Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Emma Louise Smith Dillingham

Rev. Lowell Smith and his wife Abigail arrived in Honolulu on May 1, 1833, with the Sixth Company of missionaries of the ABCFM.  He first served at Molokai in June 1833; then, in 1834, he established a church at Ewa District, O‘ahu and later founded and served as pastor of Kaumakapili Church (Second Native Church) in Honolulu, 1839–1869.

Rev and Abigail Smith had five children: Lowell Smith (1841–1842), Emma Smith (1843–1843), Emma Louise Smith (Dillingham) (1844–1920), Ellen Amelia Smith (1847–1848), and Augustus Lowell Smith (1851–1891).  (FindAGrave)

Emma Louise Smith was a writer and had talents  in music and the arts; her daughter Mary Emma Dillingham (Frear) published Emma’s 1850-51 Journal Book, written at age six. Emma later wrote poems, songs, books, etc. 

“Little Emma Louise Smith entered Punahou at the age of 13, after having attended the old Royal School.” (Star Bulletin, April 26, 1929)

“Her father tells how Emma rode from Nuuanu to Punahou daily with two of Dr. Judd’s children. He says she was in advance of most of the children of her age, for which credit was due to her mother. ‘Emma can put a horse to a carriage … wash dishes, darn stockings, play the piano and do some other things equally well,’ her mother wrote.” (Punahou First 100 Years; Morrow)

“She graduated with the class of 1863 and the next year became an instructor in the academy.  After one year, she accompanied her parents to the Atlantic coast of the United States, where she continued the study of music.”

“On her return to Honolulu she again became a Punahou instructor of music. She went to the Royal School as a teacher the next year, but after that again returned to Punahou.”

“Meantime, in 1865, there had arrived in Honolulu a young New England seaman, first officer of the bark Whistler.  Attempting to indulge in the almost universal island sport of riding …” “… he had found himself more skilled in guiding a ship than a horse, with the result that when the Whistler went on, it left its first officer nursing a broken leg, the result of a fall from his mount.” (Star Bulletin, April 26, 1929)

“The first officer of the bark Whistler, Mr. Dillingham, whose leg was broken last Friday night, by being thrown from a horse, in collision with a carriage, on the valley road. … [Dillingham] is now at the American Marine Hospital, where he receives every care and attention, and is in favorable condition for recovery.”  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 29, 1865)

“It felt as if I had anchored in a home port; the cordiality I experienced from all those whom I met removed at once the feeling of being in a foreign land though the streets were filled with several nationalities. The luxuriant foliage, the balmy breezes, the tropical fruits, all afforded such delights that I felt sure I should return.”

“The first evening I left the ship was spent at the Wednesday evening prayer meeting in the Bethel vestry (where Emma led the choir). One of the first calls I made was at the home of Rev. Lowell Smith.” (Dillingham; Morrow)

“Young Benjamin [Franklin ‘Frank’] Dillingham entered the commercial life of the city as soon as he was able to be about. When an opportunity came to leave here he decided against it, a matter, no doubt, in which the young teacher of Punahou figured, since they were married on [April 26] 1869.” (Star Bulletin, April 26, 1929)

Despite tales of Emma nursing Frank back to health, Emma was away in New England while Frank was recuperating. The two of them probably met for the first time when Frank attended a church service after his arrival in Honolulu. But his efforts to win her hand began in earnest only in 1867. On April 26, 1869, Frank Dillingham married Emma Smith. They were both 25.

Frank was stocky and well-muscled, Emma was lovely and tall. She, like her mother, had dark hair parted down the middle, but her face was softer than Abigail’s and her smile was bright and engaging.

She had been engaged to James Baldwin of Maui when she met Frank, but, not in love with her fiancé, broke off the relationship. Frank pressed his suit quietly but firmly after their meeting and slowly she fell in love. (Morrow)

He accepted a job as a clerk in a hardware store called H Dimond & Son for $40 per month. The store was owned by Henry Dimond, formerly a bookbinder in the 7th Missionary Company. In 1850 Dimond had been released from his duties at the Mission and had gone into business with his son.

