Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

“Build me a house like that”

Princess Ruth wrote to Lot Kamehameha and asked that he “fence the lot at Kaakopua with boards and to put up a gate large enough for carriages to enter”, as well as “furnish lumber for a house”.  (Zambucka)

“The two storied wooden frame residence of Emma St. of Princess Ruth was destroyed by fire during the absence in Hawaiʻi.  A valuable wardrobe, mementos of chief families, jewelry etc. was lost.”  (Honolulu Advertiser, October 18, 1873; Zambucka)

Having lost her house, Princess Ruth Luka Keanolani Kauanahoahoa Keʻelikōlani sought to rebuild.  The area where the home was located was known as Kaʻakopua.

“It is said … that in looking over various plans for the construction of a mansion on Emma Street, she was particularly struck with those of a normal school building in the States.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, October 1, 1895)

“Drawing those plans from among many others she said in her imperious manner to the architect standing nearby, ‘Build me a house like that.’”    (Hawaiian Gazette, October 1, 1895)  Thus began the construction of a home; she named it Keōua Hale.

The main architect behind new structure was Charles J. Hardy, an American from Chicago, employed at the Enterprise Planing Mill in Honolulu. The gaslit interior of the mansion was celebrated for its ornate plaster work and frescoes.  It was the most expansive residence of the time; it was larger than ʻIolani Palace.

The house was completed in 1883; however, Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani never lived in the palace. She became ill immediately after the house warming and birthday luau.

She returned to Huliheʻe, her Kailua-Kona residence, where they believed she would more quickly regain her health.  On May 24, 1883, Keʻelikōlani died at the age of fifty-seven, in her traditional grass home in Kailua-Kona.

At her death, Keʻelikōlani’s will stated that she “give and bequeath forever to my beloved younger sister (cousin), Bernice Pauahi Bishop, all of my property, the real property and personal property from Hawaiʻi to Kauaʻi, all of said property to be hers.” (about 353,000 acres, which established the land-base endowment for Pauahi’s subsequent formation of Kamehameha Schools.)

The palace was inherited by Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop; she and her husband, Charles Reed Bishop lived in house.  Pauahi passed away in the house a year later (October 16, 1884.) “(F)rom the hour of her death until the morning of her funeral, it rained continuously, until, at the appointed time the heavens cleared, and the sun shone brightly”.  (KSBE)

In her will, Pauahi initially intended to devise Kaʻakopua to Queen Emma.  However, in her later codicils (amendments,) Pauahi devised “the Ili of “Kaʻakopua”, extending from Emma to Fort Street and also all kuleanas in the same, and everything appurtenant to said premises” to her husband, “to hold for his life, remainder to my trustees.”  (KSBE)

On April 9 1885, the first meeting of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Trust Board of Trustees was held at Keōua Hale 21 Emma Street with Bishop chosen chairman for the evening.  (KSBE)

But the house was not destined to be the home for Kamehameha Schools.  Rather, it had the honor of serving as the campus of the first public high school in Honolulu.

“The Board of Education used every means in its power to obtain the building” (Hawaiian Gazette, October 1, 1895)  “(D)uring talks to make the house into a school, there soon were people approving and praise this conversion into a high school. The Board of Education immediately sought to obtain the house, and were fortunate to get it at a fair price ($600,000.)”  (Kuokoa, October 12, 1895)

However, the idea of the purchase was not without its detractors.

“The stupidity of the Board of Education has been made clear. The Legislature has not approved the money to purchase Kaʻakopua and Keōua Hale. This is a huge sum of money, and it is better if they purchased some other land and built buildings for the high school, and not that beautiful house which will cost a lot to clean it up, as a place for a few people to live haughtily and snobbily off the money of the Government. It is true!”  (Makaʻāinana, 8/12/1895)

The DOE purchased the property from the Bishop Estate on June 27, 1895.  (DOE, Star Advertiser)  “(E)verything (moved) forward, expeditious preparations (were) made to begin school soon, when regular school starts. The nation is proud to obtain this schoolhouse to enroll and teach children in higher learning than that taught at the other schools which teach general knowledge.”  (Kuokoa, October 12, 1895)

So began Kula Kiekie o Honolulu (Honolulu High School.)

