Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

January 5, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Progress Block

“A few years ago even the most progressive citizens of the Paradise of the Pacific would state that there was ‘nothing in real estate’ in Honolulu, and every man with money was chasing after sugar stock or doubling his coin in the business which justly, if not politely, must be described as usury.”

” New blood and fresh ideas were wanted to shake up the community from the lethargy in which every body apparently had fallen.” (The Independent, April 25, 1898)

“One day CS Desky arrived on the scene, and it didn’t take him very long before he had realized the wonderful opportunities which the islands offered …. Desky treated the public to surprise after surprise. … The new Progress Block erected by him … deserves a special mention being the best finished and up-to-date building ever seen in Honolulu.” (The Independent, April 25, 1898)

But, wait – that is getting ahead of the story. Let’s look back; in doing so, we’ll see some history related to some familiar Honolulu institutions.

With a growing maritime industry in the Islands, in 1833, the Seamen’s Friend Society sent Rev John Diell to establish a chapel in Honolulu; the Bethel Chapel and the seamen’s chaplaincy were dedicated on November 28, 1833, in a service attended by “the king, Kīnaʻu, and the principal chiefs … together with a respectable number of residents, masters of vessels and seamen.”

As the population of the town continued to grow, it became evident there was a need to form a separate and self-supporting church; so, in 1852, the Second Foreign Church in Honolulu came into existence. In 1856, they built a permanent house of worship at the corner of Fort and Beretania streets and the name of the organization was changed to the Fort Street Church of Honolulu.

The Fort Street English Day School was officially established in 1865; it met in the basement of the Fort Street Church. The Fort Street School was split in 1895 into Kaʻiulani Elementary School and Honolulu High School (the high school moved into Keōua Hale – former residence of Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani (now the site of the Central Intermediate School.)) (Later (1907,) the Honolulu High School moved again; that year it changed its name to McKinley High School (Oʻahu’s oldest public high school.))

In April 1887, Fort Street Church prepared a proposal to reunite the Bethel and itself into a new organization, and from that time until the formal union, the two churches worshipped together. Selection of the new church’s name was settled by vote; the final result was Central Union 28, Church of the Redeemer 18, and Bethel Union 1.

Thus, Central Union Church began its existence. The original congregation numbered 337 members – 250 from the Fort Street Church, 72 from Bethel Union, 13 from other churches and 2 on confession of faith at the first service. By 1888, increased church membership made it apparent that the Central Union congregation was outgrowing the Fort Street building.

All of these activities (with the Church and School using, then leaving the property) eventually freed up the site at the corner of Fort and Beretania Street (the former home of what are now Central Union Church and McKinley High School.) This is across the Fort Street Mall from the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace.

Several newspaper articles help explain what happened next. The July 27, 1897 issue of the Hawaiian Gazette starts it off with a front page headline reading, “Progress Block.”

“Plans have just been completed at the offices of Ripley & Dickey (Clinton Briggs Ripley and Charles William “CW” Dickey,) architects, for the Progress building, to be erected at the corner of Fort and Beretania streets, according to the orders of CS Desky, proprietor.”

“The Progress building is to be built out of the native rock that is now being so much used in the construction of the latest improved business blocks that have recently been put up in the city, and, taken all in all, it is to be the most beautiful business block in the city, with the very best and most convenient of situations.” (Hawaiian Gazette, July 27, 1897)

Stores fronting on Fort street are on the first floor; the second floor will have 11 suites of offices (with first-class lavatories and two broad corridors) and the third floor will be the “crowning feature” of the whole building (amusement hall and ball room.) (Hawaiian Gazette, July 27, 1897)

“The floor of the hall will be polished and waxed for dancing, and a canvas covering will be on hand at all times, to be used during concerts and entertainments. The whole building will be most elegantly finished, and the furnishings will be of the very best.” (Hawaiian Gazette, July 27, 1897)

“Ground will be broken on the old church property at Fort and Beretania streets next Monday for a three-story stone store and office building that is to contain the finest amusement hall west of San Francisco … to be known as the Progress block.” (Hawaiian Star, June 25, 1897)

“When Mr CS Desky’s Progress Block, corner of Fort and Beretania, is completed, which will be in about three months, Honolulu will have practically a second up-town theater. The hall on the third floor of the Progress building will be a regular little bijou of a music-hall. There will be a stage of good size and the main auditorium will seat 800 people.” (Hawaiian Gazette, February 1, 1898)

“Mr Dusky bought the large tract of land known as the Irwin homestead with frontages on Chaplain Lane, Fort street and Beretania street … he has erected the magnificent Progress building which is an ornament to the city and a credit to the owner to the architect and the builder.”

