Fort Kekuanohu | Page 2 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

October 20, 2021 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Capital Punishment

Pā‘ao (ca 1300,) from Kahiki (Tahiti,) is reported to have introduced (or significantly expanded) a religious and political code in old Hawai‘i, collectively called the kapu system.

The kapu system was the common structure, the rule of order, and religious and political code. This social and political structure gave leaders absolute rule and authority. This forbid many things and demanded many more, with many infractions being punishable by death.

Shortly after the death of Kamehameha I in 1819, King Kamehameha II (Liholiho) declared an end to the kapu system. In a dramatic and highly symbolic event, Kamehameha II ate and drank with women, thereby breaking the important eating kapu.

This changed the course of the civilization and ended the kapu system, effectively weakened belief in the power of the gods and the inevitability of divine punishment for those who opposed them. The end of the kapu system by Liholiho happened before the arrival of the missionaries; it made way for the transformation to Christianity and westernization.

While Liholiho’s brother Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III) ruled as monarch (with shared authority with the Kuhina Nui,) he, too, took bold steps in changing the structure of governance. Kamehameha III initiated and implemented Hawaiʻi’s first constitution (1840) (one of five constitutions governing the Islands – and then, later, governance as part of the United States.)

Included were also published “penal laws,” which outlined classes of offenses and punishments for the same – with the death penalty being allowed for acts of murder.

“Many foreigners had predicted that whenever it became necessary to enforce the Penal Laws this enacted and promulgated, leniency would be shown towards chiefs of high rank.” (Bennet)

Then, there was enforcement and execution of the new laws on someone of rank, Kamanawa II (his father was High Chief Kepoʻokalani.)

Kamanawa, born during the days of the ancient customs with an unstructured approach to marriage, had found it difficult to live according to the increasingly Christian ways of his peers. When “one-to-one” marriage had been declared the law by royal order, his roving habits were not changed, and whenever he was attracted to a new love he followed his old ways. Kamokuiki (his wife,) adhering to the new faith, had little sympathy with his wanderings and finally went to the chiefs seeking a divorce. (Gutmanis)

As early as 1825, the chiefs in various districts had issued edicts of law that, following Christian teachings, included prohibitions against adultery and the biblical relief of divorce and the right to remarry given the injured party. And so it was with Kamokuiki whose divorce, dated August 16, 1840, stated: because Kamanawa has repeatedly committed adultery, his wife Kamokuiki has requested a separation. (Gutmanis)

There is no record of how Kamanawa received the decree, but six weeks later on September 26, 1840 Kamokuiki was dead. Murder being instantly suspected, an autopsy was performed and the stomach found to be “much inflamed while every thing else was in order.” (Gutmanis)

Kamanawa and his friend Lonopuakau, captain of the Hawaiian vessel Hooikaika, confessed that Kamanawa had administered the fatal dose and that the Captain had prepared the mixture of ʻakia, ʻauhuhu and ʻawa that caused Kamokuiki’s death.

“She survived but three hours, medical assistance being of no avail. As soon as she was dead, which was about midnight, the news immediately spread and a terrible wailing commenced, which was quickly born to the other side of the island. It was so loud, so prolonged and so sudden as to awake at once almost all the residents, and at that hour, as its sepulchral cadences rose and fell, and were lost in the distance, the effect was startling and mournful in the extreme.” (Hawaiian Gazette, October 12, 1894)

Justice was swift; on September 30, 1840, a jury of 12 chiefs was empaneled to try Kamanawa and Lonopuakau.

On “Wednesday morning a court was held at the Fort, for the trial of Kamanawa and Lono, captain of the schooner Hooikaika, for the murder of Kamokuiki, wife of the former. Governor Kekūanāoʻa was the presiding Judge, the King and high chiefs being present.” (The Polynesian, October 3, 1840)

“The court being organized, the trial commenced, when the following facts were developed: The first-mentioned person, it appears, had been divorced from his wife for some time past, but could not marry again while she was living: Having conceived a violent passion for another woman, he determined to rid himself of his wife, and applied to Lono, who was said to be skilled in preparing poisons. Lono also wishing to destroy his wife, the two agreed to poison both”. (The Polynesian, October 3, 1840)

The jury found the two guilty and sentenced to hang on October 20th.

