Hawaii | Page 317 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

October 6, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Keʻanae

“Wai o ke ola! Wai, waiwai nui! Wai, nā mea a pau, ka wai, waiwai no kēlā!” (Water is life! Water is of great value! Water, the water is that which is of value for all things!) (Joe Rosa, in Maly)

If you are going to tell a story about Keanae, in Koʻolau on the coast of Maui, the story starts with water, and with it, the life of the land.

From ancient times, the abundant rains, supported the development of rich forests; the rains and forests have in turn led to the formation of hundreds of streams (kahawai) that have molded the landscape of Maui into one with many large valleys (awāwa) and smaller gulches (kahawai). (Maly)

These watered valleys and gulches, and their associated flat lands (kula), have been home to and have sustained native Hawaiian families for centuries.

Handy, Handy & Pukui report that there were several major population centers on the Island of Maui: Kahakuloa (West Maui) region; the deep watered valleys of Nā Wai ‘Ehā (Waihe‘e, Wai‘ehu, Wailuku and Waikapū); the ‘Olowalu to Honokōhau region of Lāhainā; the Kula – ‘Ulupalakua region and the Koʻolau – Hana region.

They note the importance of the Ko‘olau region in this discussion: “On the northeast flank of the great volcanic dome of Haleakala…the two adjacent areas of Ke‘anae and Wailua-nui comprise the fourth of the main Maui centers and the chief center on this rugged eastern coast.”

“It supported intensive and extensive wet-taro cultivation. Further eastward and southward along this windward coast line is the district of Hana… [Handy, Handy and Pukui.]” (Maly)

Settlement in the watered valleys along the Koʻolau coast consisted primarily of permanent residences near the shore and spread along the valley floors. Residences also extended inland on flat lands and plateaus, with temporary shelters in the upper valleys.

Two primary forms of agricultural sites occur in these river valleys: lo‘i kalo (irrigated and drainage taro farming field systems) on the valley floors and slopes; and the kula and kīhāpai dry land farming plots where crops such as ‘uala (sweet potatoes), kō (sugar canes), kalo (taro), mai‘a (bananas and plantains) and wauke (paper mulberry.)

Handy, Handy and Pukui further that “…Ke‘anae lies just beyond Honomanu Valley. This is a unique wet-taro growing ahupua‘a… It was here that the early inhabitants settled, planting upland rain-watered taro far up into the forested area. In the lower part of the valley, which is covered mostly by grass now, an area of irrigated taro was developed on the east side.”

“A much larger area in the remainder of the valley could have been so developed. However, we could find no evidence of terracing there. This probably was due to the fact that the energies of the people were diverted to create the lo‘i complex which now covers the peninsula.” (Maly)

Anciently, the peninsula was barren lava. But a chief, whose name is not remembered, was constantly at war with the people of neighboring Wailua and was determined that he must have more good land under cultivation, more food, and more people.

So he set all his people to work (they were then living within the valley and going down to the peninsula only for fishing,) carrying soil in baskets from the valley down to the lava point. (Maly)

The soil and the banks enclosing the patches were thus, in the course of many years, all transported and packed into place. Thus did the watered flats of Keʻanae originate.

A small lo‘i near the western side of the land formerly belonged to the chief of Keʻanae and has the name Ke-‘anae (the Big Mullet); it is said that the entire locality took its name from this small sacred lo‘i. Here, as at Kahakuloa, the taro that grew in the sacred patch of the aliʻi was reputed to be of great size. (Maly)

This area was nearly completely destroyed by a tsunami in 1946 (April 1.) Reportedly, the only building said to have been left standing was the Lanakila ʻIhiʻihi O Iehova o na Kaua (now called the Keʻanae Congressional Church.)

In 2005, the DOE announced the closure of the last one-room school in the state of Hawaiʻi (in Keʻanae,) just a few weeks before the school year began. The village of Keʻanae had its own school for 96 years.

Since then, Keʻanae students have made the 16-mile, one-way trek to Hana School. Reportedly, a Keʻanae Charter School has been proposed by community members. Last year, the non -profit group Ka Waianu o Hāloa launched a fund-raising effort in support of the establishment of a charter school in Keʻanae.

Today, Keʻanae continues to be a relatively isolated, but significant taro-growing community; it is one of the major commercial wetland taro farming regions in the state.

Keʻanae residents reportedly use the terms “inside” and “outside” to express the difference between life in their rural heartland and the new world of towns and cities where most Hawaiians live today.