“In a few weeks the building will be delivered by the contractor to the owner and the public will have a chance to inspect and admire the structure which certainly is entitled to the name ‘Progress.’” (The Independent, April 25, 1898)

The building was completed in May 1898; by July, newspaper reports note that “every store and room in the building was rented.”

It is still here; however, what we see today is not a single building.

“Bruce Cartwright will now identify himself with the development of upper Fort street, yesterday he closed a deal with CS Desky for the purchase of the property just makai of the Progress block, and within ten days he will, it is slated, break ground for a three story stone and brick building, similar in construction and appearance to the Progress block. In fact the plans already prepared by Mr. Desky for an extension of his building will be used, with a few changes.” (Hawaiian Star, April 26, 1898)

“The makai wall of the present Progress Block will serve as the mauka wall of the new building. Arches will be made in this point wall and for the upper floors of the two blocks there will be used the same electric elevator.” (Hawaiian Gazette, May 6, 1898) Construction of Cartwright’s building started on May 4, 1898.

Some of the former users of the property returned; there are several references to Honolulu High School holding commencement exercises in Progress Hall. Others used the facilities, as well – including some ‘firsts’ in Hawaiʻi.

Progress Hall (“about the only available place at that time where meetings could be held”) ushered in the Elks (with 90 charter members, first initiation and installation took place April 15, 1901.) Likewise, the First Hebrew Congregation of Honolulu was formally organized at a meeting of some thirty of the Jewish residents of the city in Progress Hall Sunday afternoon, October 27, 1901.

In 1981, both buildings were completely gutted and a new interior designed of steel beams and heavy timber. Elevators, a new roof, central air conditioning, sprinkler systems, safety systems, new window designs and an entrance canopy were added. Some references say a fourth floor was added. (Burlingame)

Today, Hawaiʻi Pacific University occupies the Model Progress Building (it is not clear when the “Model” moniker was added to the building name;) uses include, Center for Student Life and First-Year Programs, Commuter Services, Dean of Students Office, ELS Language Center, faculty offices and spaces/uses for various departments and programs.

September 20, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Saint Louis School

On June 17, 1839, King Kamehameha III issued the Edict of Toleration permitting religious freedom for Catholics in the same way as it had been granted to the Protestants.

In 1841, Father Louis Maigret, the Vicar delegate, divided Oʻahu into missionary districts. Father Martial Jan was assigned to supervise the Koʻolau district. By the early 1850s, the windward coast of Oʻahu was dotted with chapels.

The Sacred Hearts Father’s College of Ahuimanu was founded on the Windward side of Oʻahu in 1846 by the Catholic Mission under the direction of the Fathers of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

One of its students, Damien (born as Jozef de Veuster,) arrived in Hawaiʻi on March 9, 1864, at the time a 24-year-old choirboy. Determined to become a priest, he had the remainder of his schooling the College of Ahuimanu.

On May 21, Damien was ordained a priest at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in downtown Honolulu; he spent the rest of his life in Hawaiʻi. In 2009, Father Damien was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI.

The College of Ahuimanu flourished; as reported by the Bishop in 1865, “The college and the schools are doing well. But as the number of pupils is continually on the increase, it has become necessary to enlarge the college. First we have added a story and a top floor with an attic; then we have been obliged to construct a new building. And yet we are lacking room.”

In 1881, the school moved to its second location in former Rev. Richard Armstrong’s home, ”Stonehouse” (named after the residence of Admiral Richard Thomas in England,) on 91 Beretania Street adjoining Washington Place. At that time, the name “College of St. Louis” was given to the institution in honor of Bishop Louis Maigret’s patron Saint, Louis IX.

Pacific Commercial Advertiser noted that “The College of St. Louis, an Hawaiian Commercial and Business Academy, offering Classical, Scientific and Commercial courses,” also offered in its curriculum courses in Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, German, and Italian. An evening session offered adults “theoretical and, practical knowledge of commercial and business transactions.” (Soong)

Growing enrollment soon required the Mission Fathers to relocate the school, again; this time, they found a site on the banks of Nuʻuanu Stream. The College at Aʻala was placed under the direction of five pioneer Brothers of Mary who arrived from Dayton, Ohio in 1883.