Dillingham later bought the company with partner Alfred Castle (son of Samuel Northrup Castle, who was in the 8th Company of missionaries and ran the Mission business office;) they called the company Dillingham & Co.

On September 4, 1888, Frank Dillingham’s 44th birthday, the legislature gave Dillingham an exclusive franchise “for construction and operation on the Island of O‘ahu a steam railroad … for the carriage of passengers and freight.”

Dillingham formed O‘ahu Railway and Land Company (OR&L,) a narrow-gauge rail, whose economic being was founded on the belief that O‘ahu would soon host a major sugar industry.

‘Dillingham’s Folly’ had now become the greatest single factor in the development of O‘ahu and Honolulu.  (Nellist)  “With a shrill blast from the whistle and the bell clanging, the engine moved easily off with its load. Three rousing cheers were given by the passengers, and crowds assembled at the starting point responded.”  (Daily Bulletin, September 5, 1889)

Ultimately OR&L sublet land, partnered on several sugar operations and/or hauled cane from Ewa Plantation Company, Honolulu Sugar Company in ‘Aiea, O‘ahu Sugar in Waipahu, Waianae Sugar Company, Waialua Agriculture Company and Kahuku Plantation Company, as well as pineapples in Wahiawa for Dole.

“It was in [Emma’s] home that the YWCA was organized, and she took an active part in the work of the Salvation Army.”  (Advertiser, July 7, 1956)  “In 1900, Emma Louise Smith Dillingham founded the YWCA Oahu as a place for Honolulu’s working women to learn skills that promote community engagement, build friendships, and develop shared values.”

“By 1915, Oahu YWCA boasted a membership of 1,386 women, which included Queen Liliuokalani. Today’s YWCA stands for empowering women, eliminating racism, standing up for social justice, helping families, and strengthening communities.” (BOH)

“She was one of [seven] founders of the Daughters of Hawaii.” (Advertiser, July 7, 1956)  “‘Daughters of Hawaii’ was formed November 18, (1903) by Mrs. Emma Dillingham. Mrs. Sarah Colin Waters, Mrs. Lucinda Severance, Mrs. Ellen A. Weaver, Mrs. Annie A. Dickey, Mrs. Cornelia H. Jones and Miss Anna M. Paris.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, November 26, 1904)

The women (all daughters of American missionaries) foresaw the looming loss of Hawaiian culture and in an inaugural meeting, their gathering gave rise to the “The Daughters of Hawaii” dedicated  to preserving  that culture. (Morrow)

“Its object is ‘To perpetuate the memory and spirit of old Hawai‘i and of historic facts, and to preserve the nomenclature and correct pronunciation of the Hawaiian language.’ No one is eligible to membership who was not born in Hawaii of parents who came here before 1860.” (Hawaiian Star, December 7, 1903)

The Daughters of Hawai‘i was one of the first organizations in Hawai‘i to recognize the importance of historic preservation. Since the early 1900s it has been distinguished for preserving Hānaiakamalama in Nu‘uanu, commonly known as the Queen Emma Summer Palace, and Hulihe‘e Palace in Kailua-Kona, restoring them with original royal furnishings and regalia.

The Daughters continue to be stewards of two of Hawai‘i’s three royal palaces, as well as the birth site of King Kamehameha III at Keauhou Bay in Kailua-Kona. (Daughters of Hawaii)

Children of Frank and Emma Dillingham are Mary Emma Dillingham (Frear) (1870–1951), Charles Augustus ‘Charlie’ Dillingham (1871–1874), Walter Francis Dillingham (1875–1963), Alfred Hubbard ‘Freddie’ Dillingham (1880–1880), Harold Garfield Dillingham (1881–1971), Marion Eleanor Dillingham (Erdman) (1883–1972). (FindAGrave)

On his death in 1918 at age 74, Dillingham was hailed as a “master builder” and Honolulu’s financial district closed its doors out of respect. (Wagner) The Islands would have been different if not for a sailor breaking his leg riding a horse.

