Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Flying the American Flag

“Twenty-eight members of the crew of the American armed steamer Aztec, 3,808 tons, which was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine are missing …”  (Mercury, April 5, 1917)

Before we expand on this, let’s look back – both in Hawaiʻi and elsewhere.

Captain John Dominis was an Italian-American ship captain and merchant from New York who had been trading in the Pacific since the 1820s.  In the 1840s, he purchased property on Beretania Street; he built a home for his family, Mary Lambert Dominis (his wife) and John Owen Dominis (his son.)

In 1847, on a voyage to China, Captain Dominis was lost at sea. To make ends meet, the widowed Mary then rented spare bedrooms; one of her tenants was American Commissioner Anthony Ten Eyck.  Impressed with the white manor and grand columns out front, Ten Eyck said it reminded him of Mount Vernon (George Washington’s mansion) and that it should be named “Washington Place.”

King Kamehameha III, who concurred, Proclaimed as ‘Official Notice,’ “It has pleased His Majesty the King to approve of the name of Washington Place given this day by the Commissioner of the United States, to the House and Premises of Mrs. Dominis and to command that they retain that name in all time coming.”  (February 22, 1848)

In 1862, John Owen Dominis married Lydia Kamakaʻeha (also known as Lydia Kamakaʻeha Pākī.)  Lydia Dominis described Washington Place “as comfortable in its appointments as it is inviting in its aspect.”  Reportedly, the American flag flew at the residence until Mary Dominis’s death, when Liliuokalani had it removed.  (Mary Dominis died on April 25, 1889, and the premises went to her son, John Owen Dominis, Governor of Oʻahu.)

Lydia was eventually titled Princess, and later became Queen Liliʻuokalani, in 1891.  John Owen Dominis died shortly after becoming Prince consort (making Liliʻuokalani the second widow of the mansion;) title to the home then passed to Queen Liliʻuokalani.

On the continent, former Princeton University president and governor of New Jersey, Woodrow Wilson was elected President in 1912; under him, the US proclaimed its neutrality from the beginning of World War I (in the summer of 1914.)

After the German sinking of the British passenger ship Lusitania in May 1915 (which killed 1,201 people, including 128 Americans,) Wilson sent a strongly worded warning to Germany.  After attempts to broker peace, then sinking of the American cargo ship Housatonic, Wilson broke off diplomatic relations with Germany.

With German submarine warfare continuing unabated, the final straw came on April 1, 1917, when the armed merchant ship Aztec was sunk off the northwest coast of France by U-boat 46 under the command of Leo Hillebrand. The Aztec was on its way from New York to Le Havre, France with a cargo of timber, copper, steel, chemicals and machinery.

All twenty eight members of the crew were killed, including Boatswain’s Mate First Class John I Eopolucci, a Naval Armed Guard – the first US Navy sailor killed in action in World War I.  The attack on the Aztec was the final straw and led to America’s intervention into World War I.

On April 2, 1917, President Wilson appeared before Congress to deliver his historic war message and asked for a declaration of war against Germany.  (history-com)  Then as Congress convened, two more ships were sunk, the large freighter Missourian and the schooner Marguerite, with no casualties aboard either ship.  On April 6, 1917, after twenty-nine months of official neutrality, the US declared war on Germany, formally entering World War I.

The passage of the war resolution by Congress, April 5, 1917, and the issuance of the President’s proclamation the next day declaring that “a state of war exists between the United States and the Imperial German Government,” was the signal for Hawaiʻi once more to declare its loyalty and pledge its unfaltering support of the nation’s cause. Appropriate resolutions were adopted by the legislature and by numerous clubs and organizations.  (Kuykendall)

On the very day on which President Wilson delivered his memorable war message to Congress, the ground for his indictment of the German government was brought home to the people of this territory by news that five youths from Hawaiʻi had lost their lives in the sinking of the Aztec.  (Kuykendall)

When the American steamer Aztec was sunk a few days ago by a German submarine, five Hawaiians … lost their lives …. Two of these Hawaiians were residents of Honolulu, the other three of Hawaiʻi.  (Hawaiian Gazette, April 3, 1917).