St Louis continued to be affiliated with the Society of Mary, a religious order of brothers and priests called Marianists. The Society was founded by Blessed William Joseph Chaminade, a priest who survived the anti-clerical persecution during the French Revolution.

The Nuʻuanu Stream front campus was accessed via “College Walk” street; it’s now a linear mall/park fronting the stream (however, no school or college is there anymore.)

In the years following, it became evident that the elementary and high school departments were in need of still larger quarters. Encouraged by parents and alumni, the Marianists laid plans for a greater St. Louis College.

In 1923, they purchased 205 acres at Kalaepōhaku in Kaimuki; classes began there in 1928.

December 8, 1941 the US Government commandeered the campus for the use of the 147th General Hospital. Elementary students attended classes at Saint Patrick School and high school classes co-located at McKinley High School.

Sharing a campus by the high schools led to a fierce rivalry. To ease some of the tension, reportedly, Saint Louis football coach (later Honolulu Mayor) Neal Blaisdell created the “poi pounder trophy,” to go to the winner of the annual Saint Louis/McKinley football game (this continued from 1942 to 1969.)

After sixty-seven-years of providing education at grade levels one through twelve, the elementary and intermediate grades were withdrawn one-grade-a-year, beginning in 1950.

In 1955, the Marianists established Chaminade College on the east end of the Kalaepōhaku campus (it was initially named the Saint Louis Junior College; with it, Saint Louis College was renamed to Saint Louis High School.)

In 1957, Saint Louis Junior College became co-educational and a four-year college and the school was renamed to Chaminade College of Honolulu (named after the Society of Mary (Marianists) founder.)

St. Louis’ high school classes continued on campus until 1979, when the school’s Board of Trustees voted to re-incorporate intermediate grades seven and eight, beginning in fall, 1980. A sixth grade was added and the intermediate grades were then converted to a middle school beginning with the fall semester of 1990.

Today, Saint Louis is an all-boys private Catholic school, grades six through twelve; they note it is a school “Where Boys Who Want to Change the World Become the Men Who Do.”

April 12, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kiawe

‘Kiawe’ means to sway in the breeze. ‘Kia’ means a pillar, post, prop, mast of ship. Ka ua kiawe i luna o ka lāʻau, the rain streaming down on the tree. (Ulukau) The English Hawaiian Dictionary defines kiawe as: a tree with wood used to smoke meat. 2. to stream, as rain, to sway. (Logan)

Humans have used the kiawe family of trees since at least 6500 BC for food, fuel and basic raw materials. Wood has been found in tombs in many archaeological sites in Peru dating as far back as 2500 BC. In Arizona, bedrock mortars have been found and it is now believed that these are special implements designed to grind the pods into flour.

In Hawaiʻi (in 1916,) it was believed that “no introduced tree has been of greater benefit to the islands than the kiawe (algarroba) – one of the mesquites.” (Judd, Hawaiian Forester and Agriculturist, 1916)

It is also known as the honey locust, honey pod, cashew, and July flower (the algaroba name comes from “Al-kharrubah,” the Spanish name of the carob tree, or St. John’s bread, the pods of which it resembles in flavor.) (We call it kiawe.)

The native home of kiawe is from California to Texas and through parts of Mexico, Central and South America, as far south as Buenos Aires.

While the history of its introduction to Hawaiʻi is not definite, the conclusion seems to be that the first tree planted in the islands was raised from seed brought by Father Bachelot when he started out from Bordeaux in the early part of 1827. The seed reportedly came from the Jardin du Roi de Paris and not from Mexico or Chile. (Judd, Hawaiian Forester and Agriculturist, 1916)

The tree was planted in December, 1828, in the north corner of the Fort Street Catholic church yard in Honolulu near Beretania Street. “By 1837 there were already several algarroba trees from the seed of the first one”.

“As the worn down missionary left his mission house never again to return to it, he looked upon the plant with moistened eyes and said as though prophetically: ‘Even as this young tree by Divine Providence will thrive and cover the whole of the island with its shade,’ etc.”

To make room for the expanding development of downtown, the original tree was severely topped in 1906. The 92-year-old tree had a diameter at breast height of 3 feet 3 inches when it was cut down in 1919. (Logan)

Sandalwood, Curley Koa, Naio, Willi Willi, Hala Pepe and others at one time, covered much of the leeward coast. The unsustainable harvesting of Sandalwood lead to nearly complete deforestation and major changes to the hydrology.

