Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

The Big Fence on the Big Island

“Captain George Vancouver brought the first cattle to Hawaii from California in 1793-1794. They were landed and liberated at Kealakekua, South Kona on the Big Island. As with other introduced animals of the same period, a rigid “kapu” was placed on them in order to permit them to multiply.”

“This they did with a vengeance and within a comparatively short span of years they became quite common on all the islands, particularly on Hawaii where they found many hundreds of acres of good pasture lands.”

“Over a period of many years they were slaughtered by men employed for this purpose by the King, principally for their hides, which at one time formed one of the principal articles of export from Hawaii.”

“Experts were employed by the King to go into the mountains to shoot and rope these animals. Only a small amount of the meat was used, some of it being salted and sold to the whaling ships wintered in these water at that time.”

“Many of them were trapped in “pitfalls” similar to the one which David Douglass lost his life on the slopes of Mauna Kea in 1834.” (Bryan, “Wild Cattle in Hawaii” Paradise of the Pacific (1937))

“For the past twenty years the attention of our Government and of this Forestry Bureau has been called to the destruction of our Native forests on Government lands in particular. … It is become a serious problem with us.”

“Large areas of Public Forests are annually destroyed by fire, orginating [sic] in many instances by cattlemen setting fire to the ferns and underbrush to improve their pasture. …  If the cattle are not taken away soon it will be but a short time when this Native forest will be destroyed, and the water supply on the low land diminished.”

“‘[C]attle seem to be the principal enemy of the forests.’  [Sheep also damage the forest habitat]  .By way of countering this threat, [it was] recommended that large parts of the government forest lands …”

“… ‘should be fenced off at once, for the purpose of preserving the living and growing timber and promoting the younger growth of fern and underbrush.’” (Report of the Minister of Interior to the President of the Republic of Hawaii for the Biennium, Ending December 31, 1899; LRB, 1965)

Then came “The Big Fence on the Big Island” … The Territorial Division of Forestry intensified efforts to eradicate feral sheep from the Mauna Kea Forest Reserve in the 1930s after noticing a lack of natural regeneration and damage to māmane trees caused by sheep.

With the help of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), territorial foresters built a 55-mile fence around Mauna Kea in 20 months. It was 4.5-foot tall galvanized stock wire stretched between large māmane posts. (DLNR)

“On the 29th of January, 1937, the longest fence in the Territory of Hawaii was completed by CCC boys. It is around the entire boundary of the Mauna Kea Forest Reserve – the second largest reserve in the Hawaiian Islands.”

“This project, which is part of the Territorial Division of Forestry’s conservation program, was done under the direction of Project Superintendent W.A. Hartman. …  Much credit is due … to the enrollees who worked under them, for the fine accomplishment.”

“Actual construction work was started in June of 1935. A total of twenty months was required to complete the work on the fence which has a total length, including necessary corrals, of fifty-five and one-half miles. Eighteen thousand five hundred and thirty-six man-days were expended on all work connection with this project.”

“A great deal of preliminary work was required before the actual construction of the fence began. First, it was necessary to build many miles of horse and truck trails and tractor roads.”

“In connection with the fence line alone nearly sixty miles of horse-trails were constructed. This trail was used to pack in the fence wire and other supplies. It was made permanent for future use in fence patrol and wild animal eradication work.”

“Most of the fence work was above the eight thousand foot contour. Camp locations had to be selected, shelters constructed, and water tanks installed. These camps were located as close to the fence lines as possible and placed at intervals around the mountain approximately four miles apart.”

“This made the maximum distance from camp to work about two miles each way. At each camp site it was necessary to construct a corral for the work animals. Practically all feed, and part of the water, for these animals, had to be transported to the camp site.”

“Nine line camps were used. Seven of them had to be constructed in advance. These camps were made on the same plan; one small building with watertanks alongside in which could be stored between six and eight thousand gallons of water. The building was used as a cook-house and store-room. The boys lived in tents.”

“During the winter months it becomes quite cold on Mauna Kea and it was found that seven blankets per boy was not too much cover.”

“Frequently the thermometer registered below freezing and at the Puu Loa Camp last February it was necessary to stop work for three days due to an exceptionally heavy fall of snow which covered the ground in that section and prevented work on the fence line.”

