Hawaii Island | Page 32 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

January 25, 2016 by Peter T Young 13 Comments

William Hardy Hill

He reportedly came to Hawaiʻi and jumped a whaling ship, and stayed. (Maui Council)

“Doc Hill (William Hardy Hill) was kind of the maverick businessman in Hilo … (he) eventually, became probably the most influential businessman on this island.” (Henderson)

“Doc” acquired his moniker for selling eyeglasses, after he came to the Big Island in 1913; he opened the Hill Optical Co in the Young Kwong Hoy building in 1917 (between what is now the Kress bldg. & Basically Books.)

License No. 1 under the 1917 legislation to Regulate the Practice of Optometry was granted to Hill; he was a charter member of the Optometry Board of Examiners.

“He had some experience in optics from a job in a jewelry store back on the Mainland, so when he noticed a display of 40-cent eyeglasses in a Chinese store he persuaded the proprietor to let him have four dozen pair on credit. These he peddled to aging Orientals in the plantation camps for $4, on easy payments.” (Star Bulletin, June 6, 1970; Schmitt)

Although the published biographical sketches of Hill mention only a grammar school or high school education, he reportedly possessed a Doctor of Optics degree from Northern Illinois College of Ophthalmology and Otology. (Schmitt)

Doc added his jewelry business in 1919, and both his optical and jewelry businesses were among the largest in the Territory. When he was elected to our Territorial House of Representatives in 1928, Doc sold his optical and jewelry businesses to his bookkeeper, Freiderich Wilheim “Fritz” Koehnen. (Narimatsu)

“(O)nce you become associated with Doc Hill, you get very much involved with politics.” (Henderson) Hill was a member of Hawaiʻi territorial house and senate (he was senate president 1932-1959;) delegate to Republican National Convention from Hawaii Territory, 1944; member of Hawaii state senate, 1959-67.

Sometimes irascible, oft times flamboyant, but always keenly analytical and astute in his approach to the problems of the day. Senator Hill contributed greatly to the work of the legislature and to the development of the 50th State. (Congressman Matsunaga)

After President Dwight D Eisenhower signed the proclamation welcoming Hawai‘i as the 50th state of the union on August 21, 1959, the First Legislature of the State of Hawai‘i convened on August 31, 1959, in accordance with the Hawai‘i State Constitution.

During this 45-day First Special Session of 1959, the Senate elected Senator William H. Hill of the first senatorial district as Senate President. Senator Hill stated in his Opening Day remarks:

“This session of the Legislature is the most important that Hawai‘i has ever had and without a doubt will be the most important that will ever be known in Hawai‘i because in this session the die will be cast for future sessions.”

“Doc could go on telling you stories forever. (He’d say, ‘You gotta do things when you can, not when you can’t.’ In other words, if there’s a deal to be made or something that you want done, you do it when you can, and that means right now”. (Henderson)

‘Little Doc,’ his talking mynah bird joined him “(e)very year until the bird died In 1965, ‘Little Doc’ was brought from Hilo by his master to alt caged outside of the Senator’s ʻIolani Palace office – whistling at the wahines and saying ‘Vote for Doc Hill’ in true campaign style.”

Perhaps the ceremonial highlight of Doc’s Senate career came in 1967, when he appeared during one of the extended days of the session dressed in a kimono.

“Mr. President,” he said. “I have been humiliated, insulted and shunned the past few days and it’s all your fault. Last Thursday, Mr. President, I arose on this floor to tell you of rumors that the Senate might not adjourn as scheduled the next day.”

“I told you that my wife was going back home to Hilo In a few hours and wanted to know how many shirts she should leave for me In Honolulu. And you told me – before this body – that she should leave only one shirt.”

“Along about Saturday, I began to notice that when I would approach a group of senators I thought were my friends, they would scatter or else get upwind of me. I wondered what was wrong. Had I voted wrong on one of their pet measures?”

If ever the term Elder Statesman fit a man. It fit Doc. After many years in the inner circle of power In Hawaii government, age and the Democratic ascendancy In the Senate moved him back into the ranks during the late 1960s.