Keʻanae lies on the windward coast of Maui, about a two-hour drive over the narrow, winding Hana Highway. Heading toward Hana leads you further to the “inside,” heading towards Kahului is taking you “outside.”

While at DLNR, I was involved through the Land Board and the Water Commission (both of which I chaired) on several issues related to Keʻanae – all focused on historic stream diversions and the impacts to downstream users, particularly the taro farmers there.

We authorized the release of an additional 6-million gallons per day for downstream uses, as well as appointment of a monitor to determine that this amount will meet the needs of the downstream farmers, as well as monitor other aspects of the decision.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

October 5, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Fort Alexander

When we think of Russia’s interest in Hawai‘i, we initially (and, typically, only) think of what we refer to as “Russian Fort Elizabeth” in Waimea, Kauai. However, Hawai‘i’s interactions with Russia go well beyond that, yet only short-lived. (And, it really wasn’t a Russian fort.)

In the early-1800s, multiple foreign interests, including Russia, were developing trading relationships with Hawai‘i. Hawai‘i served as an important provisioning site for traders, whalers and others crossing the Pacific.

The Russian story starts when three-masted Behring wrecked on the shores of Kauai’s Waimea Bay early on the morning of January 31, 1815. The Behring had a load of seal skins/otter pelts bound for the Russian-American Trading Company in Sitka, Alaska.

Russian-American Company’s governor, Alexander Baranov, sent German-born Georg Anton Schäffer (1779-1836) to the Hawaiian Islands to retrieve the cargo (he wanted to exchange the furs for sandalwood.)

Schäffer first landed in Honolulu and, under the pretext of building a storehouse near Honolulu Harbor, began building a fort and raised the Russian flag. Kamehameha had him removed and Schäffer then voyaged to Kauai.

There, King Kaumuali‘i, who had ceded Kauai to King Kamehameha I in 1810, had seized the Behring’s cargo and had the valuable pelts taken to his home in west Kauai.

Schäffer quickly gained favor with Kaumuali‘i – and, reportedly, Kaumuali‘i was considering joining forces with Russia to reclaim his rule from Kamehameha (that Kaumuali‘i had ceded over 5-years before.)

On May 21, 1816, and without the knowledge or approval of Czar Alexander Pavlovich, Kaumuali‘i signed a document that put Kauai under the protection of the Russian Empire.

In return, Schäffer promised Kaumuali‘i protection and an armed Russian warship to lead an attack on Kamehameha’s forces. (Baranoff later informed Schäffer that he was not authorized to make such agreements.)

On July 1, 1816, Schäffer and Kaumuali‘i entered into a secret agreement to use Schäffer’s (purported) Russian authority to reclaim Kauai from King Kamehameha I, and also to launch expeditions against other islands that Kaumuali‘i felt he had a hereditary right to rule.

Kaumuali‘i had thoughts of conquering Maui, Lānaʻi, Moloka‘i and O‘ahu, which he felt to be his right based on lineage.

Subsequently, Kaumuali‘i gave Schäffer Hanalei valley and two or three other valuable pieces of land. Schaffer went to Hanalei on September 30 and renamed the valley Schäffertal (Schäffer’s Valley.)

Schäffer began work on two earthen fortresses in Hanalei: Fort Alexander (named after the Czar Alexander and built in what is now Princeville – by the valet parking at the Princeville Resort); and Fort Barclay, named for Russian general Barclay deTooly and built nearer to Hanalei River.

Unlike Waimea’s Fort Elizabeth (with massive stone walls,) Fort Alexander had low earthen walls. Schaffer’s main focus for the Russian-American Company was not Waimea, but Hanalei, and they spent most of their time around Princeville.

Schäffer’s grandiose gestures were not confined to fort-building. He was also able to take possession of the ship Lydia and promptly gave the Lydia to Kaumuali‘i.

Meanwhile, rumors of Schäffer’s activities had filtered back to the Czar’s court. On November 21, 1816, Lieutenant Otto von Kotzebue arrived in Hawai‘i on the Russian Navy brig Rurik.

He repudiated Schäffer’s acts, informing King Kamehameha that Schäffer and Kaumuali‘i did not have the support of the Russian Emperor.

On May 8, 1817 the Russians were expelled from Hawai‘i; some of Schäffer’s men left for Sitka and Schäffer was provided safe passage from the Hawaiian Islands.