“The instructors of this school are, Prof. M. M. Scott, principal; J. Lightfoot, teacher of Mathematics and Latin; Miss Brewer and Miss Needham, grammar teachers; Miss Beckwith, art teacher; and Miss Tucker, a teacher of singing.”  (Kuokoa, October 12, 1895)

“This institution has been developing satisfactorily during the period under review. It is not accredited at any of the universities of America, and in my opinion it is not desirable that it be so accredited. The plan of leaving each of our graduates to enter college or fail to do so on his own merits, as recent experience indicates, will produce results creditable to all concerned.”

“Besides, the preparation of candidates for college entrance examinations is but a small part of the work of a high school in Honolulu. The course of study should be such as will fit for life, and the matter of fitting for college should be relegated to its own subordinate place.”

“The Honolulu High School is especially adapted to the needs of those who speak the English language as a mother tongue and to no others. It accommodates but passably a few of the exceptionally bright pupils of the much larger class who have the language to learn after entering school. Taking into account the number of English speaking persons in Honolulu, it will be observed that the high school is of very creditable size.”  (Report of the Minister of Public Instruction, 1899)

In 1907, Honolulu High School moved out of Keōua Hale to the corner of Beretania and Victoria Streets. The school’s name was then changed to President William McKinley High School, after President William McKinley, whose influence brought about the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands to the United States.

The educational needs of Honolulu exceeded the space of Princess Ruth’s palace for several reasons. In 1920, a report was published on the survey of schools conducted by the Bureau of Education of the Federal Department of the Interior.

The report noted that typical middle class families in America were sending their children to public secondary schools, but in Hawaii, public schools were so few and geographically isolated, that many had to go to private schools or were forced to drop out.

Therefore, the commission recommended the establishment of secondary or junior high schools which should offer more academic and vocational choices to feed various high schools. And Hawaii, at this time, tried very hard to be American. (NPS)

Later, at Kaʻakopua, new school buildings replaced Keōua Hale.  Upon its official opening in 1927, the Advertiser news article described the layout which has remained relatively intact:

“Entering the main portal of the new plant, the visitor finds the principal’s office at the left and teachers’ room at the right. … Four large classrooms flank the main corridor and behind them are the kitchen and the dining pavilions. …”

“There are 11 classrooms in the old wing and in the new wing there are six classrooms on the main floor and seven on the second story. … The 31 classroom building had room for 1,500 pupils.”  (NPS)

Though called Central Middle School, as you drive down South Kukui Street (between Queen Emma Street and Nuʻuanu Pali Highway) the name “Keʻelikōlani School” is noted on the building.

DOE suggests the school there was never called that.  (Unfortunately, DOE records were lost in a fire.)  However, a July 2, 1917 Star Bulletin article notes Pedro Augusta as the Keʻelikōlani School janitor (no other school was named Keʻelikōlani.)

In October of 1994 the buildings of Central Intermediate were placed on the Hawaiʻi Register of Historic Places. The school continues to honor Princess Ruth’s generosity in providing a location for their school by celebrating her birthday February 9 of each year.  (Central Middle School)

In September 2021, the Hawaiʻi State Board of Education (BOE) approved the restoration of Central Middle School to its former name honoring Princess Ruth Keanolani Kanāhoahoa Keʻelikōlani. The change was effective immediately. Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani Middle School currently serves 336 students in grades six through eight.

© 2022 Hoʻokuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kīpapa Gulch

Place names help tell the stories of the place.

During the reign of Māʻilikūkahi, who ruled at about the same time Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic, invaders from Hawai‘i and Maui arrived on O‘ahu.

In the battles, the O‘ahu forces met the opposing forces in the uplands of Waipi‘o, and a great battle occurred.

Māʻilikūkahi was raised partly in Waialua and is said to have maintained a kulanakauhale (village) there.