Emma Dillingham, “one of Honolulu’s most prominent women for many years … passed away peacefully” August 15, 1920. (PCA, August 16, 1920)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Bishop, Baldwin, Rewald, Dillingham & Wong

OK, this is pretty recent history, but it’s worth recalling – especially when you look at the name dropping of some of the notable names of Hawaiʻi’s past and the apparent lack of confirmation of the families who were part of “the deal.”

The saga of Bishop, Baldwin, Rewald, Dillingham & Wong began in 1977, when Ronald Ray Rewald, following a minor criminal conviction and the bankruptcy of a sporting-goods concern in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, moved to Hawaiʻi.

Rewald was born in 1942 and grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  A natural born athlete, he was a sought after professional football player.  He signed with the Cleveland Browns and trained with the Chiefs, but an ankle injury during training kept him from ever being an NFL superstar.

The faux investment entity was incorporated in 1979.  Using names of the past (as well as his and that of his partner in crime, Sunlin LS Wong) 36-year-old Rewald rubbed elbows with the likes of Governor George Ariyoshi and actor Jack Lord, before his company started to cave in.

Rewald and Wong formed “Bishop, Baldwin, Rewald, Dillingham & Wong” and quickly fell into favor with many who invested millions of dollars on behalf some of Honolulu’s most prominent businesses and families.

Rewald moved into a sprawling estate near Kuliouou and traveled around town in a black stretch limo that featured a coat of arms and Rewald’s initials on the doors.

The names Bishop, Baldwin and Dillingham were established old-money names of Hawaiʻi that the schemers put on their letterhead to create the illusion of credibility.  One local businessman noted, “It was as if he arrived in Manhattan and had a firm called Rockefeller, Harriman, Cabot, Forbes and Roosevelt.”

It represented itself as being “one of Hawaiʻi’s oldest and largest privately-held international investment and consulting firms”, dealing only in “secured, safe, non-risk” investments.

Before it fell, over 400-people “invested” $22-million, that Rewald used it to buy property around the island and generally came across as a hugely successful local financier, promising 20% returns on investments and claiming a waiting list of two years to contribute funds.

The firm’s sales materials indicated that investors’ funds were “fully accessible without charge, cost, penalties, time deposits or restrictions.”  However, “investors” started demanding return of their funds.

Feeling pressured, and apparently seeing that the light at the end of the tunnel was an on-coming train, Rewald slit his wrists in the Sheraton Waikīkī … and lived.

As soon as he was released from the hospital, he was arrested and charged with theft by deception under Hawaiʻi criminal law.

Rewald’s partner Wong cooperated with the authorities pled guilty and did 2-years in a federal penitentiary.

Rewald faced federal criminal charges of swindling more than $22 million in what government prosecutors characterize as a “Ponzi scheme.”

A Ponzi scheme has no actual earnings, but to keep investor interest, periodic payments are made (using their own money or the money paid by subsequent investors, rather than from profit earned by the individual or organization running the operation.)

This “investment” strategy was named after Charles Ponzi, who became notorious for using the technique in 1920. Ponzi did not invent the scheme (i.e., Charles Dickens’ 1844 novel Martin Chuzzlewit and 1857 novel Little Dorrit each described such a scheme.)

However, the intrigue grew when claims of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was blamed for the fiasco.

During his trial, the case took a bizarre turn when Rewald claimed his investment company was a CIA front.  The allegations of a CIA cover-up caught the national media’s attention, which sparked a legal battle between the CIA and ABC News.

ABC News launched a review and investigation of the tangled Ronald R. Rewald story that forced the network into an unprecedented legal conflict with the Central Intelligence Agency.

The review was supported and directed by ABC News President Roone Arledge and Vice President David Burke.

However, as Rewald’s trial progressed, little evidence supporting his or ABC’s charges came to light.  Among the more explosive charges in the ABC reports were that the CIA used Rewald’s company for an illegal arms deal with Taiwan, plotted to kill Rewald and threatened the life of an investor in his firm.  ABC later retracted the Rewald murder charge, a move that prompted a $145-million libel suit by the source of the story.

In his defense case, Rewald acknowledged many of the government’s accusations against him.  Rewald declined to testify in his own defense when Federal District Judge Harold M Fong ruled that much of his story would be inadmissible.