“Perhaps because of a history of human disturbance, the vegetation of the dry leeward zone is more fragmented and difficult to characterize than that of wet windward zones.” (Logan)

The leeward coasts of all islands in the state of Hawaiʻi tend to be arid to semi-arid, subtropical/tropical climates; there, the kiawe thrives.

Certainly, no man could have left a greater or more abiding monument, for the kiawe now covers vast areas on the different islands of mostly stony, arid, and precipitous land, which formerly was utterly worthless for other purposes. (Judd, Hawaiian Forester and Agriculturist, 1916)

More than 150,000-acres of dry kiawe forests in Hawaiʻi are descended from the single tree planted in 1828 in downtown Honolulu.

In August 1832, the tree was found to be hearing fruit. By 1840, progeny of the tree had become the principal shade trees of Honolulu and were already spreading to dry, leeward plains on all of the islands.

The following are some of the main products of the Kiawe and the chief uses considered in Hawaiʻi (as thought in 1916:)

Wood for fuel, charcoal, timbers, and posts.
Pods for fodder in their natural state and crushed into meal.
Blossoms for bee pasturage.
Trees for reclamation of waste land, ornament, and shade.
Young trees for hedges.

The historic value of the kiawe in Hawaiʻi has been enhanced by the ease with which it can be propagated and its ability to grow in arid regions. The tree belongs to the leguminous family, and begins to bear pods when six years old and even younger.

These are eaten by stock, but the small seeds are not crushed while passing through the alimentary system but rather are prepared for quick germination by the action of the digestive fluids. The spread of the tree in these islands has, therefore, been due solely to stock and by this means the kiawe has become a wild forest tree.

It is estimated that it would have cost at least one-million-dollars to plant by human agency the 80,000-odd acres in these islands which have been covered with more or less density by kiawe forests. And this wonderful and comparatively rapid spread of the tree has been accomplished without the expenditure of one cent for planting.

The kiawe, moreover, has been spread mainly on the barren lowlands, although it has gradually been working up the valleys and slopes until it is now found well established at elevations 1,800-feet above the sea.

Although the tree will grow “with its toes in the sea,” its foliage is somewhat sensitive to the salt air when blow in by the strong trades. (Judd, Hawaiian Forester and Agriculturist, 1916)

Although most kiawe trees have thorns with strong spines, often 1-inch long, an estimated 25-percent of the mature trees produce only small, hard stipules rather than long, spike-like spines. (Long-thorn varieties can get to up to 4-inches long.)

The thornless characteristic has been noted for years, and as early as 1937, Hawaiʻi shipped seed from thornless kiawe trees to Cuba, Arabia, Australia, Fiji and South Africa. (Forest Service)

Irrespective of how folks felt about it 100-years ago, kiawe is considered an invasive pest and a noxious weed, because of the aggressive and expansive nature.

It produces a large number of easily-dispersed seeds and also establishes itself by suckering, producing thick stands that shade out nearby plants. It requires less than 4-inches of annual rainfall to propagate and grow. It is efficient in drawing water from the soil that it deprives other plants of water.

November 25, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Louis Désiré Maigret, SS.CC.

In 1819, Kalanimōkū was the first Hawaiian Chief to be formally baptized a Catholic, aboard the French ship Uranie.

“The captain and the clergyman asked Young what Ka-lani-moku’s rank was, and upon being told that he was the chief counselor (kuhina nui) and a wise, kind, and careful man, they baptized him into the Catholic Church” (Kamakau). Shortly thereafter, Boki, Kalanimoku’s brother (and Governor of Oʻahu) was baptized.

It wasn’t until July 7, 1827, however, that the pioneer French Catholic mission arrived in Honolulu. It consisted of three priests of the Order of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary; Father Alexis Bachelot, Abraham Armand and Patrick Short. They were supported by a half dozen other Frenchmen.

The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and of the Perpetual Adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar is a Roman Catholic religious institute of brothers, priests and nuns. (The letters following their names, SS.CC., are the Latin initials for Sacrorum Cordium, “of the Sacred Hearts”.)

Their first mass was celebrated a week later on Bastille Day, July 14, and a baptism was given on November 30, to a child of Don Francisco de Paula Marin.