It wasn’t until August 1818 that all parties had agreed that Kauai had indeed been abandoned by the Russian-American Company, and for a couple of years following that, efforts were still being made to recover from the damage done by Schäffer.

An outline of the foundation of Fort Alexander may be seen on the lawn at the St. Regis Princeville Resort.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Russian Fort Alexander Marker (panel 1)

Site of Russian Fort Alexander

Russian Fort Alexander Markers

Site of Russian Fort Alexander

October 4, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Nāhiʻenaʻena

The only daughter of Kamehameha the Great and Keōpūolani, Nāhiʻenaʻena was born in 1815; her brothers were Liholiho (Kamehameha II – born circa 1797) and Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III – born 1813.)

Her mother refused to follow the custom of the period and hānai her baby daughter to the rearing of another chief. Keōpūolani wanted to keep the last of her children at her side.

This decision tells us much about the mother’s force of character and meant that Nāhiʻenaʻena was in the very center of the stage during the crucial period in 1819: the illness and death of Kamehameha I, the assumption of the throne by Liholiho as Kamehameha II and the abolition of the kapu (initiated by her mother and Kaʻahumanu.) The princess was four years old when these great changes occurred. (Sinclair)

Toward the end of 1820, the decision was made to move the king’s official residence from Kailua-Kona to Honolulu. In early-1821, Liholiho, with his family, including Keōpūolani, Kauikeaouli and Nāhiʻenaʻena, and the important chiefs, established the seat of government on Oʻahu.

In the spring of 1823, Keōpūolani established a residence away from Honolulu in a grove at the foot of Diamond Head; there she hoped to find a quiet place to restore her health and to hear the new gospel without interruption.

“She, at this time, expressed her earnest desire that her two children, the prince and princess, then able to read and write, might be well educated, and particularly that Nahienaena might be trained up in the habits of Christian and civilized females, like the wives of the missionaries. She wished, too, that the missionaries would pray for Liholiho.” (Bingham)

“The missionaries and their wives earnestly desired to withdraw her (Nāhiʻenaʻena) from the scenes of heathen corruption, and throw around her daily the protecting shield of Christian families. But this could be accomplished only in part, as in that state of the nation she could not well be detached from the native community. She is said to be very amiable and kind, and is universally beloved and respected by her people.” (Bingham)

At the end of May in 1823, Keōpūolani, Nāhiʻenaʻena and Hoapili (Keōpūolani’s husband) moved to Maui and took up residence in Lāhainā. Missionaries Charles Stewart and William Richards were assigned to establish a church and teach “letters and religion”.

The princess and her mother spent warm peaceful days in the study of letters and religion, interrupted occasionally when people came to celebrate their affection for the chiefesses by dancing and singing. Usually a great crowd assembled to watch.

Later that year, Keōpūolani became very ill and died. After Keōpūolani’s death, Nāhiʻenaʻena was placed in the care of Hoapili, her mother’s husband and governor of Maui, and of the two missionary teachers, Stewart and Richards, to whom she was already devoted.

In accordance with Hawaiian custom, Hoapili soon remarried. Nāhiʻenaʻena’s mother had been the first chief to be baptized a Protestant; her stepfather became the first chief to be married in a Christian ceremony. Richards conducted the service which united Hoapili to Kalākua, one of Kamehameha’s former queens.

In 1825, Nāhiʻenaʻena’s brother – King Kamehameha II – traveled to England. To celebrate his return, a yellow feather pāʻū was made for Nāhiʻenaʻena.

A pāʻū was a women’s garment that was typically a rectangular piece of kapa (tapa) wrapped several times around the waist and extended from beneath the bust (for royalty) or the waistline (for commoners) to the knee.

This special pāʻū was about 9-yards long, made of feathers, instead of kapa (it is the largest Hawaiian feather piece ever recorded.) Due to the unfortunate death of Liholiho and his wife Kamāmalu, the pāʻū was worn in grief, rather than celebration.

Hiram Bingham described the occasion, “The young princess had partly wrapped round her waist, above her black silk dress, a splendid yellow feather pau, or robe, nine yards in length and one in breadth, manufactured with skill and taste, at great expense, and designed for her anticipated reception of her brother Liholiho. In its fabrication, the small bright feathers were ingeniously fastened upon a fine netting, spun without wheels or spindles, and wrought by native hands, from the flaxen bark of their olona, and the whole being lined with crimson satin made a beautiful article of “costly array,” for a princess of eight years.”