“The completion of this fence concludes one of the most important conservation projects attempted by the CCC in the Territory of Hawaii. It completely encloses and protects a reserve area containing approximately one hundred thousand acres. “

“The important Wailuku River – which furnishes the water-supply for the City of Hilo – as well as several other large streams that supply water to Hilo and Hamakua Districts, have their source within this area.”

“This reserve has, for many years, been overrun with wild sheep, there being an estimated population of about forty thousand. These animals do much damage and of recent years have effectively prevented any natural reproduction of the predominating tree growth – Mamani.”

“With this new fence completed it is now possible to conduct drives and reduce the number of these animals to a minimum. In a recent drive, held since the fence was completed, over three thousand wild sheep were captured and killed in a single day.”

“After these animals are exterminated we can expect considerable assistance from nature in our reforestation work. On a small scale this fact has already been demonstrated so we fell assured of ultimate success.”

“In some sections, where seed trees are lacking, it will be necessary to assist nature with reforestation; but where seed trees have been left we can expect to see a new generation of plants occur naturally.” (Bryan, “The Big Fence on the Big Island” Paradise of the Pacific  (1937)

The completed fence enabled territorial foresters on horseback to drive sheep and herd them into pens. In one drive near Kemole, they captured and killed over 3,000 sheep in a day.

Territorial foresters removed nearly 47,000 sheep and 2,200 other non-native browsing animals from Mauna Kea during the 1930s and 1940s. It is likely that the Palila would not be here today if not for these efforts due to the highly degraded condition of the forest at the time. (DLNR)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Waiakea

Every morning and evening
When upward turn we our eyes
High above stands Mauna Kea and
In the distance, the wide Pacific Ocean
Scenery so beautiful, inspiring, and tranquil,
Certainly is the pride of Yashiljima.

Aa the waves of the East and West
Beat upon the shore of our crescent bay,
The moonlight streams through the
shimmering leaves of the Yashi no ki.
This enlightening purity, we are
reminded to etch upon our hearts to keep.

Increasingly learn, let us all of us together,
For Americans of Japanese ancestry by birth we be,
And, as such, fulfill we must a calling of great significance.
Go forth then, and bring good name to
our Yashijima Nihongo Gakkoo.

(English translation of the Waiakea Japanese School alma mater)
(The message was: Learn to take the good of Japan and the good of America and serve your country well.)

“The Waiakea peninsula … was a compact community separated from Hilo by the Wailoa River.” (HTH Mar 7, 1994) “Waiakea town was the original. Everybody was living Waiakea town. From Kamehameha Avenue all the way to Coconut Island. So they used to call [Waiakea] ‘Yashijima.’ ‘Yashi’ is coconut, and ‘jima’ is [island].” (Hayato Okino)

“Many immigrants from Japan settled in Waiakea, making it a thriving community, nearly as popular as downtown Hilo.” (HTH, Feb 24, 1980) “A compact, cohesive and tightly knit community, Waiakea was predominantly Japanese but included other ethnic groups. The men worked primarily as fishermen and stevedores.” (HTH. Mar 31, 1999)

“Life was tough. Families were large and many lived frugally with little to spare. The Waiakea Social Settlement was the only organized social facility for the deprived children.” (HTH. Mar 31, 1999)

“A majority of the men who first settled there were fishermen from Oshima-gun, Yamaguchi-ken. As a result, a thriving fishing industry was started along Wailoa River.” (HTH, May 23, 1986) “And then … they started to move over to the Shinmachi area.” (Hayato Okino)

Between 1913 and 1946, the present green space between Hilo Iron Works towards the old Hilo town was Shinmachi (‘New Town’), a thriving neighborhood of small business owners who established many of Hawai‘i Island mainstays.

These include Hawaii Planing Mill, Atebara Potato Chips, S. Tokunaga Sports, Hilo Transportation, and Hilo Macaroni Factory (makers of the Saloon Pilot Cracker). (Lyman Museum)

“Waiakea was roughly bounded by Lihiwai Street, what is now Banyan Drive and Lanikaula Street. It also encompassed Waiakea Houselots with Manono as the main street and Mililani, Hinano and Laupaku as the side streets.” (HTH Mar 7, 1994)

“Waiakea Social Settlement was ‘Founded January 1, 1903, by the Hawaiian Evangelical Association, as the enlargement of a Sunday-school work already begun ‘to be a home-place for the community …’”

“‘… where all are welcome to partake of rest, social pleasure, mental food and spiritual nourishment; to help the children especially to be happy as well as good.’ Maintained by the Hawaiian Board of Missions and by subscriptions.”