The five Hawaiian merchant marines that were part of the Aztec crew were: John Davis, Charles Kanai, Eleka Kaohi, Julian R Macomber and Henry Rice (they were all civilians.)

Support grew for an event to mourn the loss of Hawaiʻi’s first war dead.  In a memorial service for the five, held April 22, 1917, “The dead were eulogized as heroes who lost their lives while maintaining the right of the principle that the seas are free to all.  About a pavilion platform that was decorated with the Star Spangled Banner and the flag of Hawaiʻi … more than 2000 gathered …”

“That the Hawaiians died in the service of their country in upholding American right of legitimate commerce at sea was emphasized by the presence on the platform of the heads of the military and naval service in Hawaiʻi, and there was a solemn martial atmosphere to the gathering to remind even casual spectators that this was a memorial service in war time.”  (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, April 23, 1917)

“Senator HL Desha speaking in Hawaiian delivered an oration appropriate to the occasion. He spoke of the five brave men who died doing their duty and declared that for all we know on this earth, these men might have sacrificed their lives for the peace of the whole world.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, April 24, 1917)

Lorrin Andrews delivered an oration on what the American flag represents, “There is a Flag floating over this building which symbolizes to all of us that which we hold most dear. It was conceived in a struggle for liberty against oppression. It presided over the birth of the greatest republic that the world has ever seen, and it has always represented honor, freedom and justice.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, April 24, 1917)

Not long before her death in 1917, Queen Liliuokalani nobly expressed support of the United States in World War I by ordering that the American flag be flown over Washington Place.  (hawaii-gov)

“For the first time in its long and picturesque history, Washington Place, home of Queen Liliʻuokalani, was decorated today with an American flag.”

“It was the occasion of the visit of the legislators to pay their respects to the aged queen and in view of the extraordinary crisis in international affairs and the prospect of patriotic war action by congress …”

“… the queen allowed the flag to be flown in honor of the government which years ago was responsible for her loss of a monarchy.”  (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, April 3, 1917)  (Reportedly, the American flag continued to fly over Washington Place.)

Liliʻuokalani continued to occupy Washington Place until her death later that year (November 11, 1917.)

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Surf versus Palms

A couple pioneers in neighbor island hospitality stand out in Hawaiʻi’s early fledgling visitor industry. At the time, emphasis and facilities were focused in Waikīkī. However, two locally-grown chains saw the opportunities and put their attention on the neighbor Islands.

Attention to the neighbor islands was not their only similarity. Each started as locally-owned and family-run. They grew to provide more than just a place to sleep and eat – their operations included tours and travel. Sadly, they are both gone.

The first, Inter-Island Resorts under the Child family, grew into a number of “Surf Resorts” on the neighbor islands; the other, Island Holidays, under the Guslanders, had several neighbor island “Palms Resorts.”

Here’s some background on each, as well as the connection that existed between them.

Walter Dudley Child, Sr. came to Hawaiʻi in the early-1920s; he first worked in the agriculture industry with the Hawaiʻi Sugar Planters Association (HSPA.) After a decade, he left HSPA and entered the hotel industry, purchasing the Blaisdell Hotel in downtown Honolulu; he later bought the Naniloa Hotel in Hilo.

In the early-1950s, Child became a director of Inter-Island Resorts, Ltd and later acquired the controlling interest in the company.

The fortunes of the company rose along with the growth in the visitor industry, and Inter-Island Resorts began to grow into a chain, starting with the Naniloa, the Kona Inn and the Kauaʻi Inn (at Kalapakī Beach.) In those early days of Hawaiʻi tourism, Inter-Island Resorts became a pioneer in selling accommodations on the neighbor islands. (hawaii-edu)

When Walter Sr. suffered a debilitating stroke in 1955, Dudley Child succeeded his father as president. Dudley’s first big move came on July 1, 1960 with the opening of the Kauaʻi Surf on beachfront property on Kalapakī Beach. Child at the time called the Surf a “whole new philosophy in Neighbor Island hotels.”