But really, Doc Hill never took a back seat to anyone in speaking his piece on the Senate floor. And age which slowed his step hasn’t yet worked its way up to the quick mind beneath that Caesar-like haircut. (Congressman Matsunaga)

It’s well known that Senator WH ‘Doc’ Hill of Hilo is a capitalist, period. (Honolulu Record, December 6, 1956)

“(Doc Hill) eventually got control of, at that time, the Hilo Electric Light Company (later known as Hawai’i Electric Light Co, (and the) General Motors dealership. … (He also had) Wailoa Motors, which operated a major tire-recapping facility that dealt mainly with the sugar plantations cane haul trucking tire needs”.

We had nine theaters around the island … (Hilo Theatres, Ltd) … I might say the theater business was a very good business before television arrived.” (Henderson)

He organized ‘Realty,’ a holding company in 1926; it was parent company to several of his holdings. (Realty was later renamed Realty Investment Co, Ltd.)

He also had “Hilo Thrift and Loan (Hilo Finance and Thrift Co., Ltd,) that eventually became what is known as Realty Finance. Doc was involved in “all kinds” of real estate ventures (land; built and bought businesses; developments, etc.)

From 1954 to 1973, Big Island developers, including Realty Investment Co Ltd, won permission to chop up thousands of acres in Lower Puna and sell them off into thousands of individual lots. (Dayton) Most of the subdivisions were created prior to the adoption of the Zoning Code in 1967. (Puna CDP)

Mainland marketing pieces for Puna subdivisions noted, “Your Future Is Here! If you’ve ever wanted to own property in Hawaii, it pays you to act now. Combine investment with pleasure in the 50th State of the Union.”

“William H Hill, says in his (Hilo Electric Report) that ‘the vast water supply, temperate climate and other natural resources, many still untapped, make the Big Island the Territory’s most valuable land area for economic development and location of new industry’.” (Salt Lake Tribune, April 10, 1960)

Hill and his wife Ouida and large homes in Hilo and Kona, and has hosted notable visitors for decades’ John Wayne and Pilar Palette were married on the grounds of his Keauhou Bay estate on November 1, 1954. ‘Doc’ Hill died in 1970.

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Senator_Hill-1959-(senate)

Doc Hill Estate at Keauhou

W.H. “Doc” Hill, far right, and Richard Henderson, second from right-PBN

Director John Farrow (left), John and Pilar Wayne at Doc Hill’s Home in Kona

January 24, 2016 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Laupāhoehoe

The northeastern coast of the island of Hawaiʻi presents an almost continuous succession of valleys, with intervening uplands rising gently for a few miles, and then more abruptly toward the snows of Mauna Kea and the clouds.

The rains are abundant on that side of the island, and the fertile plateau, boldly fronting the sea with a line of cliffs from fifty to a hundred feet in height, is scored at intervals of one or two miles with deep and almost impassable gulches.

The streams reach the ocean either through rocky channels worn to the level of the waves, or in cascades leaping from the cliffs and streaking the coast from Hilo to Waipiʻo.

In the time of Līloa, and later, this plateau was thickly populated, and requiring no irrigation, was cultivated from the sea upward to the line of frost. A few kalo patches are still seen, and bananas grow, as of old, in secluded spots and along the banks of the ravines. (Kalākaua)

“Lapahoi (Laupāhoehoe – leaf of lava) is a small stony flat with a few huts and sweet potatoes and taro patches scattered over it. It lies at the extremity of a deep ravine, the declivities on either side nearly 500 feet in height and extending to the sea beach, terminating in a rocky precipice.”

“The coast all the way to Lapahoi was intersected by many deep ravines, many of which had large rivers forming beautiful waterfalls that fell over the outward cliffs into the ocean, the angry surf of which broke a long way up upon the rocks underneath.” (Macrae, 1825)

“The country, by which we sailed, was fertile, beautiful, and apparently populous. The numerous plantations on the eminences and sides of the deep ravines or valleys, by which it was intersected, with the streams meandering through them into the sea, presented altogether a most agreeable prospect.”

“The coast was bold, and the rocks evidently volcanic. We frequently saw the water gushing out of hollows in the face of the rocks, or running in cascades from the top to the bottom.”

“After sailing very pleasantly for several hours, we approached Laupāhoehoe: although we had come upwards of twenty miles, and had passed not less than fifty ravines or valleys, we had not seen a spot where we thought it would be possible to land without being swamped”.