“Maintains daily dispensary; Sunday school; ‘friendly talks’ on Sunday evenings; sewing school; music and culture classes; girls’ weaving class; women’s class (industrial and devotional); prayer meeting; reading room; socials; drills; visits; collecting savings; annual concert.” (Handbook of Settlements, 1911)

“The finishing touches are being put on the two new buildings of the Waiakea Social Settlement located on the corner of Kamehameha Ave. and Kilohana Street. These larger facilities will make possible an expansion of the services to the whole of the neighborhood. ‘It’s the place of the people,’ said a scout, referring to the Settlement.”

“The new facilities are making possible activities which heretofore were closed to them. A complete stage with make-up rooms will permit all sorts of performance for story acting to big time plays not to mention community meetings of all kinds.”

“The standard size gymnasium and showers will offer athletic facilities for boys’ and girls’ groups with a variety of sports from basketball to shuffleboard and games.”

“The new clinic and meeting rooms will make possible the improved services of cooperating agencies of the Board of Health, religious education, the University Extension Bureau, Baby Conference, Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts and Hilo Recreation Committee.” (HTH, Feb 1, 1939)

“Yashijima Nihongo-Gakkoo [Waiakea Japanese School] had its beginnings in 1904 in a Christian Mission in Waiakea Town, the Waiakea Social Settlement of later years.” (HTH, July 27, 1980)

The lyrics as the beginning of this summary are the alma mater for the Waiakea Japanese School. “The song had been very dear to the students. It had etched into their hearts and minds the destiny and the responsibilities of the Americans of Japanese Ancestry.”

“Singing it not only brought back fond as well as humorous memories of learning the Japanese language but also of the many activities which helped to mold their lives in preparation for the future.” (HTH, July 27, 1980)

The Waiakea Social Settlement which stood in the area just behind where the clock stands today was the hub of activities for the children of Waiakea. (Historical Marker Database)

“The village had two theaters, restaurants, general merchandise stores, grocery stores, meat markets, drug stores, coffee shop, barbershops, billiard parlor, poi factory, kamaboko factories, a transportation company, railroad depot and terminal with a tum-table in the middle of the Wailoa River …”

“… fish markets, sampans, garages, and Waiakea Kai School on Kilohana Street facing the Japanese school located on Kainehe Street. There was also Coconut Island and the landscaped park now called Liliuokalani Park, dry docks for sampans, and homes.” (HTH, July 27, 1980)

“Waiakea Social Settlement is a social work agency. By that definition its responsibility is to help people adjust to where they are or to be efficient as citizens. It is a group agency and thus helps people by the use of groups rather than as individuals As people came through the doors, there were achievements and failures.” (HTH, Apr 23, 1949)

Waiakea Social Settlement “Was a good place for a number of children that couldn’t make the – that the Boy Scouts couldn’t take in. They’ve become much broader lately.”

“You had to be a good boy to get into the Boy Scouts and there were too many youngsters that weren’t interested in being good boys – you know, parents were at fault – but the Waiakea Settlement would try to work with them.”

“I thought it was a splendid thing. Or anything like that, you know. I wish there had been something that could have taken in more girls than the YW did. You know, girls down at Keaukaha [Hawaiian homestead area in Hilo, Hawaii] and along in there that needed that kind of help. I think they’re getting more help now.” (Lorna Hooleia Jarrett Desha)

In 1958, the Waiakea Social Settlement board of trustees approved the settlement consolidation with the Hawaii County YMCA. The two agencies had been working together on a cooperative program for two years. (HTH, Oct 2, 1958)

Waiakea Social Settlement’s Clock was dedicated in 1939, in memory of Mrs CS Richardson; it adjoined the Settlement building. The clock was significantly damaged in the 1960 tsunami. It was refurbished and re-erected on this original concrete stand by the Waiakea Pirates Athletic Club in May, 1984.