On the October 24, The Polynesian carried a short item that succinctly summed up the execution of the sentencing: “The murderers Kamanawa and Lonopuakau expiated their crime on the scaffold on Tuesday last, at the Fort in the presence of a large concourse of people.”

The site of the execution was over the gate of Fort Kekuanohu (Fort Honolulu – that once stood at the bottom of Fort Street;) the gallows was erected above the gate, so it could be easily seen for some distance.

After the hanging, either one or both of the bodies were buried at the cross-roads, in accordance with the old English custom of burying executed criminals where they would be out of the way, and the burial places be forever unknown. It is believed that the cross roads selected were at the junction of King and Punchbowl or Queen and Punchbowl streets.

I should note – Kamanawa II was no ‘ordinary’ ranking chief.

He was the grandson of Kameʻeiamoku, one of the ‘royal twins’ (uncles of Kamehameha the Great and his counselors in the wars to unite the Islands.) He was named after his famous grand uncle, the other royal twin. (The twins are on Hawaiʻi’s Royal Coat of Arms; Kameʻeiamoku is on the right holding a kahili and Kamanawa on the left holding a spear.)

Oh, one more thing … Kamanawa II and Kamokuiki were parents of Caesar Kapaʻakea. In 1835, Caesar married the High Chiefess Analeʻa Keohokālole; they had several children.

Most notable were a son, who on February 13, 1874 became King Kalākaua, and a daughter, who on January 29, 1891 became Queen Liliʻuokalani (they were grandchildren of Kamanawa II, the first to be charged and hanged under Hawaiʻi’s first modern criminal laws.)

It is said that after Kalākaua came to the throne, he had the body of Kamanawa taken up and the bones removed to Mauna Ala in Nuʻuanu. This is positively stated by the natives. (Hawaiian Gazette, October 12, 1894) Kamokuiki was buried at Kawaiahaʻo Church.

May 22, 2020 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Evolution of Honolulu Harbor

Coral doesn’t grow in freshwater. So, where a stream enters a coastal area, there is typically no coral growth at that point – and, as the freshwater runs out into the ocean, a coral-less channel is created.

In its natural state, thanks to Nuʻuanu Stream, Honolulu Harbor originally was a deep embayment formed by the outflow of Nuʻuanu Stream creating an opening in the shallow coral reef along the south shore of Oʻahu.

Honolulu Harbor (it was earlier known as Kuloloia) was entered by the first foreigner, Captain William Brown of the English ship Butterworth, in 1794.

They called the harbor “Fair Haven” which may be a rough translation of the Hawaiian name Honolulu (it was also sometimes called Brown’s Harbor.) The name Honolulu (meaning “sheltered bay” – with numerous variations in spelling) soon came into use.

Tradewinds blow from the Northeast; the channel into Honolulu Harbor has a northeasterly alignment. Early ships calling to Honolulu were powered only by sails. The entrance to the harbor was narrow and lined on either side with reefs. Ships don’t sail into the wind. Given all of this, Honolulu Harbor was difficult to enter.

Boats either anchored off-shore, or they were pulled into the harbor (this was done with canoes; or, it meant men and/or oxen pulled them in.)

It might take eight double canoes with 16-20 men each, working in the pre-dawn calm when winds and currents were slow. In 1816 (as stories suggest,) Richards Street alignment was the straight path used by groups of men, and later oxen, to pull ships through the narrow channel into the harbor. (Richards Street was named for a man selling luggage to tourists in his shop on that street.)

A few years after, in 1825, the first pier in the harbor was improvised by sinking a ship’s hull near the present Pier 12 site. As Honolulu developed and grew, lots of changes happened, including along its waterfront. What is now known as Queen Street used to be the water’s edge.