This led to the Islands-wide “Surf Resorts” joining the Kona Inn under the Inter-Island banner. (The company later opened the Kona Surf (Keauhou) in 1960 and the Maui Surf (Kāʻanapali Beach in 1971.) In 1971, the company formed the “Islander Inns,” in a 3-way partnership of Inter-Island Resorts, Continental Airlines and Finance Factors.)

Dudley Child and Inter-Island Resorts understood and responded to the changing nature of the growing visitor industry. The company acquired/formed Trade-Wind Tours, Gray Line Tours and Island U-Drive, and developed close alliances with other major travel companies, providing a full range of travel services for Hawai‘i visitors. (hawaii-edu)

One of the significant contributions of Dudley Child and Inter-Island Resorts was the development of full service beach properties on the Neighbor Islands in the 1960s and 70s, which stimulated statewide tourism.

Inter-Island Resorts eventually sold its properties to other operators, but the vision of its founding family was instrumental in the development of Hawai‘i tourism. (hawaii-edu)

Lyle Lowell “Gus” Guslander, started in the hotel business as a bellhop and cook. After studying hotel operations at Cornell University, Guslander was in management at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, eventually working his way up to become assistant manager.

In 1947, Guslander came to Hawaiʻi and worked at the Niumalu Hotel for Walter Child, Sr. Both were characterized with short fuses and it didn’t take long for a disagreement to come between the two and Child “canned” him. Guslander moved to the Moana Hotel as assistant manager.

Then Guslander set out on his own; he initially leased, then purchased the 24-room Coco Palms Lodge on Kauaʻi – and later expanded it to nearly 400-rooms, naming it, simply, Coco Palms. He hired Grace Buscher to run it; he later married her.

Grace Guslander and Coco Palms are synonymous. She was an innovator – Hawaiians traditionally used torches as a light source when walking or fishing at night. But it wasn’t until the 1950s and Guslander that it became common to stick torches in the ground and pioneered the torch-lighting ceremony, which hotels throughout the islands eventually copied. (AP, Seattle Times, September 12, 2012)

Grace Guslander was later recognized for her accomplishments (she won a worldwide title of Hotel Manager of the Year in 1965 and in 1979 was the first woman to win the Man of the Year award at the International Hotel, Motel and Restaurant show in New York.)

Movies and television shows were filmed at the Coco Palms – Elvis Presley filmed the finale of his film “Blue Hawaiʻi” there in 1961, immortalizing its lush coconut groves and picturesque lagoons.

They also had closer ties with that industry – “Film stars John Wayne, Fed McMurray and Red Skelton have bought into a hotel company which operates three hotels in the outer Hawaiian Islands …”

“… the three own 18 percent of the Lyle Guslander Island Holiday Hotels Co. Hotels owned by the company are the Kona Palms, Maui Palms and Coco Palms.” (Independent Press-Telegram, July 24, 1955)

As the Coco Palms became successful, Gus expanded his operations eventually acquiring hotels on Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Maui and the Big Island of Hawaiʻi under the Island Holidays chain, with several of the hotels under the “Palms” brand.

Guslander also recognized, with his growing hotel operations, the need to expand in service and formed Island Holidays Tours. He had help from Myrtle Chun Lee.

In 1969, Guslander sold his operations to Amfac Inc and stayed on as an Amfac vice president until his retirement in 1978. In 1992, Hurricane Iniki severely damaged Coco Palms Hotel, several attempts have been made to repair and revive it. Gus died in 1984 at the age of 69, and Grace died in 2000 at 76.

In the 1950s and 60s, these two chains pioneered neighbor island hotel development – and for a while, competed head-to-head. Later, the mega-multi-national chains – Sheraton, Hilton, etc – entered the Hawaiʻi market.

A few other island hotel chains were/are also part of the Hawaiʻi hotel experience, i.e. Outrigger, Aston and others – (many were more Waikīkī focused) but I’ll save those for other stories.