Fornander writes, “He (Māʻilikūkahi) caused the island to be thoroughly surveyed, and boundaries between differing divisions and lands be definitely and permanently marked out, thus obviating future disputes between neighboring chiefs and landholders.”

Kamakau tells a similar story, “When the kingdom passed to Māʻilikūkahi, the land divisions were in a state of confusion; the ahupuaʻa, the ku, the ʻili ʻāina, the moʻo ʻāina, the pauku ʻāina, and the kihāpai were not clearly defined.”

“Therefore, Māʻilikūkahi ordered the chiefs, aliʻi, the lesser chiefs, kaukau aliʻi, the warrior chiefs, puʻali aliʻi, and the overseers (luna) to divide all of Oʻahu into moku, ahupuaʻa, ʻili kupono, ʻili ʻāina, and moʻo ʻāina.”

What is commonly referred to as the “ahupuaʻa system” is a result of the firm establishment of palena (boundaries.) This system of land divisions and boundaries enabled a konohiki (land/resource manager) to know the limits and productivity of the resources that they managed – and increase its productivity.

Māʻilikūkahi is also known for a benevolent reign that was followed by generations of peace. He prohibited the chiefs from plundering the makaʻāinana, with punishment of death. His reign “ushered in an era of benign rule lasting for several generations.”

Thrum notes that while Māʻilikūkahi was peacefully disposed, he proved to be a brave defender of his realm in thoroughly defeating the invading forces.

Fornander suggests it was not considered a war between the two islands, but, rather, it was a raid by some restless and turbulent chiefs. The invading force first landed at Waikīkī and proceeded to ʻEwa and marched inland.

At Waikakalaua (an upland ʻili of Waikele) they met Māʻilikūkahi and his forces, and a bloody battle ensued. The fight continued from there to the Kīpapa gulch – stretching across Kīpapa (an ʻili of Waipiʻo,) Waikakalaua and the place known as Punaluʻu.

Tradition has it that the body count from the invaders was so great that it is said the area was paved (kīpapa “placed prone”) with their bodies.

Punaluʻu, an upland ʻili, was named for one of the invading warrior-chiefs killed during the battle. Another warrior-chief, Hilo, was also killed in the battle.

Poʻohilo (an ʻili of Honouliuli) is named from events following a battle in the Kīpapa-Waikakalaua region in which the head of Hilo was placed on a stake at this site and displayed.

Kanupo‘o (an ʻili of Waikele) may be translated as meaning, “planted skull” and seems to imply an event of some importance – it may be tied to events of the battle at Kīpapa and the naming of Po‘ohilo at Honouliuli.

Today, people suggest the gulch is ruled by the spirits of fallen warriors; there are reports that this is one of the paths of the Huakaiʻpo (night marchers) and other reports suggest a woman dressed in white hitchhiking.

The area was also a temporary home to the Naval Air Station Kipapa Field / Kipapa Army Airfield. It was used because it could accommodate two 5,000′ runways free from obstructions (however, concerns were raised about increased air congestion due to its proximity between Pearl Harbor and Wheeler Field.)

The airfield site is located south the Mililani Golf Course between Meheula Parkway and Hokuala Streets – the runways extended out to the edge of the gulch. Mililani District Park is located near the intersection of the 2 main runways.

The use of this site by the Navy would permit the concentration of carrier-group training for Naval aviation on the south side of the island of Oahu including Barber’s Point, Kīpapa Gulch, and Ford Island.

But it was not until sometime after the United States entered World War II that Kipapa Airfield was developed; the exact start date is not clear, but 1943 maps note the facility.

During the war it apparently saw little use by the Navy due to the fact that carrier aircraft were constantly deployed during the war. The Army Air Corps became the principal user of the airfield by default.

Aircraft from this airfield searched & patrolled over the surrounding Pacific area, maintaining a 24-hour vigil to avert any attack with a large number and variety of squadrons are documented to have been stationed at Kipapa Airfield during World War II.