The American Congregationalists encouraged a policy preventing the establishment of a Catholic presence in Hawaiʻi. Catholic priests were forcibly expelled from the Islands in 1831.

In 1837, two other Catholic priests arrived. However the Hawaiian government forced them back onto a ship. American, British and French officials in Hawaii intervened and persuaded the king to allow the priests to return to shore.

One of the priests expelled in 1837 was Rev. Louis Désiré Maigret. Born September 14, 1804 in Maille, France, at the age of 24, Maigret was ordained to the priesthood as a member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary on September 23, 1828.

“Governor Kekūanāoʻa, in charge of harbor traffic and of immigration, questions the new arrivals. The English consul vouches for Columban Murphy, and he is allowed to land.”

“Maigret, however, must stay on board and is to sail away at the first opportunity. And, together with Maigret, Kekūanāoʻa plans to get rid of another undesirable, the patient Father Bachelot, who, as it happens, is not only a priest but a very sick man.” (Charlot)

On June 17, 1839, King Kamehameha III issued the Edict of Toleration permitting religious freedom for Catholics.

Maigret sailed to Pohnpei in Micronesia to set up a mission there; he was the first missionary they had seen. He later departed for Valparaiso (Chile.)

However, when the Vicar Apostolic of Oriental Oceania was lost at sea, Father Maigret was appointed the first Vicar Apostolic of the Sandwich Islands (now the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu.) They sought to expand the Catholic presence.

At the end of the year 1840, Maigret jots down this balance sheet: Vicariate of Oceania: Catholics: 3,000; Heretics: 30,000 and Unbelievers: 100,000. (Charlot)

Maigret oversaw the construction of what would become his most lasting legacy, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, still standing and in use in downtown Honolulu.

Maigret was officially ordained as a Bishop on November 28, 1847.

Maigret divided Oʻahu into missionary districts. Shortly after, the Windward coast of Oʻahu was dotted with chapels. The Sacred Hearts Father’s College of Ahuimanu was founded by the Catholic mission on the Windward side of Oʻahu in 1846.

“Outside the city, at Ahuimanu, Maigret has now a country retreat that he refers to by the Hawaiian word māla. It is a combination garden, orchard and kitchen garden. Nuhou describes it, “The venerable bishop has built his own vineyard and planted his own orchard …”

“His retreat in the mountain, his ‘garden in the air’ as he terms it, is a pleasant and profitable sight … with a small stone-walled cottage about fifteen feet by ten.” When the pressure of events allows it, Maigret takes refuge there.” (Charlot)

Although the College of Ahuimanu flourished, as apparently reported by the Bishop in 1865, “The college and the schools are doing well. But as the number of pupils is continually on the increase, it has become necessary to enlarge the college. First we have added a story and a top floor with an attic; then we have been obliged to construct a new building. And yet we are lacking room.”

Bishop Maigret ordained Father Damien de Veuster at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, on May 21, 1864; in 1873, Maigret assigned him to Molokaʻi. Damien spent the rest of his life in Hawaiʻi. In 2009, Father Damien was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI.

The College of Ahuimanu changed locations and also changed its name a couple of times. In 1881, it was renamed “College of St. Louis” in honor of Bishop Maigret’s patron Saint, Louis IX. It was the forerunner for Chaminade College and St Louis High School.

Bishop Maigret died on June 11, 1882, after 42 years of service in Hawaiʻi, 35 of those years as a Bishop. He is buried in a crypt below the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace.

July 24, 2019 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Coral Construction

Hawaiian architecture evolved over time, starting with Hawaiians use of natural resources, to influences from all of the various visitors to Hawaiʻi.

Soon after missionary arrival, builders began to incorporate coral blocks from Hawaiʻi’s reefs, with the coral serving as a substitute for bricks the American and Europeans used in their homeland.

Here are a few examples of existing or remnants remaining today of the early use of coral blocks in building construction.

Chamberlain House

Nearby at what is now the Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives, the Chamberlain House (Ka Hale Kamalani) was built in 1831 from materials procured locally: coral blocks cut from reefs offshore and lumber salvaged from ships.

Designed by the mission’s quartermaster, Levi Chamberlain, to hold supplies as well as people, it had two stories, an attic, and a cellar. The windows are larger, more numerous, and shuttered against the sun. The building now serves as the main exhibition hall for the Museum.