The clock is significant to the people that grew up in the community. The time is stopped at 1:04 am when the clock itself was destroyed by the 3rd and largest wave. (Tsunami Museum) Today it serves as a symbol of the strength, courage. and resilience of the residents of Waiakea. (Historical Marker Database)

Waiakea Town, Yashijima, was never rebuilt after the 1960 tsunami. The golf course and park that you see today was once filled with homes, businesses and schools, all of which provided the backbone for a local economy of fishing, stevedoring, sugar, railroading and service industries. (Historical Marker Database)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Puu ‘Ō‘ō Ranch

William Herbert (Willie – WH) Shipman (1854-1943) was born on December 17, 1854, at Lahaina, Maui to William Cornelius Shipman and Jane Stobie Shipman. Willie’s parents had signed up as missionaries destined for Micronesia.

They stopped over at Lahaina, Maui because his mother was due to deliver Willie within 2 months. His parents then took a mission station in Kaʻū, Hawaiʻi, based in Waiʻōhinu.

Willie Shipman was inducted into the Paniolo [Hawaiian Cowboy] Hall of Fame in 2017. (Hawai‘i Cattlemen’s Council) “Originally old man Shipman [WH Shipman] had 72,000 acres that ran from the ocean up to the National Park. … He needed money so he sold off quite a bit of that land from actually from the Puna Road up to the National Park boundary.” (Devine, Pili Productions)

Of Shipman’s four ranches, Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō was the most productive, being both large and well-watered. An estimated 5,000 head of cattle ran at Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, 1,500 at Keauhou, and only ‘a few’ at ‘Āinahou. (Langlas)

Kea‘au Ranch was once well maintained, but by about the 1930-40s it was neglected and produced few cattle. “[I]t was categorized as a ranch, but it was more like a wild cattle operation. You know, it wasn’t controlled like Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō.” (Devine, Pili Productions)

Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Ranch covered 23,000 acres between the 5,000 to 6,500 feet elevation. (Tuggle) Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Ranch was first established by John T Baker, a Hawaiian-Tahitian-Caucasian protege of Kalākaua. (Langlas)

Baker came to Hawai‘i Island in 1886 when his high-ranking wife, Ululani, was appointed governess of the island. He became a successful rancher and businessman in Hilo, and in 1892-93 served as Hawai’i Island governor.

Baker obtained a lease in Pi‘ihonua in 1887 and must have started ranching at Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō some time after that. ‘He had built some fences, and about 600 head of mixed cattle, including some Longhorns, were found on the ranch at that time.’ (Henke) Baker used to go up to the ranch every September with an entourage. (Langlas)

(Baker “is best known, perhaps, as the original of the statute of King Kamehameha, for which he was asked to pose, due to the striking likeness to the ancient ruler.” (Advertiser, Sep 8, 1921) “Likeness refers to a likeness of features rather than of body.” (Charlot))

In 1899, Baker sold the ranch lease to Shipman. Shipman introduced Hereford bulls to upgrade the stock and increased the number of cattle. Shipman expanded the ranch to 23,000 acres, including the upper portions of all the ahupua’a owned by the sugar plantations north to Honohina. (Langlas)

In the early part of the century, the ranch included two government leases in Pi‘ihonua and leases of sugar plantation lands to the north in the ahupua‘a of Pauka‘a, Pāpa‘ikou, Makahanaloa, Hakalau Nui and Honohina.

Two smaller parcels were bought in fee simple, an 80-acre piece with a spring on it makai of the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō ranch house, and a 500-acre parcel in Pāpa‘ikou which contained the old Hitchcock house at Pua ‘Ākala.

In the 1940s the ranch got the lease of Kipuka ‘Āinahou in Humu‘ula, just south of the Humu‘ula Sheep Station, and ran cattle there until about 1950.

Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Ranch was part of WH Shipman’s larger operations, mostly centered in Puna. Shipman had a sugar plantation at ‘Ola‘a, with the mill at Kea‘au. He had three ranches in Puna: Kea‘au Ranch on the lava land of Kea‘au ahupua‘a, Keauhou Ranch north of Kilauea Crater, and ‘Āinahou Ranch south of Kilauea Crater. (Langlas)

There were three stations built on Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Ranch: the main Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō headquarters and the Puakala house station, which were built early, and the Saddle House, built later.