“(A)lthough we knew we had arrived at the end of our voyage, we could discover no place by which it seemed safe to approach the shore, as the surf was beating violently, and the wind blowing directly towards the land.” (Ellis, 1823)

In January 1834, David Douglas (a fir tree was named after him) visited the island of Hawai‘i, traveled around the base of Mauna Kea – including the upper Laupāhoehoe forest zone – and ascended Mauna Kea; while on his second visit to the island, he died at a location near the mauka boundary of Laupāhoehoe and Humuʻula.

In 1859, Abel Harris and FB Swain entered into a partnership and secured a section of land on the Laupāhoehoe peninsula and lower plains; they ran a trading station and attempted to undertake several business ventures, including, collection of pulu (down) from hāpuʻu tree ferns, hunting bullocks in the upper forest lands, and cultivation of sugar cane on the lowlands.

The lowlands of the Laupāhoehoe region became the focus of sugar plantation efforts as early as the 1850s. But it was not until 1876, that a full-scale plantation was incorporated, and a mill established.

At the industry’s peak in the 1930s, Hawaiʻi’s sugar plantations employed more than 50,000 workers and produced more than 1-million tons of sugar a year; over 254,500-acres were planted in sugar.

As elsewhere, sugar cultivation exploded on the Big Island. As a means to transport sugar and other goods, railroading was introduced to the Islands in 1879. All the sugar grown in East Hawaiʻi, in Puna and on the Hāmākua Coast, was transported by rail to Hilo Harbor, where it was loaded onto ships bound for the continent.

The rail line crossed over 12,000-feet in bridges, 211-water openings under the tracks, and individual steel spans up to 1,006-feet long and 230-feet in height.

Some of the most notable were those over Maulua and Honoliʻi gulches, the Wailuku River and Laupāhoehoe. Over 3,100 feet of tunnels were constructed, one of which, the Maulua Tunnel, was over half a mile in length.

While the main business of the railroad remained the transport of raw sugar and other products to and from the mills, it also provided passenger service.

Targeting tourists to augment local passenger and raw sugar transport, the Hawaiʻi Consolidated Railway ran sightseeing specials under the name “Scenic Express.”

Not for the faint of heart, rail trips included a stop on the trestles, where passengers disembarked to admire the outstanding scenery.

But the end was near for the railway. Early in the morning of April 1, 1946, a massive tsunami struck Hawaiʻi. The railroad line between Hilo and Paʻauilo suffered massive damage; bridges collapsed, trestles tumbled and one engine was literally swept off the tracks.

At Laupāhoehoe Point, waves destroyed teachers’ residences and flooded school grounds, killing twenty-five people, including sixteen students and five teachers of Laupāhoehoe School.

(The 1946 tsunami killed 159-people and caused $26-million in property damage throughout the islands. To prevent such widespread loss of life and property, the territory-wide Tsunami Warning System was put in place in 1948 and successfully utilized for the 1952 and 1957 tsunamis.) (hawaii-edu)

At the time of the tsunami, plantations were already phasing out rail in favor of trucking cane from the field to the mill. It was inevitable that trucking would also replace rail as the primary means of transporting sugar to the harbor. The tsunami accelerated that transition.

A few remnants of the railway are still visible. In Laupāhoehoe, a concrete platform remains where Hula dancers once performed for tourists. And the Laupāhoehoe Train Museum is housed in the former home of Mr. Stanley, the superintendent of maintenance.

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Laupahoehoe village-PPWD-5-4-021-1885

Laupahoehoe-PP-30-2-015-1935

Laupahoehoe-PP-30-2-014-1935

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Aerial view of Laupahoehoe-PP-30-2-016-1935

Aerial view of Laupahoehoe-PP-30-2-013-after_1946

Flumes and railroad bridge on the way to Laupahoehoe-PP-30-2-005

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Hawaii Consolidated Railway Train

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Bridge on the Hamakua Coast, Hawaii, c.1930

David Douglas-Memorial-Kaluakauka

Roughed out Canoe at the 4,500’ Elevation in Dense Koa forest-Sept 11, 1885

Laupahoehoe

January 20, 2016 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Ossipoff Meets Mid-19th Century

The Walter Irving Henderson House in Kona was featured in a 1958 edition of Sunset Magazine – they said, “The house is small but takes care of a large number of guests without crowding.”