Lāhainā Fort Ruins

The reconstructed remains of one old Lāhainā Fort wall still stand at this old lockup. This fort overlooked one of the canals of Lāhainā, now a paved street, and was built to protect the town after unruly sailors who fired a canon at Rev. Richard’s house.

The fort was built in 1831-1832 in which to incarcerate rowdy sailors and others who disobeyed the law. The fort was used mostly as a prison. It was torn down in the 1850s to supply stones for the construction of Hale Paʻahao – the prison on Prison Street.

Kawaiahaʻo Church

Down the street, Congregational missionaries had earlier begun (1836) the construction of Kawaiahaʻo Church. The “Stone Church,” as it came to be known, is in fact not built of stone, but of giant slabs of coral hewn from ocean reefs.

These slabs had to be quarried from under water; each weighed more than 1,000 pounds. Natives dove 10 to 20 feet to hand-chisel these pieces from the reef, then raised them to the surface, loaded some 14,000 of the slabs into canoes and ferried them to shore.

Following five years of construction, The Stone Church was ready for dedication ceremonies on July 21, 1842. King Kamehameha III, who contributed generously to the fund to build the church, attended the service.

Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace

Catholic missionaries broke ground for the new church to be built on July 9, 1840. It coincided with the Feast of Our Lady of Peace, patroness of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary religious institute of which the missionaries were members

The cornerstone was officially laid in a ceremony on August 6 of that year. Construction continued after groundbreaking with devoted Native Hawaiian volunteers harvesting blocks of coral from the shores of Ala Moana, Kakaʻako and Waikīkī. On August 14, 1843, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace was consecrated and dedicated.

Print House

Also at Mission Houses, in 1841, a covered porch and balcony were added to the frame house, and an extra bedroom was built next door out of coral blocks. Both additions show further adaptation to an indoor-outdoor lifestyle appropriate to the climate.

The extra coral building later became the mission’s Print House (Ka Hale Paʻi) and now serves as a museum exhibit to show how the missionaries and native Hawaiians worked together to produce the first materials printed in the Hawaiian language.

ʻIolani Palace Barracks

Originally completed in 1871, and looking like a medieval castle, 4000-coral blocks were stacked with parapets and towers to make Halekoa, the ʻIolani Barracks (with its open courtyard surrounded by rooms once used by the guards as a mess hall, kitchen, dispensary, berth room, and lockup.)

The Barracks was originally located on what are now the grounds of the Hawaiʻi State Capitol, mauka of the Palace. After being dismantled block by block, ʻIolani Barracks was moved and reconstructed at its present location in 1965.

Fort Kekuanohu (Fort at Honolulu)

Back in Honolulu, in 1815, Kamehameha I granted Russian representatives permission to build a storehouse near Honolulu Harbor. Instead, they began building a fort and raised the Russian flag. When Kamehameha discovered this, the Russians were removed.

The fort had 340-by-300-foot long, 12-foot high and 20-foot thick walls made of coral. Its original purpose was to protect Honolulu by keeping enemy or otherwise undesirable ships out. But, it was also used to keep things in (it also served as a prison.)

The fort’s massive 12-foot walls were torn apart and the fort dismantled in 1857 and used to fill the harbor to accommodate an expanding downtown.

Honolulu Harbor – Esplanade – Harbor Expansion

As Honolulu developed and grew, lots of changes happened, including along its waterfront. What is now known as Queen Street was actually the water’s edge.

Then, from 1856 to 1860, the work of filling in the land to create an area known as the “Esplanade” or “Ainahou,” and building up a water-front and dredging the harbor to a depth from 20 to 25-feet took place.

Following the demolition of Fort Kekuanohu (Fort Honolulu) in 1857; its walls became the 2,000-foot retaining wall used to extend the land out onto the shallow reef in the harbor.

The remaining fort materials were used as fill to create what came to be known as the Esplanade (it’s where Aloha Tower and surrounding land now stand – evidence of the coral blocks from the old Fort can still be seen at Pier 12, ʻEwa of the Aloha Tower cruise ship pier.)

Hawaiʻi law (§171-58.5 HRS) now prohibits the mining or taking of sand, dead coral or coral rubble, rocks, soil or other marine deposits seaward from the shoreline, except for non-commercial uses in volumes that do not exceed 1-gallon per person per day, or to allow replenishment or protection of public shoreline area and government maintenance of stream mouths and shoreline.

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