Kipapa Field was evidently closed at some point between 1959 and 1961 (it was no longer depicted on the 1961 and later mapping.)

© 2022 Hoʻokuleana LLC

by Peter T Young 4 Comments

Surfer Girl

“Surf-riding was one of the most exciting and noble sports known to the Hawaiians, practiced equally by king, chief and commoner. It is still to some extent engaged in, though not as formerly, when it was not uncommon for a whole community, including both sexes, and all ages, to sport and frolic in the ocean the livelong day.” (Malo)

By 1779, riding waves lying down or standing on long, hardwood surfboards was an integral part of Hawaiian culture. Surfboard riding was as layered into the society, religion and myth of the islands as baseball is to the modern United States.

Even the missionaries surfed.

Amos Cooke, who arrived in Hawaiʻi in 1837 – and was later appointed by King Kamehameha III to teach the young royalty in the Chief’s Childrens’ School – surfed himself (with his sons) and enjoyed going to the beach in the afternoon. “After dinner Auhea went with me, & the boys to bathe in the sea, & I tried riding on the surf. To day I have felt quite lame from it.” (Cooke)

Mark Twain sailed to the Hawaiian Islands and tried surfing, describing his 1866 experience in his book Roughing It. “I tried surf-bathing once, subsequently, but made a failure of it. I got the board placed right, and at the right moment, too; but missed the connection myself.”

“The board struck the shore in three quarters of a second, without any cargo, and I struck the bottom about the same time, with a couple of barrels of water in me.”

Missionary Hiram Bingham, noted of surfing (rather poetically,) “On a calm and bright summer’s day, the wide ocean and foaming surf … the green tufts of elegant fronds on the tall cocoanut trunks, nodding and waving, like graceful plumes, in the refreshing breeze …”

“… the natives … riding more rapidly and proudly on their surf-boards, on the front of foaming surges … give life and interest to the scenery.”

Although everyone, including women and children, surfed, it was the chiefs who dominated the sport. One of the best among Waikīkī’s chiefs was Kalamakua; he came from a long ancestry of champion surfers whose knowledge, skill and mana were handed down and passed on from generation to generation. (DLNR)

A notable wahine (woman) surfer was Kelea, sister of Kawao, King of Maui (about AD 1445) – “No sport was to her so enticing as a battle with the waves.” (Kalākaua)

She loved the water possibly because she could see her fair face mirrored in it – and became the most graceful and daring surf-swimmer in the kingdom. Kelea later married Kalamakua. (Kalākaua) But this story is not about Kelea.

This story is about another surfer girl.

Reportedly, Mrs James Cromwell became the first woman to take up competition surfing under the guidance of surfing champion and Olympic swimmer Duke Kahanamoku and his brothers.

Cromwell won “First Place” in a surfboard regatta staged at Waikīkī Beach (January 22, 1939.) She and beach boy Sam Kahanamoku won the tandem, open “malihini girls and beach boys” quarter-mile sprint. (Honolulu Advertiser, January 23, 1939)

She and Sam were a familiar team in Waikīkī, where they won tandem surfing and paddling competitions. A bronze medalist in the 100-meter free-style swim at the 1924 Olympics, Sam was also an avid surfer, paddler, musician and a great wit. (Their friendship continued until his death in 1966.)

By 1941, Cromwell had 13-boards in the household inventory. Each of the boards had a name or initials, including one named Lahilahi (thin or dainty,) an affectionate nickname given to her by the Kahanamokus.

All was not fun and games. Showing her husband her surfing skill while in Honolulu, Mrs Cromwell, in 1935, had a slight scalp wound as a result of being thrown from her 60-pound surfboard. An emergency hospital record showed she was treated and released. (St Petersburg Times, November 3, 1935)

She later had a more modern board, created by Dale Velzy, who is considered one of the men responsible for the rise of the California surfer culture in the years following World War II. Some suggest Velzy opened the first conventional surf shop at Manhattan Beach in California in 1949.

Her board is one of the first boards Velzy created using the new polyurethane foam material; boards were previously made of balsa wood.