It is a combination of classics – the first floor structure was built, circa 1864, as a small church or meeting house; in 1953, the deteriorated church was renovated and the second floor was added, for use as a beach house.

The first-floor stone walls were part of the original Kahului Church building, and were constructed in a style that was typical of the Kona District in the mid-19th century.

Lava rock was a plentiful raw building material in Kona, while other construction materials such as wood were not as readily available. Once missionaries arrived, and began to build permanent houses of worship, they found that building with stone was the most economical and expeditious means of constructing what they needed.

These buildings were constructed with local lava rock held together with lime mortar produced with coral, typically burned on site. In some cases, the stones used came from local heiau. (It is not known if that was the case here, though there are records of heiau nearby.)

It is also not known who built the Kahului Church. One of the most well-known builders of Kona’s nineteenth century stone churches was the Reverend John D Paris, an American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions Protestant missionary who was first in charge of the mission’s Kaʻū area, and then the North Kona area.

Many church buildings constructed in the Kona area are attributed to Paris; however this is thought to be a former Catholic church.

The first floor stone walls were constructed circa 1864 when the land was granted to Kapae in Royal Land Grant #2961, and the Kahului Church building is believed to have been constructed.

It is likely that the readily available lava rock building material allowed the missionaries to build in a similar style to Paris. For example, this type of construction was also used in the larger St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Kailua town.

An 1892 map shows Kahului Church, along with a nearby structure labeled “Makuakane” (which translates approximately to “father” in English, giving a strong indication that this was likely a Catholic priest’s house.)

The structure was modified from the original one-story church form to its existing two-story appearance in 1953; the entire second floor and interior of the first floor were designed by celebrated local architect Vladimir Ossipoff.

Ossipoff’s design for the Henderson House was innovative, and created an extremely unique house that, though it does not look like most of his other work, nonetheless embodies the majority of his aesthetic and philosophy of design.

Ossipoff was a prominent architect in the Islands, working between the 1930s and 1990s. He was recognized locally, nationally and internationally for his designs. He is best known for his contribution to the development of the Hawaiian Modern movement.

This style is characterized by the work of architects who “subscribed to the general modernity of the International Style while attempting to integrate the cultural and topographical character of the (Hawaiian) region.” (Sakamoto)

The main portion of the first floor of the house is one large open room, and has a scored, finished concrete floor, painted plastered walls, and an open beamed ceiling that exposes the floorboards of the second floor.

The thick stone walls create deep niches at the door and window openings; the center-opening doors and shutters installed do not extend beyond the width of the walls.

The property perimeter has a dry stack rock wall, dating possibly to the early- to mid-1800s. This was when a government commission began requiring formal property boundaries be erected by the year 1862.

Walls of this type, comprised of stones fitted together without mortar to hold them in place, had commonly been constructed in pre-contact times for a variety of uses.

As early as Kamehameha I in the 1820s, dry-stack walls were used in the Kona area as barriers to prevent wandering cattle. As ranching grew in the later part of the nineteenth century, more walls were needed to contain the growing number of cattle.

In Kona building and repairing dry-stack stone walls was common until the 1930s, but diminished throughout the Territory of Hawaii with the greater availability of alternate materials for walls and fences at that time.

The house was recently reviewed for listing on the State Register of Historic Places and the National Register. (Most of the information here is from Jones, NPS.)

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Henderson House

Henderson House-Alii Drive

Henderson House

Kahului Landing-(HSA)-PPWD-5-3-019

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Kailua_Town_and_Vicinity-Map-Kanakanui-Reg1676 (1892)-portion-‘Kahului Hale’

Kailua-Map-Reg1280 (1952)-portion-‘Kahului Church’

Waiaha-Reg2310-Wall-1891-portion-‘Church’

November 27, 2015 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Hāmākua Ditch

As a result of the 1902 Arthur S Tuttle report commissioned by the Bishop Estate to study the feasibility of bringing water to the Hāmākua area, two major ditches were proposed – the Upper Ditch and the Lower Ditch.