In the end, it turned out to be nothing but a common Ponzi scheme.  The con ran for a few years up until 1983, when Bishop, Baldwin, Rewald, Dillingham & Wong met the fate that all Ponzi’s do … implosion.

After an 11-week trial involving over 140-witnesses and 98-charges stemming from theft by deception, Rewald was sentenced to 80 years.

Rewald was released on parole from the Federal Correctional Institution on Terminal Island in California in June 1995.  He wasn’t eligible for parole until October 2015, but was released early, possibly because of a back injury.

Following his release, Rewald lived in Los Angeles and reported to his probation officer in Studio City. The probation office closed his case in 2000.

Rewald later was the director of operations of a talent and literary agency, Agency for the Performing Arts, in Beverly Hills. APA also has offices in New York City and Nashville.

Ronald Rewald died in California in December 2017 after living 23 years as a free man out of the limelight; he was 76. (Gomes)  (Lots of information here from various published reports on the matter.)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Watertown

As a means of solidifying a site in the central Pacific, the US negotiated an amendment to the Treaty of Reciprocity in 1887.  King Kalākaua in his speech before the opening session of the 1887 Hawaiian Legislature stated (November 3, 1887:)

“I take great pleasure in informing you that the Treaty of Reciprocity with the United States of America has been definitely extended for seven years upon the same terms as those in the original treaty, with the addition of a clause granting to national vessels of the United States the exclusive privilege of entering Pearl River Harbor and establishing there a coaling and repair station.”

From 1901 to 1908, the Navy devoted its time to improving the facilities of the 85 acres that constituted the naval reservation in Honolulu. Under the Appropriation Act of March 3, 1901, this tract of land was improved with the erection of additional sheds and housing. The station grew slowly, and not always at an even pace.  (navy-mil)

On May 13, 1908, the US Congress affirmed Pearl Harbor’s strategic importance by appropriating funds and authorized and directed the Secretary of the Navy “to establish a naval station at Pearl Harbor, Hawaiʻi, on the site heretofore acquired for that purpose”.  (Congressional Record)

Until the transfer of the Naval Station to Pearl Harbor, the naval reservation in Honolulu remained nothing more than a rather elaborate coaling station. The major interests were the shipping and weighing of coal and the checking of invoices.  (navy-mil)

Immediate improvements included dredging the entry channel; constructing the necessary infrastructure and other naval facilities; and building a drydock.

Congress further noted that Secretary “may, in his discretion, enter into contracts for any portion of the work, including material therefor, within the respective limits of cost herein stipulated, subject to appropriations to be made therefor by Congress, or may direct the construction of said works or any portion thereof under the supervision of a civil engineer of the Navy.”  (Congressional Record)

“A small army of men, looking for work at Pearl Harbor, besieged the Naval Station this morning.  … Men, who have been turned away from time to time with the promise that they might find something, when the necessary papers arrived, this morning thronged to the place to get the precious slips. … The men are to be put to work as soon as Washington has been heard from and building at Pearl Harbor begins.”  (Evening Bulletin, August 6, 1908)

On December 5, 1908, the newly-formed “Hawaiian Dredging Company of Honolulu was found to have made, the lowest figure of the six bidden ($3,560,000,) which included two Honolulu concerns and four mainland companies.”  (Evening Bulletin, December 1, 1908)

Hawaiian Dredging apparently initially intended a partner, “The contract for the dredging of the Pearl Harbor channel… will be handled in a combination with the San Francisco Bridge Company”. (Hawaiian Star, December 18, 1908)  However, shortly thereafter, it was noted that Hawaiian Dredging “is now controlled and owned entirely by the Dillingham interests”.  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 22, 1908)

“The contract was signed December 24, 1908, and actual dredging operations began March 1, 1909.”  (Congressional Record)  The period from 1908 to 1919 was one of steady and continuous growth of the Naval Station, Pearl Harbor.  (navy-mil)

That leads us to this piece’s title and the focus of this summary – Watertown.

With all the work underway at Pearl Harbor, Hawaiian Dredging created a camp, more like a small city, to house and provide for the workers and their families.