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Coco Palms
Coco Palms-Outrigger Bed with its Fishnet Bedspread, and Paddle Lights in the Wailua Kai Wing
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Kauai Surf Hotel Kalapaki Beach, HI
Kauai Surf Hotel Kalapaki Beach, HI
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Surf Lanai Guest Room, Kauai Surf Hotel Kalapaki Beach
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Aerial View Of The Kona Surf Hotel
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Kona Surf Hotel On The Big Island Of Hawaii Honolulu
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Lobby of Kona Surf Hotel
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Naniloa Resort Complex Hilo
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Entrance Naniloa Hotel - Hilo, Hawaii
Entrance Naniloa Hotel – Hilo, Hawaii

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kīkīaola

Kīkīaola (“sprouting springs of Ola) is a ditch that was built prehistorically to irrigate the taro patches in lower Waimea Valley.

Legends and chants tell of Ola, King of Waimea, who, through Pi, his kahuna (priest), ordered Menehune to build a watercourse here; each brought a stone, and the ditch was finished in a single night.

The ditch runs for a length of 7,000-feet. It is estimated that 75-acres of farmland below the tunnel and 35-40-acres above the tunnel can be irrigated by the ditch. In places, the ditch is over 20-feet high.

There is only a 100-foot length of intact ditch wall visible which is located just above (north) the tunnel. The road construction built up a roadbed of dirt on the riverside of the ditch wall that left only the upper 2-feet of the ditch wall exposed.

This remnant is marked by a bronze plaque that was set into the pali face in 1928 by the Territory of Hawaiʻi to mark the historical significance of the site. The dirt bermed ditch contiguous with the walled portion appears to be an intact portion of the original ditch but lacks the exposed stonework.

The earliest written account of the ditch is by Captain George Vancouver in 1792 when he visited Waimea Valley. Vancouver recorded the site at this time as follows:

“As we proceeded our attention was arrested by an object that greatly excited our admiration, and at once put an end to all conjecture on the means to which the natives resorted for the watering of their plantations.”

“A lofty perpendicular cliff now presented itself, which, by rising immediately from the river, would effectually have stopped our further progress into the country, had it not been for an exceedingly well constructed wall of stones and clay about twenty-four feet high …”

“… raised from the bottom by the side of the cliff, which not only served as a pass into the country, but also as an aqueduct, to convey the water brought thither by great labour from a considerable distance; the place where the river descends from the mountains affording the planters an abundant stream, for the purpose to which it is so advantageously applied.”

“This wall, did not less credit to the mind of the projector than to the skill of the builder, terminated the extent of our walk.” (Vancouver)

Kīkīaola represents a prehistoric irrigation feature (aqueduct) used to transport water to the taro fields on the western side of Waimea River in lower Waimea Valley. The water was being used to irrigate cultivated lands located considerably above the level of the river.

An added engineering challenge “was that of carrying the water, at a high level, around the corner of a jutting cliff. An added difficulty was the necessity of placing the base of the causeway in the river itself where it was constantly in danger of being washed away by a freshet.” (Archaeologist Wendell C. Bennett)

Kīkīaola is said to be the only example of jointed stonework and offers a unique example of this type of causeway construction. Additionally, there are three types of joints represented, including double joint, square joint and notched joint.

Bennett made the following description of the courses of stacked cut stone just above the tunnel, “The stones of this ditch are squared off on all sides but the inside. Some of the blocks are squared all around.”

“The object was to have the stones fit closely together and present a smooth, flat surface on the river side. On the inside, where the fill was of dirt or stone or both, the roughness was perhaps beneficial.”

The presence of the dressed stone in the Menehune ditch is unique for Hawaii and for Polynesia. There is, to be sure, other dressed stonework, but none used for aqueducts, and none with the joints in the blocks.

The extent of this one undertaking is unusual for the Hawaiian Islands where dressed stonework is rare. In most other structures slabs are used instead of blocks.

“The Menehune Ditch is the finest example of such rare stone dressing in the Hawaiian Islands. Today the site consists of about 120 carefully cut-and-dressed stones, closely fitted along a distance of some 200 feet, and forming the outer face of the irrigation canal.”