“The object of the Hawaiian Irrigation Company, Limited, is in brief, the supplying of mountain water, by means of one upper and one lower irrigation canal, from the large watershed and permanent streams of the Kohala mountains, Hawaii …”

“… to the sugar estates in the Hāmākua district, where a large area, which is capable of considerable extension, is now under cultivation.” (Hawaiian Star, July 2, 1910)

The Hawaii Irrigation Company was originally known as the Hāmākua Ditch Company, Ltd., which was incorporated on February 9, 1904. Among the local bond subscribers were FA Schaefer & Co, Honokaa Sugar Co, Pacific Sugar Mill, Allen & Robinson, H Hackfeld, Mr Ahrens and Mr Jorgensen.

Sometime between August 1908 and April 1909, the Hāmākua Ditch Company changed its name to Hawaiian Irrigation Company, Ltd.

“Efforts to obtain water on a large scale for the ‘dry’ Hāmākua section of Hawaii had begun, however, prior to the active association of Mr. McCrosson with the projects. In 1884 Claus Spreckels, WG Irwin, HP Baldwin and others had surveys made and did considerable preliminary work, but the scheme was abandoned owing to the decision of Mr. Baldwin to concentrate his energies and capital upon the island of Maui.”

“In 1892 LA Thurston, then minister of the interior, made an official survey of the country (with a view to devising a scheme for taking water into Hamakua.) These several surveys formed the basis of Mr McCrosson’s later operations and the survey basis of the three great systems as they appear today.” (Hawaiian Star, July 2, 1910)

Water sources for the Upper Hāmākua Ditch were the Kawainui and the Alakahi streams, as well as general runoff from the watershed into the ditch; construction apparently commenced in April 1906. The Ditch was completed in January of 1907 and was initially able to deliver 15 MGD (million gallons per day.)

John T McCrosson oversaw the construction of the ditch. The Upper Ditch was approximately 23-miles in length and some 15 miles of it ran through Honokaa Sugar Co. and Pacific Sugar Mill land. Originally the Upper Ditch consisted of dirt ditches and galvanized flumes patched with lumber.

The Lower Ditch construction began in June 1907 (water sources were the Kawainui, Alakahi, Koeawi, and later, the Waimea streams,) but serious construction work did not start until September 1908. The ditch was opened on July 1, 1910 with a delivery of 30 MGD.

It was the occasion of two days of banquets, speeches and merry-making … “According to rumors aboard the Mauna Kea, the Hamakua Ditch opening on Friday will be the scene of an immense gathering, if the weather be favorable. It is understood that the entire population of the district will foregather there…” (Hawaiian Star, June 30, 1910)

The original length of the Lower Ditch was approximately 24 miles. Later on it was extended about 5 miles to supply water to Pauʻuilo Plantation.

“(F)rom the water head to the exit from Waipio Valley a distance of nearly nine miles, the ‘ditch’ is no ditch at all but a continuous tunnel with only three breaks where it comes out of the face of the bluff to span a narrow gorge and plunge into the face of the opposite precipice once more to bury itself in the lava depths …”

“… and that there are as yet unused possibilities for the incidental development of 8000 horsepower which can be distributed as electric energy all over the Island of Hawaii, give some conception of what the Great Ditch means.” (Hawaiian Gazette, July 5, 1910)

Japanese laborers built the ditch tunnels, the tunnel of the Lower Ditch, traveling the 8.9-miles from the Kawainui intake to the weir at Kukuihaele, was one of the longest in Hawai‘i. It was further distinguished by being quite large, approximately 10 X 12 feet in diameter. In 1920, another tunnel was constructed through Lalakea Gulch.

Apparently, three people were killed as a result of the building of the ditch. In July 1909, an engineer, Thomas F Kelly, drowned (with his horse) in Waipi`o Valley as he was returning from Kukuihaele with supplies.

A month later, a Japanese laborer was “pinned down by a large rock falling on him; he died shortly after the accident.” There is mention of a third, a Japanese workman, who, during the cutting of a trail across the face of the pali, was struck by a falling rock, “and he tumbled to death hundreds of feet below.” (EnvHawaii)

Due to various disputes , by February of 1915, Hawaiian Irrigation Co. was taken over by new management (essentially that of Honokaa Sugar Co.)

The company became involved in the growing and selling of rice. A rice mill was operated and became a source of revenue. There were also a few small independent poi factories located in the valley. The records also reflect other attempts regarding diversified agriculture in the valley.