The first efforts to deepen Honolulu Harbor were made in the 1840s. The idea to use the dredged material, composed of sand and crushed coral, to fill in low-lying lands was quickly adopted.

In 1854 the first steam tug was used to pull sail-powered ships into dock against the prevailing tradewinds.

The old prison was built in 1856-57 at Iwilei; it took the place of the old Fort Kekuanohu (that also previously served as a prison.) The new custom-house was completed in 1860. The water-works were much enlarged, and a system of pipes laid down in 1861.

Between 1857 and 1870, the coral block walls of the dismantled Fort edged and filled about 22-acres of reef and tideland, forming the “Esplanade” or “Ainahou,” between Fort and Merchant Streets (where Aloha Tower is now located.) At that time, the harbor was dredged to a depth from 20 to 25-feet took place.

By the 1880s, filling-in of the mud flats, marshes and salt ponds in the Kakaʻako and Kewalo areas had begun. This filling-in was pushed by three separate but overlapping improvement justifications.

The first directive or justification was for the construction of new roads and the improvement of older roads by raising the grade so the improvements would not be washed away by flooding during heavy rains.

Although public health and safety were prominently cited as the main desire (and third justification) to fill in Honolulu, Kewalo, and then Waikīkī lands, the fill ultimately provided more room for residential subdivisions, industrial areas and finally tourist resorts.

In the early part of the twentieth century, Kakaʻako was becoming a prime spot for large industrial complexes, such as iron works, lumber yards, and hauling companies, which needed large spaces for their stables, feed lots and wagon sheds.

An 1887 Hawaiian Government Survey map of Honolulu shows continued urban expansion of the Downtown Honolulu area.

In 1889, the Honolulu Harbor was described as “nothing but a channel kept open by the flow of the Nuʻuanu River;” a sand bar restricted entry of the larger ocean vessels. In 1890-92, a channel 200-feet wide by 30-feet deep was dredged for about 1,000-feet through the sand bar.

Piers were constructed at the base of Richards Street in 1896, at the site of Piers 17 and 18 in 1901 to accommodate sugar loading and at Piers 7 and 12 in 1907.

After annexation in 1898, the harbor was dredged using US federal funds. The dredged material was used to create a small island in the harbor in order to calm the harbor and avoid constructing a breakwater. This island became what is now known as Sand Island.

In 1904, the area around South Street from King to Queen Streets was filled in. The Hawaiʻi Department of Public Works reported that “considerable filling (was) required” for the extension of Queen Street, from South Street to Ward Avenue, which would “greatly relieve the district of Kewalo in the wet season.”

A series of new piers were constructed at the base of Richards Street in 1896, at the site of Piers 17 and 18 in 1901 (to accommodate sugar loading) and then at Piers 7 and 12 in 1907. Further dredging was conducted at the base of Alakea Street in 1906.

With the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 and anticipated increased trans-Pacific shipping, government and business planned to further enlarge Honolulu Harbor by dredging Kalihi Channel and Kapālama Basin.

However, because of military concerns, the Reserved Channel connecting Honolulu Harbor to Kapālama Basin was dredged instead. This is known as the Kapālama Channel. Honolulu Harbor expanded into the Kapālama Basin and by the early 1930s Piers 34 had been constructed. Pier 35 was constructed in 1931 to provide dedicated facilities for inter-island pineapple shipments.

On September 11, 1926, after five years of construction, Aloha Tower was officially dedicated at Pier 9; at the time, the tallest building in Hawaiʻi.

Today, Honolulu Harbor continues to serve as Hawai‘i’s commercial lifeline for goods to/from Hawaiʻi and the rest of the world.

The image shows Honolulu in 1854, in a drawing done by Paul Emmert. It shows Honolulu just before these changes and the expansion of land in the downtown area (you can see people standing on the reef on the right.)