“This canal, which still carries water to taro fields at the mouth of Waimea Valley, Runs immediately adjacent to the narrow road winding between the cliff and Waimea River.” (Archaeologist Patrick V. Kirch)

Historical modifications to the original structure took place around 1920 when the road was built (as well as when a horse path ran parallel to the ditch, before the road was constructed.)

Likewise, top stones of the wall in sections were removed by valley residents for personal use, by the construction crew to build up the retaining wall for the road and other stones were used to construct the realignment of the ditch.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kaumakapili Church

From its first thatched-roof adobe structure erected in 1839 on the corner of Smith and Beretania Streets, to its present day structure built in 1910, the people of Kaumakapili have survived Hawaiʻi’s most turbulent times.

Starting in 1837, “the common Hawaiian folk of Honolulu” started petitioning Rev. Hiram Bingham, head of the Hawaiian Mission, to establish a second church or mission in Honolulu (Kawaiahaʻo being the first).

Governor Kekuanaoa “begged to express his manao that it should be in the village” (Honolulu); specifically, in the district of Kaumakapili where 12,000 to 13,000 people lived.  (The Friend)

They requested that the Rev. Lowell Smith be their pastor.  The 1837 annual ʻAha Paeʻaina (the annual meeting and gathering of the churches and ministers) granted their request.

The Reverend Lowell Smith and wife, Abigail Tenny Smith, arrived in Honolulu in 1833, as members of the Sixth Company. (Reverend Smith served as the first minister of Kaumakapili Church until his retirement in 1869.)

Chief Abner Pākī and wife, Konia, granted the lot on the corner of Smith and Beretania Streets for this mission – the area then known as Kaumakapili.  Pākī and Konia were parents of Bernice Pauahi Bishop, founder of the Kamehameha Schools.

On April 1, 1838, the first Sabbath of the month, the Rev. Hiram Bingham assisted Rev. Lowell Smith in organizing the church, “twenty-two persons were received by letter from Kawaiahao church two from Ewa and one from Kauai and forty-nine were received on profession of faith.”  (Smith)  This was the commencement of Kaumakapili Church.

“In early days the church was spoken of as “Smith’s Church.”  Moreover it was long thought of as the church of the common people, as distinguished from Kawaiahaʻo, known as the Chiefs’ Church.”  (The Friend)

The first Church building was constructed of adobe with a thatched pili roof and was large enough to accommodate 2,500 people.  On August 29, 1839 the church building was dedicated.

In 1865, as King Kamehameha V was nearing death, he asked High Chiefess Bernice Pauahi to be his successor, but she refused.  According to law, an election was held and Kaumakapili was used as Honolulu’s town hall during this and many future political crises.

The adobe building was torn down in 1881 to make way for a new brick edifice.

King Kalākaua took great interest in the church and wanted an imposing church structure with two steeples.  His argument was, “…that as a man has two arms, two eyes, two ears, two legs, therefore, a church ought to have two steeples.”

The cornerstone for the new church was laid on September 2, 1881 by Princess Liliʻuokalani (on her birthday.)  Seven years later the new building was completed.

It was an imposing landmark, first of its kind, and visible to arriving vessels and land travelers.  It was dedicated on Sunday, June 10, 1888.

This church played an ironic role during Kalākaua’s reign.

The Honolulu citizens held a meeting in this building protesting Kalākaua’s capriciousness and appointment of an Italian-American adventurer named Moreno as his Minister of Foreign Affairs and the appointment of a new cabinet, whose “grotesque unfitness” caused the people to be up in arms.  The result was the dismissal of Moreno four days after his appointment.

In January, 1900, disaster struck.  The presence of bubonic plague in the Chinatown area caused the health authorities to take drastic measures by burning sections of Chinatown.  Sparks fell on the wooden steeples and fire engulfed the entire building leaving only the brick walls standing.