In 1960, Honokaa Sugar Co. bought the remaining outstanding shares of the Hawaiian Irrigation Company, making Hawaiian Irrigation Company a wholly owned subsidiary of that firm.

For half a century it was the sole source for potable water for the communities along its path. The Hāmākua Ditch is woven into the history and culture of the local communities beyond its length. The ditch continues to serve the needs of the Hāmākua community.

The demise of the sugar industry, including the closure of Hāmākua Sugar in 1994, left a void in communities on the Big Island and throughout the state. At that time, the community expressed a strong desire to retain an agricultural lifestyle, which helped define the character of the community.

A movement toward growing a diversified agricultural community began with an eye on the highly desirable lower elevation lands. The Hāmākua Ditch remained a critical and important piece in this vision.

The Hamakua Ditch Work Group (comprised of local farmers and ranchers, representatives from the Hāmākua Farm Bureau and Hāmākua/North Hilo Cooperative, USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service, State Department of Agriculture, State Legislators and Kamehameha Schools) formed shortly after the 1994 closing of the plantation and has focused on maintenance and preservation of the Hāmākua Ditch system. (Takamine)

“John T McCrosson, the builder of the Hāmākua ditch, was born In Delaware, and arrived in the Islands first in March, 1880, going to Kohala plantation, where he had charge of theo traction engines. Remained there and at other plantations until 1885, when he went to San Francisco and engaged in the machinery business.”

“While at Kohala, Mr McCrosson studied deeply into the water problem of that rich country, and worked out during the years at San Francisco the great systems which are now under way there.”

“He returned to the Islands in 1895 and, with the exception of business visits to Washington, London, and other cities, has been here ever since. The Kohala ditch was the first planned and carried out by Mr. McCrosson.”

“This was completed June 11, 1906, and was the occasion of a monster ‘celebration’ in which almost the whole Island of Hawaii joined.” (Hawaiian Star, July 2, 1910) (Lots of information here is from HSPA, EnvHawaii and Takamine.)

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Upper Hamakua Ditch

Hamakua Ditch in Waipio Valley , Hawaii , Geoffrey C. Davies in distance-BM

Flume crossing a gulch, Hamakua, Hawaii Island-PP-28-11-003

Sugar cane flume, Hamakua Hawaii-BM

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Portable sugar cane flumes in field near Kukuihaele, Hawaii, looking toward Waipio-BM

Lower Hamakua Ditch

November 7, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kaluaikonahale

He was born about 1789 with the name Kaluaikonahale, the son of Keʻeaumoku and his wife Nāmāhana. He was the youngest of four famous siblings.

His sisters were Queen Kaʻahumanu, Kamehameha’s favorite wife who later became the powerful Queen Regent and Kuhina nui, Kalākua Kaheiheimālie and Namahana-o-Piʻia (also queens of Kamehameha) and brother George Cox Kahekili Keʻeaumoku.

His father, Keʻeaumoku, was a “tried friend of Kamehameha and one of the principal promoters of his fortunes. Being of prodigious personal strength, his valor powerfully assisted Kamehameha in securing the entire dominion of the group.” (Polynesian, January 4, 1845)

Kaluaikonahale was born on Maui, but as an infant he was taken to Keauhou to grow up; he excelled in canoeing and other sports. In his youth, he once jumped a stone wall and injured his foot; he almost died from the injury, but recovered and remained lame for the rest of his life. (Oaks)

He married Analeʻa (Ane or Annie) Keohokālole; they had no children. (She later married Caesar Kapaʻakea. That union produced several children (including the future King Kalākaua and Queen Liliʻuokalani.))

He later married Lydia Haʻaheo Kaniu. They had one son Keōua, who died in infancy, and one daughter Kamanele (1814–1834.)

With the introduction of Christianity and adoption of western names, he changed his name and chose the name John Adams after John Quincy Adams (the US President at the time.)

From then, he was called John Adams Kuakini.