In the 1940s, there were permanent personnel (mostly Japanese) at the ranch responsible for fencing, maintaining the ranch houses, breaking horses, and watching the cattle. Many of the cowboys, who did the driving, branding, and so on, were based at Kea‘au or at Keauhou Ranch and only came up when there was a big job to do; these cowboys were mostly Hawaiian and Portuguese. (Langlas)

The Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō headquarters had a koa ranch house for the owners, a couple of bunkhouses and a cottage for the cowboys and fence-men, a stable, and barn. The Puakala station had a koa house built by Hitchcock, a couple bunkhouses, and a barn. The cowboys lived up there when they worked that end of the ranch. (Gene Olivera, Langlas)

“In Puu ‘O‘o we had one, two, three bunk houses for the cowboys. For the cowboy and the fencemen. We had the whole house. In Puakala we had another three house, you know counting the big house eh.”

“[W]e had all the cowboys. We had about 33, 34 cowboys at that time. Yeah, used to stay up there, live up there [at Puu ‘Ō‘ō]. But after they made the Saddle road good, most of the boys that married, they came home eh. They don’t sleep out, only us the single ones used to stay up there.”

“So the one that fencemen, ah they, most of the time they kept outside the fence line where they live to the job. So they camp out there. They stay yeah. Where had the water gulch, come down where they get water to take a bath and all that. Then when they want water they come up the house because they had spring water at Puu ‘Ō‘ō house.” (Olivera, Pili Productions)

In the early days of the ranch (probably beginning in 1903, about the time the railroad was completed up to Glenwood), the cattle were driven to market down the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō – Volcano Trail to Keauhou Ranch, then down to Glenwood Station where they were loaded onto railroad cars and shipped down to Kea’au or Hilo. (Langlas)

“The Hilo Railroad Company was chartered May 28, 1899. The road has been constructed from Waiakea, at the east side of Hilo Harbor, to Kapoho, in the district of Puna, a distance of 24 miles.”

“On this line, and 7 miles out from Hilo, is the Olaa Sugar Company’s mill. From this point the railroad runs through Keeau and Olaa to the 22 milepost [Glenwood] on the Volcano road, 9 miles from the Volcano House. … This part of the line is nearly constructed, and will probably be finished by January 1, 1903.” (Report of the Governor, 1902)

After that, the cattle were still driven down to Volcano, but from there they were trucked down to Kea’au. Once Saddle Road was built, in 1943, Shipman trucked the cattle down that way instead. (Langlas)

Shipman also had a controlling interest in the Hilo Meat Company, which slaughtered most of the cattle from Big Island ranches (other than Parker Ranch) and which supplied the local market. The cattle were slaughtered al Kea‘au and the meat was sold at Hilo Meat Company on Front Street in Hilo.

“I managed the Hilo Meat Company for thirty-nine years. … Shipman had a controlling interest in the meat company and I was working for the meat company. But I was also, in fact Shipman paid half my salary and the meat company paid half my salary when I first started with the meat company.”

“Shipman and Kapapala [owned by Brewer] and Kukaiau, [owned by] Davies [shipped cattle to Hilo Meat], and we bought cattle from a lot of independents, little Hamakua people and all that, C.L. Chow at one time who was involved with the Standard Meat Market.”

“Parker Ranch had an interest in Hilo Meat Company’s small stock holding. And they really didn’t ship cattle here. They really set up Hilo Meat to buy cattle from everybody else. I mean this island was the only island that produced more then it could take care of itself.” (Devine, Pili Productions)

“They had to ship to Honolulu. And Parker Ranch shipped all their cattle to Honolulu. Yeah, to Hawaii Meat Company that they had a controlling interest in, in other words to, if they started dumping cattle on this island that’d be chaos.”

“Too much produced and no markets so Mr. Carter, AW Carter, who was a trustee of Parker Ranch, who was quite an astute person and he figured out that they’d better not, that it didn’t take much figuring that they’d better ship all their cattle to Honolulu.”