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‘Port_of_Honolulu’_by_Louis_Choris-1816

Interior_of_the_Fort,_Honolulu_Harbor-1830s-1840s

Honolulu Harbor-Ships pulled by canoes-Henry Walker-1843

Battle_of_Honolulu-Dolphin-(Massey)-1826

View_of_Honolulu_Harbor_and_Punchbowl_Crater._(c._1854)

Downtown_Honolulu-sites-uses_noted-(1870_roads_in_red)-Map-1810

'Entrance_to_Honolulu_Harbor'-William_Alexander_Coulter-1882

Honolulu_Harbor_(taken_from_prison_in_Iwilei)

Honolulu_Harbor_in_1810

Honolulu_Harbor_Kotzebue-Map-1816

Honolulu_Harbor-Downtown-(DAGS0237)-early-1850s

Honolulu_Harbor-InteriorDept-(Wall-Reg_1119)-1886

Honolulu_reproduced_from_map_drawn_by_Lt_CR_Malden_of_HBMS_Blonde-1825

Map Detail of Honolulu Harbor-C. R. Malden_Reg640 (1825)

April 16, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

George Charles Beckley

George Charles Beckley was known as “the English friend and military adviser of Kamehameha the Great.” (Taylor) Born in 1787, Beckley arrived in the Islands around 1804. About 1813, he married Ahia Kalanikumaikiʻekiʻe.

Ahia was daughter of Kaha, a trusted friend of Kamehameha I, a warrior and Kahuna Kalaiwaʻa (a priest who superintended the building of canoes) and of Makaloa, daughter of Malulani (k) and of Kelehuna (w) of Puna, Hawaiʻi. (Hawaiian Historical Society)

In preparation of Kamehameha’s conquest of the Islands, he ordered Kaha, “to build a war fleet to carry his invasion forces across the straits to the other islands. As each canoe was finished, to show the confidence he had in his skills, Kaha had his beautiful daughter Ahia ride each canoe on its sea trial.” (Dye)

Family traditions credit Beckley as being the designer of the Hawaiian Flag (other stories suggest the flag was designed by Alexander Adams, another trusted sea captain of Kamehameha – they may have designed it together (Adams later served as executor of Beckley’s estate and guardian of his children.))

The early Hawaiian flag looks much like the Hawaiʻi State flag of today, the apparent inspiration of the design being a melding of British and US flags, the most common foreign flags seen in Hawaiian waters at the time.

The original design had stripes (like the US flag) representing the eight major islands under one sovereign and the British Union Jack, representing the friendly relationship between England and Hawai‘i.

At the birth of the princess Nahiʻenaʻena (Kamehameha’s daughter) at Keauhou, Kona, in 1815, Beckley was made a high chief by Kamehameha, so that he might with impunity enter the sacred precinct, and present the royal infant with a roll of China silk, after which he went outside, and fired a salute of thirteen guns in her honor. (Hawaiian Historical Society)

“In consequence of his having become a tabu chief, his wife, Ahia, was thenceforth obliged by the ancient code of etiquette to “kolokolo” or crawl prone on hands and knees, when she entered the house of her lord.” (Hawaiian Historical Society)

In 1815, Kamehameha I granted some Russians permission to build a storehouse at Honolulu Harbor. Instead, they began building a fort against the ancient heiau of Pākākā and close to the King’s complex and raised the Russian flag. (Pākākā was the site of Kaua‘i’s King Kaumuali‘i’s negotiations relinquishing power to Kamehameha I.)

When Kamehameha discovered they were building a fort (rather than storehouses,) he sent several chiefs, along with John Young (his advisor) and Kalanimōku, to remove the Russians from Oʻahu by force, if necessary. The partially built blockhouse at Honolulu was finished by Hawaiians and mounted guns protected the fort.

Beckley was the first commander of the fort (known as Fort Kekuanohu or Fort Honolulu.) 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.)

“Kareimoku (Kalanimōku) is always in the fort, where they are still at work, and the natives not being familiar with the use of cannon, they have appointed an Englishman, named George Berkley, who had formerly served in a merchantman as commandant. The fort is nothing more than a square, supplied with loop-holes, the walls of which are two fathoms high, and built of coral stone.” (Kotzebue)

The Beckleys had seven children, William (1815,) Maria (1817,) Localia (1818,) Mary (1820,) George (1823,) Hannah and Emmeline (1825.)