It was called ‘Watertown,’ because of the frequent leaks in its water main, which was installed so hastily that much of it lay above ground.  (McElroy)  (It was alternatively known as “Dredger’s Row” or “Drydock Row.” (Waller))

It was situated “on the Waikīkī or Honolulu shore of the channel … just below Bishop Point, and mauka of Queen Emma Point (Fort Kamehameha.)”  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser; Papacostas)

Watertown was a 2,000-acre settlement containing numerous large structures, roads, rail lines, port facilities and an ethnically diverse population of laborers responsible for the dredging of Pearl Harbor. In the early 1930s the population of Watertown numbered 1,000 laborers and their families, including 300 school-aged children. (McElroy)

The residents were made up of Japanese, Russians, Chinese, Portuguese and a score of Americans who were the employees of the dry-dock, machinists, launch hands, laborers and native Hawaiian fishermen.  (Fletcher)

In addition, off-duty inspectors overseeing the dredging operations lived at Watertown in quarters provided by Hawaiian Dredging and ate their meals at a restaurant conducted by Chinese. (While on duty they slept and ate on the dredges which were located from one-half to two miles from shore in the channel.)  (Fletcher)

The town included a schoolhouse and adjacent Catholic Church, a theater, post office, at least one hotel and a number of stores and offices.

In addition to housing its resident population, Watertown was noted as a recreation hub for the entire region, complete with gambling, drink and prostitution.  (McElroy)

By the early-1930s, Watertown was falling into disrepair and businesses were declining. Demolition began in 1935 and had disappeared by December 11, 1936, when an Army air base (later Hickam Air Force Base) replaced the town (however, the former Watertown school buildings were initially used by the construction crew associated with the Hickam construction.)  (Waller)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Camp Harold Randolph Erdman

Camping became a cornerstone of YMCA programming in 1885 with the start of Camp Dudley in New York, America’s first known continuously running summer camp program. Since then, generations of kids, teens, young adults, and families have experienced the magic of camp—gaining confidence, building character, and making friends and lifelong memories. (YMCA)

“The YMCA has recently [1926] acquired [a] Mokuleia site on a ten year lease.  It is owned by the Dillinghams who have given the lease practically free of charge. The Association is developing the site into a permanent camp.” It was called Camp Mokuleia (other unrelated camps in the area also used that name).

“For this year, a permanent kitchen was built and equipped, also a shower and washroom and a latrine. Plans for the development of the camp have been worked by Furer and Potter, architects, and call for a screened dining hall, a small headquarters building containing office, doctor’s office and library, 14 small bungalows to house 8 boys each, baseball field and two tennis courts.” (Advertiser, June 27, 1926)

On Christmas morning, 1932, the YMCA received an unexpected gift – the donation of the camp by sisters Marion (Dillingham) Erdman and Mary (Dillingham) Frear – daughters of Benjamin Franklin Dillingham and Emma Louise (Smith) Dillingham. Instead of being leased to by the family, Camp Mokulē‘ia would now belong to the Y.

The gift was made in memory of Mrs. Erdman’s 26-year-old son who had been killed in a polo accident. Their gift included a request that Camp Mokulē‘ia be renamed Camp Harold R. Erdman to ensure “his spirit of contribution to the happiness of others, carries on.” (YMCA)

Harold Randolph Erdman was the son of missionaries John Erdman and Marion (Dillingham) Erdman.  John Erdman had been appointed in 1904 to go with his wife to Japan as a missionary to serve during the Russo-Japanese conflict, a war aggravated by Russian expansionism into the far reaches of Asia.

In the conflict, the Empire of Japan prevailed against the European power to gain control of the Manchurian and Korean territories. It was during the couple’s stay in Kobe, Japan, that the Reverend and Mrs. Erdman had a son, Harold Randolph Erdman. (McGhee) The Erdmans returned to Hawaii in 1907.

On September 11, 1929, Harold (grandson of Benjamin F Dillingham) married Mary Chickering.  “The young couple returned to Honolulu and began construction of their dream home on the slopes of Diamond Head, an area subdivided by Harold Erdman’s uncle, Walter Dillingham, just mauka of Dillingham’s fabled home La Pietra.”