The problem of a suitable marriage for Nāhiʻenaʻena had been in the minds of the chiefs from the time of her childhood. Before she was ten years old, a possible union between her and her brother was discussed. The purpose of such brother-sister marriages was to concentrate the royal blood so that the issue would have the highest possible rank. (Sinclair)

Queen Keōpūolani had been the issue of a brother-sister marriage, a naha mating of niʻaupiʻo chiefs; her parents had had the same mother but different fathers, both descended from the chiefly lines of Maui and Hawaiʻi. Liholiho had half-sisters among his five wives. They consulted the missionaries, who pointed out that such a marriage was forbidden in the eyes of God. (Sinclair)

There were repeated claims of incestuous behavior between Nāhiʻenaʻena and her brother, Kauikeaouli. On November 25, 1835, Nāhiʻenaʻena and Leleiōhoku (son of Kalanimōku) were married in Waine’e Church; the ceremony was performed by Richards.

She became pregnant the next year and on September 17 she had a son, who lived only a few hours. Nāhiʻenaʻena had been ill and continued to be gravely ill after the childbirth. She died shortly thereafter, December 30, 1836.

On February 14, 1837, Kauikeaouli, King Kamehameha III, was married to Kalama Kapakuhaili. Leleiōhoku married a second time to Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani; he had a son William Pitt Kīnaʻu from his second wife.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

'Nahienaena_Soeur_germaine_du_Roi_des_iles_Sandwich_Tamehameha_III',_Barthélémy_Lauvergne-(WC)-1836

Waineʻe (now Waiola) Church Cemetery-Nāhienaena, daughter of Kamehameha I and Keōpūolani-1836

October 3, 2019 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

You Lived Downtown, Because You Worked Downtown

… then came the tram to Pacific Heights.

The earliest residential subdivisions in the Islands appear to have been laid out by the government on the level areas between Thomas Square and Pawaʻa, initially under governmental auspices, during the 1880s.

The area was known as Kulaokahu‘a (“the plain of the boundary”) and commonly referred to as the Plains. Kulaokahu‘a was the comparatively level ground below Makiki Valley (between the mauka fertile valleys and the makai wetlands.) This included areas such as Kaka‘ako, Kewalo, Makiki, Pawa‘a and Mo‘ili‘ili.

In his review of the events of 1880, Thrum reported: “Building lots on the plains sold at auction by the Government the past summer averaged over $500, the lots ranging about 100 feet frontage by 150 feet in depth.”

Two years later he wrote: “The plains to the east of Honolulu proper are being rapidly built up with residences so that the blocks and streets are now well defined as far out as Punahou Street.”

Residential development soon extended in the mauka, ʻEwa and Waikīkī directions. In 1883, “a number of suburban lots adjoining Kapiʻolani Park [were] placed upon the market” and “realized good figures.”

In his retrospect for 1890, Thrum noted that “the government has held two or three sales of lots for building purposes adjacent to the city. Those on the slope of Punchbowl found ready applicants and lively competition. … “

During the same year, the Oʻahu Railway and Land Company sold lots at Pearl City, by their new railroad line.

New subdivisions “between Punchbowl slope and Punahou,” in Kaimuki, and on Pacific Heights appeared in the late 1890s.

In 1899 the Pacific Heights road was laid out by Mr. Wall, and sold by Hawaiʻi’s reported first subdivider, Mr. Charles S. Desky (who reportedly “pulled several shady land transactions.”)

By 1900, Honolulu had a population of more than 39,000 and was in the midst of a development boom, creating tremendous need for more housing. Charles Desky built the Pacific Heights Electric Railway to support the housing development he had created near downtown Honolulu.

It is the first “electric passenger road” in Hawaiʻi; as such it is the forerunner of a system which before many months stretched out from the City center in every direction.

Prior to the development, “That part of the slope toward the city was gentle, with many patches of guava trees, kalu bushes and stands of cactus (panini.) There were no large or tall trees up to the summit until where the kukui nut, ʻōhiʻa and koa trees started along the ridge to the Koʻolau range.”

A record of this enterprise appeared in Thrum’s Annual for 1900, which said Desky and his real estate developments:
“The Kaimuki addition and Pacific Heights tracts are attracting a number of selectors, and desirable residences are in course of construction in both of these sections. … Main roads and streets have also been constructed, and the Pacific Heights enterprise promises Honolulu its first electric road in the course of a few weeks, to be followed by the construction of an elegant hotel, plans of which are completed.”