His physical appearance was formidable; standing 6-feet, 3-inches “and even heavier than this gigantic stature would indicate.” Ellis noted he was “tall, stout, well made and remarkably handsome.” (Oaks)

His wife “was like himself, a royal chief of highest rank, and not quite equally ponderous. I remember seeing the princely pair lolling on their own pile of rich Niʻihau mats, with many attendants busily kneading their bodies and limbs (lomi-lomi). Ages of nourishing diet and massage for digestion had bred a royal Hawaiian race of immense stature and girth.” (Bishop)

Kuakini was an important adviser to Kamehameha I in the early stages of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i. His “first office of importance under Kamehameha I was that of captain of the ordnance at Oʻahu. Upon the King’s last return to Hawaiʻi in 1813, he was raised to the rank of counselor.”

“Immediately after the death of the King, Kaʻahumanu made him Governor of Hawaii; his original charge was limited to the district of Kona. In 1830, she further appointed him to the governorship of Oahu, which office he retained until December, 1831, when he returned to Hawaiʻi.”

“(Kuakini’s) administrations were vigorous and effective. Energetic in action, but reserved in manners, he assumed to himself much responsibility. It was difficult to secure his confidence in matters of council, as he relied much upon his own judgment.”

“While in Hawaiʻi, being remote from the seat of government and the influence of other chiefs mostly assembled around the King, he acted in a great measure independently of them, and sometimes contrary to their opinions.”

“His acquaintance with the English language, and his thirst for knowledge, gave him a superiority in general intelligence, over most of the chiefs of his rank; and afforded him a better insight into the nature of things than others attained.”

“He was more enterprising in deed than other native rulers, and many of the objects which claimed his attention, such for instance as the building of churches and the making of roads, were intended for the public benefit”.

“(Y)et in most of his enterprises, his aim was to accumulate property. But he was correct in his business transactions and a man of his word.” (Polynesian, January 4, 1845)

“By sea and by land we have enjoyed the protection of God, and the countenance and patronage of the king and chiefs. Especially would we notice the kindness of Kuakini, the Governor of Owhyhee (Hawaiʻi,) who received us with great hospitality, and freely lent his influence and authority to aid us in the attainment of our immediate objects”.

“… with a view to the permanent establishment of a missionary station there, (Kuakini) has promptly commenced the erection of a chapel at Kairua for the worship of Jehovah, whose rightful and supreme authority he has publicly acknowledged.” (Ellis)

Kuakini gave land to missionary Asa Thurston to build Mokuʻaikaua Church. “This was erected by Governor Kuakini about 1828. It was a wholly native structure, framed with immense timbers cut and dragged from the great interior forest by Kuakini superintending his subjects in person.” (Bishop)

“(I)n 1835, the great church was burned by some incendiary, and the services were then conducted in a large canoe-shed of the Governor, which was vacated for the purpose.”

“The energetic Kuakini immediately set about building the great stone church now standing on the site of the old one. … the corners were built up with large square blocks of pāhoehoe lava, which were transported by the people from some heiau at a distance. They were smoothly hewn, evidently with great labor. (Bishop)

During his tenure, Kuakini built other historical sites that dominate Kailua-Kona today. The Great Wall of Kuakini, probably a major enhancement of an earlier wall, was one of these.

The Great Wall of Kuakini extends in a north-south direction for approximately 6 miles from Kailua to near Keauhou, and is generally 4 to 6-feet high and 4-feet wide.

He built Huliheʻe Palace in the American style out of native lava, coral lime mortar, koa and ‘ʻōhiʻa timbers. Completed in 1838, he used the palace to entertain visiting Americans and Europeans with great feasts.

The Palace was constructed by foreign seamen using lava rock, coral, koa and ʻōhiʻa timbers. Kuakini oversaw the construction of both Mokuʻaikaua Church and Huliheʻe Palace and these landmarks once shared a similar architectural style with exposed stone.

Kuakini died December 9, 1844 in Kailua-Kona; the Palace passed to his adopted son, William Pitt Leleiōhoku. Leleiōhoku died a few months later, leaving Huliheʻe to his wife, Princess Ruth Luka Keʻelikōlani. It became a favorite retreat for members of the Hawaiian royal family.

A highway is named “Kuakini Highway,” which runs from the Hawaii Belt Road through the town of Kailua-Kona, to the Old Kona Airport Recreation Area. He is also the namesake of Kuakini Street in Honolulu, which is in turn the namesake of the Kuakini Medical Center on it.

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