“The following June, the young couple had a daughter [Louise], born at the Kapiolani Maternity Home.  Just over a year later, in July 1931, Harold Erdman, a graduate of Punahou and Princeton, was fatally injured in a polo match at Kapi‘olani Field when his horse fell and rolled over him. He died after remaining in a coma for a month.” (Advertiser, Dec 6, 2022)

“Camp Erdman has made remarkable progress since the Dillingham-Erdman families made a gift of the property Christmas, 1931. It was named in memory of Harold [Randolph] Erdman, well known in Honolulu as a boy and young man.”

“The gift of the land prompted many other gifts, notable among which were the erection of a roomy lodge and dining room as a gift of the Honolulu Rotary club, and a health building and just last year a director’s cabin, both of which were the gift of Mr. and Mrs FC Atherton.” (Star Bulletin, May 20, 1935)

Other gifts from the Rotary Club, the Erdman’s, the Dillingham’s, the Castle’s, the Westervelts’, and many other families and organizations came pouring in to help develop and construct the camp from Army tents with dirt floors to fully-constructed cabins, a dining room and kitchen, activity buildings, a chapel, and a memorial gate and swimming raft. (DLNR)

It wasn’t just a boys’ camp. “A family camp where father and mother, and brother and sister, and even an aunt, uncle or a grandparent, may enjoy camp life in  the sunshine of the Mokuleia coast is being offered to the people of Honolulu by the Honolulu YMCA.”

“This is made more attractive this year through the new equipment which has been erected at the camp site known as Camp Harold [Randolph] Erdman.”

“The Rotary dining hall with its splendid kitchen and equipment, the new cottages – eight in all, as well as showers and modem toilet conveniences, together with a new hospital unit soon to be under construction, will be of interest to Honolulu mothers or fathers who would like to spend a few days on the beach with their children.” (Advertiser, July 2, 1932)

In 1941, the bombing of Pearl Harbor and American involvement in World War II had temporarily ended camping at Camp Erdman. The Army Engineers immediately placed 100 workmen at the camp and didn’t leave until 1943. Soon after, the camp was leased to the 14th Naval District as an officers’ rest camp. (DLNR)

The Navy gave up the camp in spring of 1946 and the YMCA was able to buy the improvements that were made at a fraction of the cost. Camping started back up immediately and attendance records were broken that first summer and increased every year since. (DLNR)

Today, Camp Erdman offers a range of programs for kids and teens throughout the summer and year-round for school groups and retreats, as well as healing camps for children of prison inmates, youth with disabilities, and more.  (YMCA)

For some, it’s the first time they’ve ventured beyond their community, eaten three meals a day, or slept in a bed—not to mention, climbed, sang or gone swimming. Through financial aid, the Y ensures life-changing experiences for all children across O‘ahu. (YMCA)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ala Moana Beach Park and ʻĀina Moana (Magic Island)

In 1899, the coastal road from Honolulu Harbor to Waikīkī, formerly called the “Beach Road,” was renamed “Ala Moana.”

At the beginning of the twentieth-century, this stretch of coast makai of Ala Moana Boulevard was the site of the Honolulu garbage dump, which burned almost continually.  The residue from burned rubbish was used to reclaim neighboring wetlands (which later were more commonly referred to as “swamp lands.”)

In the 1920s, Kewalo Basin was constructed and by the 1930s was the main berthing area for the sampan fleet and also the site of the tuna cannery, fish auction, shipyard, ice plant, fuel dock and other shore-side facilities.

In 1928, a channel was dredged through the coral reef to connect the Ala Wai Boat Harbor and the Kewalo Basin, so boats could travel between the two.  Part of the dredge material helped to reclaim swampland that was filled in with dredged coral.

When the area became a very popular swimming beach, the channel was closed to boat traffic.

The City and County of Honolulu started cleaning up the Ala Moana area in 1931. They used funds provided by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal Project to create a city park in the Ala Moana area.

Back in the early twentieth century, most playgrounds consisted of large areas of pavement used to get children off of the street and had no aesthetic value.