Honolulu’s landscape was changing, so the old site at Smith and Beretania Streets was sold and a new one bought at the corner of King and the then Simerson (now Pālama) Streets in Pālama.   Services were held in a temporary small wooden chapel on Austin Lane, behind the old Palama Fire Station.

Here, for the next 10 years, the church developed its ministry with a strong emphasis on Sunday School ministering; particularly to the girls from the old Reform School that was situated on the site of the present Kaʻiulani Elementary School.

During these years and the years to follow Rev. Poepoe fostered the idea of enlisting young Hawaiian men into the Christian ministry.  This time of Kaumakapili’s history enjoyed a very active Sunday School under several outstanding superintendents – among whom were Augustus Smith, only son of Founders Rev. Lowell and Abigail Smith, and one of their daughters, Mrs. Benjamin F. Dillingham.

On May 7, 1910, Master Harold R. Erdman, great grandson of the Rev. Lowell Smith, broke ground for the third church building.  It was dedicated on June 25, 1911, the same day in which the 89th Annual Conference of the Hawaiian Evangelical Association (ʻAha Paeʻaina) was hosted by the church.

On the day of dedication of the original two stained glass windows, the great grandson of Rev. Lowell Smith, Lowell S. Dillingham, was baptized on September 13, 1912.

The Gothic Revival-style church is the most prominent feature of the urban Kalihi-Palama neighborhood. The bell tower steeple stands 96 feet above the surrounding properties. The campus features an expanse of grass lawn at the front of the building bordered by two paved parking lots and is surrounded by a low dressed-basalt wall with piers at the walk and driveway openings.

In the late twenties and early fifties, Kaumakapili was known as the “Queen of the Hawaiian Churches for she had begun missions and sister churches’ relationships as her witness to the community.” The inspiration and information on this post came primarily from kaumakapili-org and The Friend.

by Peter T Young 2 Comments

CCC

After a decade of national prosperity in the Roaring Twenties, Americans faced a national crisis after the Crash of 1929. The Great Depression saw an unemployment rate of more than twenty-five percent in the early 1930s. (pbs)

As a means to make work, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) succeeded the Emergency Conservation Work agency, which started in 1933. In 1939, the CCC became part of the Federal Security Agency. It was eliminated in 1943. (UH Mānoa)

The purpose of the CCC and its predecessors was to provide employment in forestry and conservation work. It “brought together two wasted resources, the young men and the land, in an effort to save both.” (NPS)

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a program developed by Franklin D Roosevelt’s New Deal (1933) at the end of the Great Depression. During FDR’s inaugural address to Congress in 1933, he told the lawmakers in his first message on Unemployment Relief …

“I propose to create a Civilian Conservation Corps, to be used in simple work, not interfering with normal employment, and confining itself to forestry, the prevention of soil erosion, flood control and similar projects.”

From FDR’s inauguration on March 4, 1933, to the induction of the first CCC enrollee, only 37 days had elapsed. The goals of the CCC according to the law were: “1) To provide employment (plus vocational training) and 2) To conserve and develop ‘the natural resources of the United States.’”

By the end of the third year, there were 2,158-CCC camps in the nation and 1,600,000-men had participated in the program. (NPS)

Although the Civilian Conservation Corps began on the US mainland in 1933, “it was not until one year later, [on] April 1, 1934, that the first units of this Corps began work here in Hawaii under the direction of the Territorial Division of Forestry”. The Civilian Conservation Corps was defined by nine Corps regions. The Territories of Alaska and Hawaiʻi were part of the Ninth Corps Area. (NPS)

The goal of the CCC was to provide young men with jobs during a time when many were unemployed, times were hard, and starvation was a concern. (NPS)

It was estimated that 8 to 10 percent of Hawaiʻi’s young men were enrolled by the Civilian Conservation Corps during its tenure from 1934 to 1942. There were CCC camps on Oʻahu, Maui, Kauai, the island of Hawaiʻi and Molokai. (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, NPS)

Each CCC enrollee was paid $30 a month and was provided with food, clothing, shelter and free medical care (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, September 18, 1942). Of that amount, $25 dollars a month was automatically deducted and sent home to their families. (NPS)

There were five primary CCC camps built in Hawaiʻi (the CCC Compound at Kokeʻe State Park, the most intact today; what is now a YMCA camp at Keʻanae on Maui; a research facility on the Big Island; Hawaiian Homes Property with only two buildings remaining on the Big Island; and part of Schofield Barracks in Wahiawa on Oʻahu.) Other temporary campgrounds were spotted in work areas around the Islands.