Oh, by the way … Mrs Cromwell was more generally known as “the richest girl in the world,” Doris Duke.

Doris Duke, the only child of James Buchanan Duke, was born on November 22, 1912. Her father was a founder of the American Tobacco Company and the Duke Power Company, as well as a benefactor of Duke University. When Mr Duke died in 1925, he left his 12-year old daughter an estate estimated at $80-million.

In the late-1930s, Doris Duke built her Honolulu home, Shangri La, on 5-acres overlooking the Pacific Ocean and Diamond Head. Shangri La incorporates architectural features from the Islamic world and houses Duke’s extensive collection of Islamic art, which she assembled for nearly 60-years.

Her surfing legacy lives on.

Rough Point has been the ‘home’ of the Doris Duke Surf Fest. It’s not really a surf contest; it’s more of a display of vintage surfboards on the grounds of Rough Point, one of Duke’s other homes (in Newport, Rhode Island, not far from the International Tennis Hall of Fame.)

Designed in the English manorial style, Rough Point was originally built for Frederick W Vanderbilt, sixth son of William H Vanderbilt. When it was commissioned in 1887, Rough Point was the largest house that the Newport summer colony had yet seen, replacing two wood-frame houses at the extreme southeast end of Bellevue Avenue.

Duke’s father bought it in 1922. On her death, she bequeathed the estate to the Newport Restoration Foundation with the directive that it be opened to the public as a museum (it opened for tours in 2000.) (Lots of information here from Shangri La Hawaiʻi and Newport Restoration Foundation.)

 

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Moku O Loʻe

Three brothers, Kahoe, Kahuauli and Pahu, and their sister, Loʻe, were sent from ʻEwa to live in Kāneʻohe. Loʻe lived on Moku o Loʻe (Loʻe’s island). Kahuauli was a farmer at Luluku (in the area of Puʻu Kahuauli). Kahoe was a farmer near Haiku and Keaʻahala; and Pahu was a fisherman in Pohakea (in the area of Puʻu Pahu). (Jokiel, HIMB)

When Pahu went to visit Kahoe he always received poi from him. In return, he gave Kahoe small leftover baitfish instead of good large ulua that he caught daily. Kahoe eventually learned of Pahu’s deceit from Loʻe who came over from her island to visit him. (Jokiel, HIMB)

Several months later there was a famine and everyone hid the smoke from their cooking fires to avoid having to share their food with others. Kahoe was able to conceal his smoke in his valley. It traveled one to two kilometers before appearing on the summit of the cliff.

One evening Loʻe caught Pahu looking longingly at Keaʻahala and said, “So, standing with eyes looking at Keahiakahoe (Kahoe’s fire).” To this day the peak carries this name. (Jokiel, HIMB)

Surrounding Kāneʻohe Bay landward are, again, the Koʻolau Mountains. Seen to the right of Mōkapu Peninsula’s Puʻu Papaʻa and in the foreground is Puʻu Pahu, a hill on the mainland overlooking Moku o Loe. Lilipuna Pier, which provides access by boat to Moku o Loʻe, is located here. This headland is known as Pōhākea.

To the right and continuing southwest are the peaks of Puʻu Kōnāhuanui, Puʻu Lanihuli, Puʻu Kahuauli and Puʻu Keahiakahoe. These surround the large valley of Kaneohe.

It came under the ownership of Bishop Estate. In 1933, Chris Holmes, owner of Hawaiian Tuna Packers (later, Coral Tuna) and heir to the Fleischmann yeast fortune, purchased the island for his tuna-packing factory.

Later, Holmes tried to transform Coconut Island into his own private paradise. He enlarged the island, built the ponds, harbors and seawall surrounding the island. He also planted large numbers of coconut palms which gave rise to its popular name, “Coconut Island”.