In 1933, Harry Sims Bent was chosen as the park architect for the City and County of Honolulu.  Bent’s design went beyond the modern level and into the realm of art deco, allowing for play, as well as contact with nature.  His works at Ala Moana include the canal bridge, entrance portals, sports pavilion, banyan courtyard and the lawn bowling green.

President Roosevelt participated in the dedication of the new 76-acre “Moana Park” in 1934 (it was later renamed Ala Moana Park in 1947.)  During his visit to the islands, Roosevelt also planted a kukui tree on the grounds of the ʻIolani Palace.

Ala Moana Park was developed on a swamp and the Honolulu garbage dump.

In the mid-1950s, reef rubble was dredged to fill in the old navigation channel (between Kewalo and the Ala Wai); it was topped with sand brought from Keawaʻula Beach (Yokohama Beach) in Waianae.

At the same time, a new swimming channel was dredged parallel to the new beach, extending 400-feet offshore; in addition, the west end of the fronting channel was closed by a landfill project that was part of the Kewalo Basin State Park project.  A large fringing reef remained off-shore protecting the beach area.

Reportedly, in 1955, Henry Kaiser was the first to propose building two artificial islands and six hotels over the fringing reef.  His proposal included inlets for boats, walkways and bridges. He called it Magic Island and offered to pay the $50-million cost.  (Sigall, Star-Advertiser)

In 1958, a 20-page booklet was sent to Congress to encourage them to turn back Ala Moana Reef to the Territory of Hawaiʻi for the construction of a “Magic Island.”  Local businessmen and firms paid half the cost and the Territory paid half through the Economic Planning & Coordination Authority)   (Dillingham interests were among contributors, Henry J. Kaiser interests were not.)   (Honolulu Record, February 13, 1958)

The booklet puts forth the argument that “Tourist development is our most important immediate potential for economic expansion,” and displays pictures of the crowded Waikiki area to show the lack of room for expansion.  Then it directs the reader’s attention to land that can be reclaimed from the sea by utilizing reefs, especially the 300-acre area of Ala Moana Reef.  (Honolulu Record, February 13, 1958)

It was supposed to be part of a new high scale beachfront resort complex with a half-dozen hotels that would have included two islands built on the fringing reef, offshore of the Ala Moana Park.

The Interest of the Dillingham’s in developing off-shore areas is obvious, since Hawaiian Dredging is the only local company large enough to undertake such sizable dredging operations.

The Dillingham interest in the current “Magic Island” project is more obvious because of the immediate increase in value it would bring to Dillingham land mauka of Ala Moana Boulevard.  (Honolulu Record, February 13, 1958)

The Dillinghams figure to do the dredging and construction of Magic Island, itself, of course, and it must be recalled that the original Dillingham idea was to use Ala Moana Park for hotels and apartments and build the reef island for a park.  (Honolulu Record, May 15, 1958)

But now that Magic Island is being proposed as a hotel and apartment site, it doesn’t mean for a moment the first plan has necessarily been abandoned. There is good reason to fear Ala Moana Park may be wiped out entirely so far as the people of Oahu are concerned if they don’t keep alert and guard” against every effort to encroach upon it.  (Honolulu Record, May 15, 1958)

Substantial changes were made from the more extensive original plan for the Ala Moana reef; rather than multiple islands for several resort hotels built on the reef flat off of the Ala Moana Park, in 1964 a 30-acre peninsula, with “inner” and “outer” beaches for protected swimming, was constructed adjoining the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor and Ala Wai Canal outlet.

The project stopped after the development of “Magic Island,” leaving the State with a man-made peninsula, which they converted into a public park.

In 1972 the State officially renamed Magic Island to ‘Āina Moana (“land [from the] sea”) to recognize that the park is made from dredged coral fill. The peninsula was turned over the city in a land exchange and is formally known as the ‘Āina Moana Section of Ala Moana Beach Park, but many local residents still call it Magic Island.

Between 1955 and 1976 the beach eroded, and in 1976, more sand was brought in from Mokuleʻia on the north coast of Oʻahu.

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