Their projects were numerous and included road and building construction, erosion control, masonry, firefighting, trail maintenance, vegetation and insect control among many others. One of the main goals of the CCC was to renew the nation’s decimated forests, so lots of tree planting went on. (NPS)

Within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park (then known as Hawaiʻi National Park,) as well as many other parks and forests, much of the work that the CCC did is still evident and still in use. From the research offices to the hiking trails, the CCC laid the foundations for much of the infrastructure and roads that we see and use today in the Park. (NPS)

The old Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp in Kokeʻe State Park on Kauai is a complex of eleven wood frame buildings surrounding an open grassed quadrangle. These buildings were constructed in 1935 and are sheltered on three sides by koa/ʻōhia forest. (Hui O Laka/Kōkeʻe Museum use and operate within these structures, today.) The CCC at Kokeʻe provided forest management, building trails, roads and fences, as well as planting over a million trees on Kauaʻi.

In 1934, the CCC took over the Keʻanae prison camp (initially built to house prisoners who worked at building the Hāna Highway.) CCC assembled men from other parts of Maui and other islands to plant thousands of eucalyptus and other introduced trees throughout the Hāna coast. (McGregor) Eventually, in 1949, the camp was acquired by the YMCA. Part of the land area continues to be used as a roadway base yard.

The CCC took over the Territorial foresters’ camp at Keanakolu (on the side of Mauna Kea, near Humuʻula on the Big Island) and expanded it into a field camp. The camp consisted of a bunkhouse that housed as many as 40 teenage boys, a mess hall, foreman’s quarters, and other service buildings. Another foreman’s quarters was added next to the koa cabin. (Mills)

Major duties included maintenance of trails, developing the Mana/Keanakolu wagon road into an auto road (placing cobble stones to form a single-lane road,) construction of fences to keep cattle and sheep out of the forest, and the planting of a variety of forest and fruit trees.

In all, over 20-varieties of pear, 25-varieties of plum and 60-varieties of apple were planted. (Mills) By the 1940s, the CCC camp at Keanakolu was converted into a field station for territorial rangers and is now used by DLNR.

From April 1934 until May 13, 1941, the CCC operated a “side camp” in the Haleakalā Section of the Hawaiʻi National Park; CCC participants were housed in tents and moved to where the work areas were. (NPS)

Major park improvements through the CCC program on Haleakalā included the construction of the approximately 11-mile Haleakalā Road, Haleakalā Observation Station, two Comfort Stations (public toilets) and the Checking Station and Office at the park entrance. Several trail projects were completed within the Park. (NPS)

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CCC camp in Haleakala Crater-(NPS)-1933-1941
CCC at Hawaii Volcanoes Park
Civilian Conservation Corps Enrollers Marching In The Kamehameha Day Parade In Hilo-195455pv-1934
Construction Work, Rock-Lined Ditch, Desert Hill. Hawaii Volcanoes-195457pv-1934
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CCC enrollees working in the field. NPS Photo-Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park archives
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Franklin Delano Roosevelt At The Rim Of Halemaumau Crafter-1934
CCC workers in Haleakala Crater-(NPS)-1933-1941
CCC builds stone walls along Crater Rim Drive-(NPS)-March 1934
CCC enrollees standing at attention. NPS Photo-Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park archives
Kamehameha Day Parade in Hilo, 1934. NPS Photo-Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park archives
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One of the many legacies built by the CCC boys, Kīlauea Visitor Center today-NPS
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Overview of Crater Rim Drive - Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Overview of Hilina Pali Road - Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Overview of Mauna Loa Road - Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
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