Holmes bought a 4-masted schooner in Samoa, the Seth Parker, and had it sailed north to Hawai‘i. It leaked so much on the trip that it was declared unseaworthy. He permanently moved the Seth Parker to Coconut Island. This boat was used in the movie “Wake of the Red Witch”, starring John Wayne. (HIMB)

Christian Holmes built outdoor bars at various points around the island. He had a bowling alley built, and reconstructed a shooting gallery on the island that he had bought at an amusement park in San Francisco. (HIMB)

That’s not all. Coconut Island even housed a small zoo for a short time. Animal residents included: donkeys, a giraffe, monkeys and a baby elephant. Upon Holmes’s death, these animals became the basis for the Honolulu Zoo (along with the Honolulu Bird Park at the Kapiʻolani Park site).

The baby elephant was known as “Empress” at the zoo and died of old age in 1986. Zookeepers believe her to be the longest living captive elephant. (HIMB)

After Chris Holmes passed away in 1944 Coconut Island was used for an Army Rest & Recreation center until it was bought by five investors. Eventually Edwin Pauley became principal owner.

During World War II the army used the island as a rest camp for combat officers, building barracks and adding electrical, plumbing and a sewage disposal plant and improving the dock facilities. After the war, Holmes put the island up for sale and Edwin W Pauley, his brother Harold, SB Mosher, Poncet Davis and Allen Chase (wealthy oil men) purchased it for $250,000.

Pauley, the leader of the group, was a Los Angeles oilman, former treasurer of the National Democratic Party and Reparations Commissioner after the end of World War II.

Through a collaboration of Paul R Williams and A Quincy Jones, a concept plan was developed to use the island as a millionaire’s playground and exclusive resort – Coconut Island Club International.

Described by Ed Pauley as the ultimate “retreat for tired businessmen,” the drawing shows the four-story, 26-suite hostel and proposed amenities. Swimming pools, boathouses, tennis courts, bowling alley, and a lookout tower with a view of Kaneohe Bay and Oahu were all part of the master plan.

Forty-five minutes by speedboat from Honolulu, Coconut Island was the south sea location of the 1940s paradise for five wealthy American businessmen.

With year-round temperate weather, luxuriant plantings, natural wading pools and a world-class dock for expensive pleasure boats, the island was the perfect setting for a private resort where “members and their families can enjoy vacations under the most delightful conditions possible anywhere in the world.” (Los Angeles Times, February 16, 1947)

Their vision of the resort island as an exclusive private club, a “combination millionaire’s playground and crossroads hostel for high level international citizens,” owned and frequented by “substantial people – important people, if you will, notables, or call them what you like…” proved to be too restrictive to support the grand building project. Soon after the drawing was completed, the venture was abandoned.

Eventually, Edwin Pauley, bought out the interests of the other four and became the sole owner of the island. Here, his family spent their summers. Many famous people spent time on Coconut Island as a guest of Edwin Pauley. Some of these include: Harry Truman, Lyndon B Johnson, Red Skelton, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.

By the early 1950s Edwin Pauley was approached by the marine biologists at the University of Hawaii’s fledgling Marine Laboratory to use the island’s boat facilities as a base for their research vessel. Pauley responded, “We have a lot of other facilities here. Could you use anything else on the Island?” (Kamins, A History of the UH)

He leased the necessary land to the State “rent free.” The original main laboratory building burned down. Pauley donated the funds to replace it (it was completed in 1965.)

Following the death of Edwin Pauley in the early 1980s, the island was put up for sale. A Japanese real estate developer, Katsuhiro Kawaguchi, offered $8.5 million in cash and purchased the island.

Later, the Pauley Foundation and Trustees approved a grant of $7.615 million to build a marine laboratory to be named the Pauley-Pagen Laboratory. The Pauley family provided the UH Foundation with the $2 million necessary to buy the private portion of the island from Mr. Kawaguchi.

Instead of a millionaire’s playground, the island became a haven for world-class scientists at the Hawaiʻi Institute for Marine Biology (HIMB.) While some generally refer to the island as “Coconut Island,” (and it was featured in the opening scene of Gilligan’s Island, a 1960s television sitcom,) let us not forget its original name, Moku O Loʻe.