“Otherwise there’d be too much competition here. So he set up, he was the one was instrumental in setting up Hilo Meat Company and getting the various ranchers to take stock in it and let Hilo Meat control more or less what was sold on this side of the island”. (Devine, Pili Productions)

Within the Hakalau Forest area as the juncture of three of the big ranches of east Hawai‘i (Parker Ranch to the uplands in Humu‘ula, Kuka‘iau Ranch to the north in Maulua Nui and beyond, and Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Ranch to the south). (Tomonari-Tuggle) However, mauka ranching here started to phase out.

In 1985, the Fish & Wildlife Service, with the active involvement and support of The Nature Conservancy, purchased Shipman Ranch lands and established the Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge. Later, other nearby privately owned parcels were purchased or donated to the refuge.

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Christian Jacob Hedemann

Christian Jacob Hedemann was born at Flensborg in the Dukedom of Slesvig, Denmark on May 25, 1852; he was the son of a military surgeon Christian August Ferdinand Hedemann, 1810-1879, and his wife Caroline Amalie Cloos, 1824-1867.

Christian Jacob Hedemann married Meta Marie Magdalene Nissen in Denmark October 27, 1877; she was born at Copenhagen June 23, 1850.

Christian Jacob Hedemann was educated at the famous boarding School Herlufsholm (founded 1565), and at the Danish Technical University from which he graduated. In 1870-1878 he served as a draughtsman and constructor of machinery at Burmeister & Wain at Copenhagen. (Wangel)

“A friend of his father, August Unna, a Danish sugar plantation owner on Hana, Maui an isolated part of the islands, offered Christian Hedemann a position as chief engineer.” (Davis)

In 1878 he came to Hawaii and became factory manager and engineer on the Hana plantation. (Nellist) Hedemann was responsible for the construction of sugar mill machinery to be delivered to Hana.

This appointment turned out to become a 6-years employment, and a life-long friendship. In 1884 he came to Honolulu Iron Works in order to construct machinery for sugar cane industry. (Wangel)

When Mr. Hedemann joined the Honolulu Iron Works in 1884, it was little more than a repair shop. With the development of the sugar industry on a large scale in Hawaii, the plant began the manufacture of sugar mill machinery and the furnishing of complete sugar factories. It has constructed most of the modern sugar mills in the Territory. (Nellist)

As a manufacturer of sugar cane factory equipment he got Honolulu Iron Works to become leading in the world. 1904 he was appointed general manager of Honolulu Iron Works. (Wangel)

In 1905, Mr. Hedemann realized the need for a New York branch and, against the advice of many leading business men of Honolulu, an office was opened in small quarters at No. 11 Broadway, New York City.

All purchasing for the iron works was then done directly through this office, thus dispensing with Eastern agents, and contracts for the furnishing of sugar factories and equipment in Puerto Rico, Cuba, Mexico and Louisiana were obtained. One of these was for the largest sugar factory in the world, located in Cuba, having a daily grinding capacity of 9,000 tons of cane.

Hedemann also went to Japan and Formosa and secured contracts for the building of seven large sugar mills, all of the machinery being built at the Honolulu works, and later fifteen sugar factories were constructed in the Philippines.

The Honolulu Iron Works had a plant in Manila where the requirements of the Philippines are met and two dry docks for the repairing of local ships. The New York office of the Honolulu Iron Works Co. became a large division and occupied a large portion of two floors in the famous Woolworth Building, besides operating a branch engineering office in Havana, Cuba. (Nellist)

1917 he retired from Iron Works Management, retained as Advisory and Technical Director, 3rd Vice President of the firm. (Wangel)

Hedemann was also a noted, although amateur, photographer. “Hedemann carried a camera with him, having taken up photography as a natural extension of his fascination with mechanical developments.”

“He made a visual record of his experience in the islands, photographing the family’s exotic surroundings and providing evidence of its well being, that could be kept for posterity and shared with his relatives in Denmark.”

“He created a virtually unrivalled view of 19th century Hawaii, highlighting change and industrial development in the islands. … Hedemann’s first dated photograph, a view of his house with a Danish flag flying gaily overhead was taken February 1, 1880.” (Davis)

“Early in 1883 Hedemann went to considerable trouble to convert his carriage shed into a small studio where he could take portraits. To illuminate the room, he made sections of the roof removable, creating a makeshift skylight.”

“Using plans from early photo journals, he had a portable reflector and head rests made in the blacksmith and carpenter shops at the mill.”