Additional information about the building of the electric railway came in the Hawaiian Gazette of November 13, 1900:
“The installation of the Pacific Heights electric railway during the past week deserves more than passing notice. It marks the opening of a new era for Honolulu in more ways than one.”

“During the summer months, in the States, the electric cars that radiate from the cities into the country and to the seaside are crowded far into the night with thousands people who ride for the sheer luxury of getting out into fresh air; and as the price Is uniformly five cents for any distance, It brings within reach of the poorest a degree of comfort healthful exercise unknown before the advent of the electric car.”

“The new railway not only provides this feature, with a beautiful view thrown In. but It for the first time makes easily and quickly accessible the foothills back of the city, which are unquestionably among the most healthful of all residence locations.”

Advertisements in ‘The Friend;’ “PACIFIC HEIGHTS. Offers greater attractions and inducements as a site for choice residences than any other portion of Honolulu. The Pacific Heights Electric Railway Line affords easy access to all lots; and water and electric lights are supplied from independent systems at reasonable rates. To parties intending to purchase and improve, especially favorable terms will be given. For further particulars apply to Chas. S. Desky, Progress Block.”

“Mr. Desky is to be congratulated upon the successful inauguration of a large enterprise for one man to undertake to handle. The community should show their appreciation of his pluck by liberally patronizing the road, at the same time they will be getting more than they pay for.” (Hawaiian Gazette)

“In those days – there were only four automobiles on Oahu in 1901 – you lived downtown because you worked downtown, you couldn’t live in Kaimuki or in Manoa.” (star-bulletin)

“Unlike today, when we build a community, we send out a bus to service the people, but in those days they’d put a streetcar out there with nobody there. It was one of those ‘if you build it, they will come’ things.” (star-bulletin)

“The streetcars created neighborhoods. People could suddenly live elsewhere and find a way into town.”

Subdividing soon became a full-time occupation. In January 1898, Theodore F. Lansing and A. V. Gear formed the firm of Gear, Lansing & Co. and before the end of the year had subdivided a 10-acre tract in Makiki and had begun work on a 260-acre subdivision (with an option for another 260) in Kaimuki.

Maps of Honolulu in 1897 show few byways outside the central city. There were just a few little farm roads. Yet in 1900-1901, Mānoa, McCully and Kaimuki are all laid out with grids and it’s definitely because of the streetcars.

By 1904, the streetcars were averaging 18,327 riders a day, 365 days a year.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Park your auto safely at home use the street car service.

October 2, 2019 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Hilo Boarding School

In the early years, after the arrival of the first missionaries, the Hawaiian language came to be the universal mode of education.

With the vigorous support of the Queen-Regent Kaʻahumanu, attendance in mission schools increased from about 200 in 1821 to 2,000 in 1824, 37,000 in 1828 and 41,238 in 1830, of which nearly half were pupils on the island of Hawaiʻi. (Canevali)

Common schools (where the 3 Rs were taught) sprang up in villages all over the islands. In these common schools, classes and attendance were quite irregular, but nevertheless basic reading and writing skills (in Hawaiian) and fundamental Christian doctrine were taught to large numbers of people. (Canevali)

Reverend David Belden Lyman (1803-1884) and his wife, Sarah Joiner Lyman (1806-1885,) arrived in Hawaii in 1832, members of the fifth company of missionaries sent to the Islands by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and were assigned the mission in Hilo.

“When we arrived in Hilo there were no foreign residents, save the Missionaries who proceeded us. There was but one frame building in this region … which the Coans have occupied. There were no roads (only footpaths,) no fences, and the Wailuku River was crossed on a plank … the only bell was hung in a breadfruit tree.” (Sarah Lyman)

It soon was apparent to the missionaries that the future of the Congregational Mission in Hawaii would be largely dependent upon the success of its schools. The Mission then established “feeder schools” that would transmit to their students’ fundamental reading, writing, and arithmetic skills, and religious training, before admission to the Lahainaluna.

In 1835, they constructed the Hilo Boarding School as part of an overall system of schools (with a girls boarding school in Wailuku and boarding at Lahainaluna.)