 

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Māla Wharf

“(T)he citizens of Maui in particular, and of the Territory or Hawaiʻi in general, as well as many strangers who, in the past, have visited Maui, up to the present time have been required to submit to the most unsatisfactory, antiquated, and often dangerous methods of landing”.

“After years of patient and persistent effort on the part of the citizens of this Island there has been constructed and brought to completion at Māla , one of the most modern and up to date wharves”. (Maui Chamber Resolution 1922)

Māla Pier, dedicated in 1922, planned to eliminate the inconvenience of light freighters to load/unload steamers anchored in Lāhainā Roadstead.

The Maui Chamber of Commerce went on record as strongly opposed to the use at Māla Wharf of small boats from and to the steamers Mauna Kea and Kilauea.

Nearby was the Baldwin Packers pineapple cannery, it was hoped that this new pier would facilitate transporting the pineapple.

Likewise, sugar from the upslope Pioneer Mill was expected to be run out the wharf to be loaded directly onto large ocean voyaging cargo vessels.

Building the massive wharf in those days was no minor undertaking and the army corps of engineers developed the design and erected the wharf.

It was noted at the time that Hawaiians familiar with the local tides, coastline and ocean activity recommended against its construction in that location.

The ill-fated structure was built anyway and on the very first attempt to pull a cargo ship alongside the wharf for loading the vessel crashed into Māla Wharf causing serious damage to the structure.

It was soon discovered that the ocean currents at Māla Wharf were too treacherous for the ships to navigate safely.

Strong currents and heavy surf damaged many others when they tried to tie-up there. (Reportedly, only a handful of steamers ever landed there successfully.)

Produce had to be taken by barge to awaiting ships. By 1932, the roads had been improved enough to transport the fruit by truck to Kahului Harbor.

The State closed the wharf in the 1950s. Several subsequent plans have been discussed to the pier and adjoining lands.

In 1971, proposals by the Xanadu Corp to construct a restaurant, museum, shops, offices, park, parking lot and small marina at the site were announced. (Lahaina Sun)

Initial plans called for a 193-space parking lot situated at the Kaʻānapali side of the foot of the pier. A park was planned between the parking lot and the shoreline which would block the parking area from sight while on the pier. (Lahaina Sun)

Four buildings, housing 18 shops and 10 offices would be staggered on alternate sides of the pier. Park and fishing areas would be located between the buildings. Some of the shops would be cantilevered over the water. (Lahaina Sun)

The bulk of the four buildings would be one story, with two sections of each building rising another story. Near the end of the pier, a bait and tackle shop is planned. Plans also call for construction of a one-story Hawaiiana Museum. (Lahaina Sun)

At the pier’s end would be a two-story restaurant which could seat 200. Behind the restaurant would be an art gallery. Plans also include a 40-ship marina. The marina would be situated close to shore and would require dredging operations. (Lahaina Sun)

In 2012, principals of Harbor Quest LLC discussed plans for another boat harbor at Māla.

Their testimony before the council described the details: “A channel approximately 650 feet long and 125 (feet) in width would be constructed through what is now Māla Wharf access road. The channel would transect Front Street, opening into a harbor basin with a surface area approximately three times the size of Lahaina Small Board Harbor.” (Lahaina News)

The vision is for a mixed-use, inland harbor village situated on 24-plus acres of land on the south side of Kahoma Stream between the ocean and Honoapiilani Highway. (Lahaina News)

The proposed plans for the private venture are still on the drawing board but include 143 fifty-foot slips, three anchor restaurants, 160 retail establishments, 16 residential condominiums, haul-out facility and a four-story parking garage. (Lahaina News)

Nearby, Kahoma Village, an affordable workforce housing project was recently constructed. However, the Hawaii State Supreme Court upheld a decision by a lower court invalidating a permit for Kahoma Village.

The Supreme Court agreed with the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals that the Maui Planning Commission should have allowed a group of neighboring residents to intervene on Kahoma Village, a 203-unit, $60 million fast-track affordable housing project that was approved in 2014.

© 2022 Hoʻokuleana LLC