His oldest child, William Beckley, who was born at Keauhou, was brought up together with Kauikeaouli (later King Kamehameha III.) His two oldest daughters were brought up by Queen Kaʻahumanu. (Hawaiian Historical Society)

The diary of missionary Hiram Bingham notes, “Whatever of hostility may have been manifested against the spiritual claims of the Gospel by foreigners and others, we were encouraged in our efforts to commence a school by several residents, some wishing their wives, and others their children to be instructed.”

“Among them, were … Beckley (English)… These cherished a desire that their long neglected children, whose morals, habits, language, and manners differed little from their contemporaries – the children of aboriginal fathers – might now, at length, if they wished it, have the advantage of a school for their improvement.”

Apparently, marriage did not keep Beckley constantly in the Islands. Instead, after a couple of years, he followed the custom of the day and took his wife with him on his numerous long voyages between the Mexico and Canton, China. (Hawaiian Historical Society) He apparently also kept a home in Vera Cruz, Mexico. His youngest daughter Emmeline was born off the coast of Mexico.

Beckley had several Hawaiʻi properties, including: a farm with the fishing grounds called Kealahewa, situated in the district of Kohala, Island of Hawaiʻi, by King Kamehameha I (1811;) a farm with the fishing grounds called Kaliheawa, Kalihi, by Keōpūolani (1815;) a farm called Kawailole, situated at the mouth of the valley of Manoa, sold by Kalanimōku (then Governor of Oahu) (1815;) and house lot in Honolulu by King Kamehameha (1819.)

George Charles Beckley died April 16, 1826 in Honolulu. “He was buried agreeably to his wish within his own enclosure. A vault was dug within the walls of an unfinished house; and inclosed with bricks & lined with mats. A part of the church buryal service was read by Mr. Bingham, who afterwards made a short address to the bystanders both in English & Hawaii & closed with prayer.” (Chamberlain)

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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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Kawaiahao_Church-1900

Kawaiahao_Church

Lahaina-Old-Fort

Iolani_Barracks

Fort of Honolulu-John_Colburn-visited Honolulu twice during the voyage-July 8-23, 1837 and May 31-June 10, 1839

Coral_Tomb_of_Keopuolani-Wainee-Waiola_Church-Lahaina_Maui-(EngravedAtLahainaluna)

Chamberlain_House-WC

Chamberlain House-(LOC)-1902

Our Lady of Peace Cathedral, Honolulu, 1843

April 29, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Esplanade

Honolulu Harbor (it was earlier known as Kuloloia) was entered by the first foreigner, Captain William Brown of the English ship Butterworth, in 1794.

Boats either anchored off-shore, or they were pulled into the harbor (this was done with canoes; or, it meant men and/or oxen pulled them in.)

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.

The reef belonging to the land of Waikahalulu, on the south side of Honolulu Harbor, had been purchased by the government from the Queen Dowager Kalama.

About 22-acres of reef land were added to the downtown area between Fort Street and Alakea Street; it was filled in with material dredged from the harbor.

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.)

The old prison was built in 1856-57, to take the place of the old fort (that also previously served as a prison.) The new custom-house was completed in 1860. The water-works were much enlarged, and a system of pipes laid down in 1861.

An 1887 Hawaiian Government Survey map of Honolulu shows continued urban expansion of the Downtown Honolulu area.

Many dredging and filling operations soon followed, and the 1890s and 1900s saw the construction of many new piers and channels in the harbor, the dredged material going to create new dry land areas.

The dredging of Honolulu Harbor and expansion of the Esplanade soon followed; major alteration of Honolulu from its natural configuration began in 1890 with the dredging of the main channel to 200 ft width by 30 ft deep for about 1000 ft through the sand bar at the entrance.

Piers were constructed at the base of Richards Street in 1896, at the site of Piers 17 and 18 in 1901 to accommodate sugar loading and at Piers 7 and 12 in 1907. Further dredging was conducted at the base of Alakea Street in 1906.

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