On January 6, 1835 “our children’s school commenced, eighty children present, sixty knew their letters. A number of the more forward children are employed as monitors to assist the less forward. (ie. advanced)” (Sarah Lyman)

In October 1836, two thatch houses were constructed near Lyman’s house and on October 3 the school opened with eight boarders, but the number soon increased to twelve.

The school was operated to an extent on a manual labor program and the boys cultivated the land to produce their own food. (The boys’ ages ranged from seven to fourteen.)

“Mr. Lyman who was brought up on a farm had an abiding faith in the value of manual labor; and his work in Hilo had convinced him that such activity in both primitive and introduced vocation was as necessary as book learning during the period of transition from one culture to another.” (Lorthian)

Hilo Boarding School, under the leadership of the Lymans, was an immediate success. In 1837, six graduates were sent to Lahainaluna Seminary.

In 1839, the old thatch buildings were torn down and Lyman purchased the entire first shipment of lumber to arrive in Hilo to build a new school building, as well as a cookhouse and infirmary which would accommodate sixty to seventy boys.

The new school building lodged fifty-five pupils in its first year, most of them coming from outside Hilo. In 1840, sugar cultivation commenced on adjacent mission land, and was worked entirely by the boys of the school along with a “monthly concert” of labor by all members of the parish. The cane was probably ground in a Chinese-owned mill in Hilo.

The school occupied forty-acres of land (used mostly in farming activities,) and, in 1846, King Kamehameha III gave the mission the water rights of the Wailuku River in Hilo. In 1848, the school received a government charter and was incorporated.

More than one-third of the boys who had attended the school eventually became teachers in the common schools of the kingdom. In 1850 the Minister of Public Instruction, Richard Armstrong, reported that HBS “is one of our most important schools. It is the very life and soul of our common school on that large island.”

The school building burned down in 1853; in rebuilding, a new site for the school was selected about one-half mile above Haili Church. This was to be the third and final location of HBS. In 1856 the T-shaped, two-story wooden building was completed. It included a stone basement and an attic with a corrugated zinc roof.

1878 witnessed the first major building at HBS since repairs to the basement necessitated by an earthquake ten years earlier. A principal’s house was raised, as the former principal’s house continued to be the Lyman residence.

At the same time, a roadway was begun connecting HBS to School Street (now Kapiʻolani Street), and completed in 1880. The row of palms leading from the school to what is now Haili Street was also planted in that year.

Between 1886-1890 carpentry classes were organized when a supply of tools were donated. In addition, the gift of three sewing machines did much for the tailoring department. An industrial building was added in 1887.

In 1888, Mr. Alexander Young, manager of the Hilo Iron Works, donated a turbine wheel, complete with the necessary iron work, shafting, pully and the pully flanges.

In 1890 Mrs. Cassie B. Terry was appointed school principal; she took charge of the academic department and her husband devoted his time to the farm and shop classes. They expanded the blacksmithing class, and Mr. Terry invented a wooden poi-pounding machine.

In 1892 a fifteen-light dynamo was installed at the school; hydroelectric power, guaranteed by the school’s exclusive control over water rights, made it the first establishment in Hilo to be lighted by electricity.

In 1894 a one-half ton ice plant was situated on the campus, ice being produced for both school and community use. Later, in exchange for control of the water rights, the electric company (HELCO) provided free power to the school.

Vocational training really took off in the period from 1897-1923, under the guidance of Levi Lyman, grandson of the founder. New buildings replaced the old and vocational programs were housed in a blacksmiths shop, a four room utility building accommodating a steam plant, dairy, poi factory and wood room for craft supplies (as well as gym and mechanical arts building.)

At first, greater emphasis was placed upon producing teachers and preachers than upon molding farmers or craftsmen. However, with the loss of Lahainaluna to the government, the Hilo school became reoriented to stress vocational training.

Hilo Boarding School was never a purely vocational institution, however, its founder’s focus of educating the head, heart and hand carried throughout its history.

The Hilo Boarding School closed in 1925, although its facilities were used for several years thereafter. It first became a community center.

Then, in 1947, it was the first home of the Hilo Branch of the University of Hawaiʻi a center of the University Extension Division. UH programs expanded there with a permanent summer school in 1948 – then, in 1949, the institution changed its name to University of Hawaiʻi, Hilo center (which later moved to its present site on Lanikāula Street, in 1955.)

All of the Hilo Boarding School buildings are gone; in 1980 the Hilo Center affiliated with the Boy’s Clubs of America now occupies the site.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger