climate, is in favor of the opinion of the London Liberal Review, a late number of which says that …”

“… ‘the introduction on a large scale of iced-non-intoxicating drinks for the English hot weather would be a great advantage to a thirsty public, and we believe would tend to lessen the number of drunkards.’” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 16, 1871)

Air conditioning first appeared in theaters. In 1912 or 1913, the Hawaiian Opera House experimented with electric fans blowing over large tubs filled with cakes of ice. Other theaters subsequently installed more sophisticated refrigerating equipment, although full-scale air conditioning did not appear in Island movie houses until the Hawai‘i Theater’s unveiling of a completely modern system in 1935.

Other early examples of air conditioning included the Metropolitan Market in 1917, McInerny’s store on Merchant Street in 1926 or 1927, and the Queen’s Hospital asthma ward in 1936. The first fully air conditioned home was built in 1938. (Schmitt)

By 1922, Hawaiian Electric had constructed lines to serve Wailupe and Kuliouou, Schofield and Pearl Harbor, Kahuku and Laie, Lualualei and Ewa. The following year, families in Kailua and Lanikai had electricity.

By 1924, the population of Honolulu exceeded 125,000 and the company reported selling 7,000 “cooking and heating” appliances. In 1927, Hawaiian Electric’s new King Street building opened for business. (HECO)

The first home electric refrigerators sold in Hawaii were reportedly Kelvinators, introduced by the Hawaiian Electric Company in 1922.

Newspaper advertisements for electric refrigerators did not appear until 1925, however, when Hawaiian Electric began running display ads for “Kelvinator, the Oldest Domestic Electric Refrigeration.” (Schmitt)

© 2025 Hoʻokuleana LLC

 

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

The First Thanksgiving

The site and date of origin of Thanksgiving are matters of dispute, with regional claims being made by widely disparate locations in North America. The chief claims are: Saint Augustine, Florida – 1565; Baffin Island, Canada – 1578; Jamestown, Virginia – 1619 and Plymouth, Massachusetts – 1621.

Thanksgiving in Plymouth

The Mayflower arrived in Plymouth in December of 1620.  No further ships arrived in Plymouth until immediately after the first Thanksgiving at Plymouth – the Fortune arrived in November of 1621.

According to the Pilgrim Hall Museum, there are two (and only two) primary sources for the events of autumn 1621 in Plymouth that suggest the first Thanksgiving at Plymouth: Edward Winslow writing in Mourt’s Relation and William Bradford writing in Of Plymouth Plantation:

Edward Winslow, Mourt’s Relation: “our harvest being gotten in, our governour sent foure men on fowling, that so we might after a speciall manner rejoyce together, after we had gathered the fruits of our labours;”

“they foure in one day killed as much fowle, as with a little helpe beside, served the Company almost a weeke, at which time amongst other Recreations, we exercised our Armes …”

“many of the Indians coming amongst us, and amongst the rest their greatest king Massasoyt, with some ninetie men, whom for three dayes we entertained and feasted …”

“and they went out and killed five Deere, which they brought to the Plantation and bestowed on our Governour, and upon the Captaine and others. “

“And although it be not always so plentifull, as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so farre from want,  that we often wish you partakers of our plentie.”

William Bradford, Of Plimoth Plantation: “They begane now to gather in ye small harvest they had, and to fitte up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health & strenght, and had all things in good plenty …”

“for as some were thus imployed in affairs abroad, others were excersised in fishing, aboute codd, & bass, & other fish, of which yey tooke good store, of which every family had their portion.”

“All ye somer ther was no want.  And now begane to come in store of foule, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees).”

“And besids water foule, ther was great store of wild Turkies, of which they tooke many, besids venison, &c. …”

“Besids, they had about a peck a meale a weeke to a person, or now since harvest, Indean corn to yt proportion.  Which made many afterwards write so largly of their plenty hear to their freinds in England, which were not fained,  but true reports.”

As noted, at the end of the 1621 summer, when harvest was in, Governor John Carver called for a special celebration. The colonists began to gather food for a traditional English “harvest home.”