“In this ‘Big Photo Studio in Hana, Sandwich Islands’, as he jokingly called it, Hedemann executed a body of work of lasting importance.”

“Opening the studio not only enhanced his ability to control the photographic environment but also created a neutral location where the haole (Caucasian) photographer could establish a formal relationship with unfamiliar sitters.”

“Before starting the studio, Hedemann’s portraits were limited to family members and fellow Danes; now he proceeded to produce a remarkable visual inventory of the growing ethnic diversity in Hana.”

“Photographs he took there, as Meta noted later, depict ‘the many different people who came around to work in the fields from time to time … Southern Islanders, Chinese, Portuguese, and even a small colony of Scandinavians.’” (Davis)

“Hedemann took his camera inside sugar mills, and the Honolulu Iron Works. His photographs of the mills reflect personal pride in his accomplishments as well as the prevailing fervor of the steam age and Hedemann’s love of ‘beautiful things for the sake of their perfection of design and intricate workmanship.’”

“The gleaming sugar mill machinery of Hana Plantation provided forms pleasing to the photographer’s eye but also emblems of the industrial era.”

“Hedemann helped organize the Hawaiian Camera Club, drawing amateur photographers he knew in Honolulu together with others he had met during his travels around the islands on Iron Works business.”  (Davis)

In March, 1917, he was decorated by the King of Denmark as a “Knight of Dannebrog.” He became an American citizen in 1903. (Nellist)

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Sarona Road

Mai ka Lani mai nei ka leo kahea,
Pio mai la kona nani i ka lua kupapau.
A o oe la e, e Opukahaia, Hauoli avanei,
ke ike aku oe, O kou aina hanau, ke pua mai nei;
Opuu ae la na rose, aala mai hoi,
Nani loa o Sarona, hiehie moana.

The call came from Heaven,
His glory faded from the grave.
And you, Opukahaia, be happy now,
when you see, Your native land is blooming;
The roses bloomed and smelled,
Sharon is very beautiful, the sea is beautiful.
(Ka Moolelo o Heneri Opukahaia; Chris Cook)

ʻIsaia 65:10, A e lilo nō ʻo Sārona i pā no nā hipa, A ʻo ke kahawai ʻo ʻAkora i wahi moe no nā bipi, No koʻu poʻe kānaka i ʻimi mai ai iaʻu.

Isaiah 65:10, Sharon will become a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds, for my people who seek me.

Song of Solomon 2:1, “ʻO wau nō ka rose o Sārona, A me ka līlia o nā awāwa.“ “I am the rose of Sharon, And the lily of the valleys.” (Hawaiian Baibala)

“The Rose of Sharon is a flower that grows on mountaintops, and that’s why the Lord referred to Himself as The Rose of Sharon. His mountaintop was Golgotha, and the Lord let me know that people can only find this Rose on Mount Calvary.”

“Roses are noted for their fragrances, and the fragrance from this great Rose travels down from the mount of God and into the valley for us.” (Ernest Angley Ministries)

Sharon is the Mediterranean coastal plain between Joppa and Caesarea. In the time of Solomon, it was a place of great fertility. It is in North Palestine, between Mount Tabor and Lake Tiberias. (Bible-org)

Sarona is the name of a road in Kailua-Kona in the immediate vicinity of Moku‘aikaua Church. As noted in the translations above, Sarona is the Hawaiian word for Sharon.

Moku‘aikaua Church started in 1820 with the arrival of the first American Protestant missionaries. With the permission of Liholiho (Kamehameha II), the missionaries built a grass house for worship in 1823.

It soon was found that the church was incapable of holding the growing following of the missionaries. The Kona District had by the mid-1820s, an estimated population of 20,000 and congregations became so large that a considerable number had to be excluded from services.

Governor Kuakini immediately agreed to help in the erection of a new structure. Every male in the district was sent into the mountains to help cut and haul timber. On September 27, 1826, the church was dedicated. (NPS)

It was destroyed by fire in 1835; the present lava rock and coral mortared church, capped with a gable roof, was dedicated on February 4, 1837. It is the oldest intact Western structure on the Island of Hawai‘i.

Moku‘aikaua Church is on a small level lot near the center of Kailua-Kona. Its high steeple stands out conspicuously and has become a landmark from both land and sea.