This festival was held throughout England at harvest’s end to give thanks for the bounty and celebrate the end of the most intense period of work for farmers.

The Native Americans traditionally celebrated a harvest festival similar to the harvest home.

Turner said what most people do not know about the first Thanksgiving at Plymouth is that the Wampanoag and Pilgrims did not sit down for a big turkey dinner and it was not an event that the Wampanoag knew about or were invited to in advance. In September/October 1621, the Pilgrims had just harvested their first crops, and they had a good yield.

They “sent four men on fowling,” which comes from the one paragraph account by Pilgrim Edward Winslow, one of only two historical sources of this famous harvest feast. Winslow also stated, “we exercised our arms.”

“Most historians believe what happened was Massasoit got word that there was a tremendous amount of gun fire coming from the Pilgrim village,” Turner said. “So he thought they were being attacked and he was going to bear aid.”

When the Wampanoag showed up, they were invited to join the Pilgrims in their feast, but there was not enough food to feed the chief and his 90 warriors.

“He [Massasoit] sends his men out, and they bring back five deer, which they present to the chief of the English town [William Bradford].”

“So, there is this whole ceremonial gift-giving, as well. When you give it as a gift, it is more than just food,” said Kathleen Wall, a Colonial Foodways Culinarian at Plimoth Plantation.

The harvest feast lasted for three days.

No other ships arrived in Plymouth until after the first Thanksgiving at Plymouth.  The Pilgrims at the first Thanksgiving at Plymouth are all the Mayflower survivors.

Thanksgiving in Hawai‘i

It’s not clear when the first western Thanksgiving feast was held in Hawaiʻi, but from all apparent possibilities, the first recorded one took place in Honolulu and was held among the families of the American missionaries from New England.

According to the reported entry in Lowell Smith’s journal on December 6, 1838: “This day has been observed by us missionaries and people of Honolulu as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God. Something new for this nation.”

“The people turned out pretty well and they dined in small groups and in a few instances in large groups. We missionaries all dined at Dr. Judd’s and supped at Brother Bingham’s. … An interesting day; seemed like old times – Thanksgiving in the United States.”

Laura Judd, in Sketches of Life in Honolulu noted on January 1, 1841: “There were twenty-five adults and thirty-two children of the station in Honolulu, and a proposition to unite in appropriate religious exercises and a Thanksgiving dinner, met with unanimous approval. …”

“Each lady was to furnish such dishes as suited her taste and convenience, while the table arrangements were the portion of one individual. … At three o’clock we had donned our best apparel, and sat down at the long table to enjoy a double feast.”

The first Thanksgiving Proclamation in Hawaiʻi appears to have been issued on November 23, 1849, and set the 31st day of December as a date of Thanksgiving.

US National Holiday

The celebratory day of Thanksgiving changed over time.

The Continental Congress proclaimed the first national Thanksgiving in 1777. A somber event, it specifically recommended “that servile labor and such recreations (although at other times innocent) may be unbecoming the purpose of this appointment [and should] be omitted on so solemn an occasion.”

Presidents Washington, Adams and Monroe proclaimed national Thanksgivings, but the custom fell out of use by 1815, after which the celebration of the holiday was limited to individual state observances. By the 1850s, almost every state and territory celebrated Thanksgiving. (plimoth-org)

In the 19th century, the modern Thanksgiving holiday started to take shape. In 1846, Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of a magazine called Godey’s Lady’s Book, campaigned for an annual national thanksgiving holiday.

But it wasn’t until 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln declared two national Thanksgivings; one in August to commemorate the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War, and the other in November to give thanks for “general blessings.” It’s the second one that we celebrate today. (National Geographic)

Neither Lincoln nor his successors, however, made the holiday a fixed annual event.

Finally, on December 26, 1941 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed into law a bill making the date of Thanksgiving a matter of federal law, fixing the day as the fourth Thursday of November.

Click the following link to a general summary about the First Thanksgiving:

https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/wp-content/uploads/First-Thanksgiving.pdf

© 2025 Hoʻokuleana LLC