Some believe Sarona Road was the path people took to/from Mokuaikaua Church that takes an idyllic biblical name (reminiscent of the Rose of Sharon and other Sharon references in the Bible) that was named by Asa Thurston.

Reverend Asa and Lucy Thurston were in the Pioneer company of American Protestant Missionaries to the Hawaiian Islands, arriving in Kailua-Kona on the Thaddeus in 1820.

The Thurstons made their home in Kailua Village, in a house the Hawaiians named Laniākea. Thurston received Laniākea, a 5.26-acre homestead parcel as a gift from Governor Kuakini.

As noted by Rev. Sereno Edwards Bishop, in his book “Reminiscences Of Old Hawaii”: “In the early [1830s,] Kailua was a large native village, of about 4,000 inhabitants rather closely packed along one hundred rods [1650-feet] of shore, and averaging twenty rods [330-feet] inland.”

“It had been the chief residence of King Kamehameha, who in 1819 died there in a rudely built stone house whose walls are probably still standing on the west shore of the little bay. Nearby stood a better stone house occupied by the doughty Governor Kuakini.”

“All other buildings in Kailua were thatched, until Rev. Artemas Bishop built his two-story stone dwelling in 1831 and Rev. Asa Thurston in 1833 built his wooden two-story house at Laniakea, a quarter of a mile inland.”

“Most of the native huts were thatched with the stiff pili grass. The better ones were thatched with lau-hala (pandanus leaf) or with la-i.”

“The second company [of missionaries] consisted of six married couples and two single persons. They sailed from New Haven, Conn., Nov. 19, 1822, and arrived at Honolulu, April 27, 1823, in 158 days. Among the second company was Rey. Artemas Bishop, a native of Pompey, NY …”

“He was married in November, 1822, to Elizabeth Edwards, who was born at Marlborough, Mass., June 17, 1796. Mrs. Bishop had been a girlhood friend of Mrs. Lucy G. Thurston, who had preceded her to Hawaii as a missionary, some four years earlier.”

Missionaries that served at the Kailua-Kona Mission Station, whose principal church was Moku‘aikaua, included, Asa Thurston, Thomas Holman, Artemas Bishop, James Ely, Delia Stone and Seth L Andrews.

Back to the naming of the road … Hawaiian Place Names notes the reference to the Land Commission Award Book and Tax Map, apparently, all references are linked to the Land Commission decisions.

Early references to ‘Sarona’ are found in the Land Commission Awards (LCA) Book 3 related to awards to Leleiōhoku. Leleiōhoku was son of Kalanimōku; Leleiōhoku married Princess Ruth (Keʻelikōlani).

On August 30, 1851, the Land Commission records note LCA 1028 and LCA 9971 Apana 46 and 47 (as well as many other parcels) were in a partial list of lands agreed upon by the Mahele to belong to the more important Aliis and Chiefs and confirmed to Leleiōhoku by Award of the Commission to Quiet Land Titles.

Mapping for LCA 1028 noted ‘Ala Ololi Sarona’ (Narrow Sharon Path) as a boundary and mauka of the parcel the trail/road is noted as ‘Ala Ololi Pii Sarona’ (Narrow Sharon Path going up).

Mapping for the LCA 9971 Apana parcels 46 and 47 note “Alanui Sarona” (Sharon Road/Trail) as a boundary. The ‘Alanui’ reference suggests larger trails/road.

LCA 9971 Apana 47 also notes Alanui Tatina (now spelled Kakina) as a boundary – Tatina was the Hawaiian name for Thurston. Alanui Tatina is likely the trail used by the Thurstons that lead from their home, ‘Laniakea’, down into Kailua-Kona).

Given its location, the early reference of the name (1851), the biblical nature of the name, the religious passion of Asa Thurston, Artemas Bishop and the other missionaries and their families, it is plausible (probable) that Sarona Road was named by the missionaries and was a trail used by the Hawaiians from the surrounding area to get to Moku‘aikaua Church.

By Resolution 288, dated January 19, 1956, the Hawai‘i County Board of Supervisors approved the ‘Naming of Streets in Kailua Keahou [sic] Area, Kona’; the list of ten streets included Sarona Road.

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