Hawaii | Page 321 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

September 15, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Hanalei Bay Pier

Hanalei … Taro … Pier –> you’d expect these are all associated and the reason for the picturesque pier in Hanalei Bay. … Kinda.

The Hanalei Bay Pier was originally built to serve the region’s thriving rice industry (recall that as taro production declined in the mid- to late-1800s, many of the loʻi were converted to rice cultivation.)

The Chinese were growing rice at Hanalei at least by 1882, and by 1892, Hanalei and Waioli, with 750 acres of land devoted to rice farming, were the largest rice producing areas in Hawaii.

At this time, rice was the number two agricultural product of the Hawaiian kingdom (behind sugar,) having developed as a major crop in the 1860s when numerous Chinese farmers left the sugar cane plantations following the expiration of their five-year contracts.

Occupying taro patches vacated by a declining Hawaiian population, these rice farmers found a ready market for their product in Honolulu and California, as more and more Chinese immigrated to these areas.

At the time of annexation (1898,) Hawaii was third in rice production in the United States, behind Louisiana and South Carolina.

Annexation, with the removal of all tariffs boomed the sugar industry, however spelled the downfall of Hawaiian rice production. This caused agricultural land costs to rise from $10-20/acre to $30-35/acre, forcing rice land to be converted to cane use.

Annexation also brought with it Chinese exclusion policies which led to a decreased market for rice. In a matter of five years Hawaii’s Chinese population dropped by 6,000, which was a significant factor in the Honolulu market (the Japanese did not purchase the local rice, preferring to use rice imported from their homeland.)

Other difficulties confronting the rice farmer included an increased need to fertilize (the well-used lands began to show signs of exhaustion;) in addition, a labor shortage caused by many Chinese leaving their farms in hopes of earning more elsewhere.

The decline in the Chinese population, the requirements for fertilizer, competition from California rice growers and the introduction of a rice-borer insect all served as contributing factors to the decline of rice farming.

Since the islands of Hawaiʻi are separated from one another and the rest of the world by the Pacific Ocean, ships and boats have been the major means of transporting goods between the islands and frequently to different areas of the same island.

On Kauaʻi, in the early twentieth century, Port Alien was the major port with Nawiliwili and Hanalei serving as local shipping centers.

Large-scale development of Nawiliwili harbor commenced in 1926 and, with its completion in 1930, Nawiliwili became Kauaʻi’s primary harbor.

As a result of its expansion, the tonnage handled by Nawiliwili jumped from 3,766 tons in 1929 to 56,439 tons in 1931. Much of this increased tonnage reflected an improved highway system which led to a decreased use of smaller ports on the island.

As a result of little use, Hanalei pier was abandoned in 1933, marking the end of an era of inter-island transportation.

Originally, a pier there was constructed out of timber, prior to 1882. The pier was reconstructed with reinforced concrete piles and beams and a wooden deck in 1912.

The structure was used seasonally, primarily to transport rice from Hanalei to Honolulu.

The Hanalei River is adjacent to Hanalei Pier, much of the valley’s rice “arrived at the pier area on the black barges of the rice plantations up the river.” At the foot of Hanalei Pier was a freight storage warehouse connected to the pier by railroad tracks.

From the mauka landing, the rice was shuttled to the end of the pier on a set of iron railroad tracks and then loaded onto boats. Small whale boats known as “lighters” carried rice to steamers anchored out in Hanalei Bay.

Interisland steamers docked in the deeper waters of Hanalei Bay while cargo was rowed to and from the pier.

Due to the difficulty in maintaining the wooden deck, the Territorial Legislature in 1921 appropriated funds for the construction of a concrete deck. The wooden decking was subsequently replaced with reinforced concrete in 1922.

The Hanalei Pier is a steel reinforced concrete finger pier which extends from the beach out into Hanalei Bay. It is 340-feet long and has a 32 x 72 terminus with a shed on it. (The shed at the end of the pier was originally built in 1940.)

From the 1940s until the present, the pier has been primarily a recreational resource for fishing, picnicking, etc. Located adjacent to a beach park, it is a highly scenic attraction to visitor and resident alike.

The pier was featured in the 1957 classic film “South Pacific”. Kauaʻi may not be in the South Pacific, but the 1958 movie musical “South Pacific” put it on the map as a premiere film location.

On the east side of Hanalei Pier is Black Pot Beach Park, named after a big iron pot that was used to cook fish caught during a hukilau, a traditional fishing practice in which everyone cooperates to spot, net, and gather fish.

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AERIAL VIEW OF PIER Photographer-unknown. Date-June 20, 1978-(LOC)-058525pv

AERIAL VIEW OF PIER, LOOKING SOUTHWEST Photographer-unknown. Date-unknown-(LOC)-058522pv

DISTANT VIEW OF PIER, LOOKING SOUTHWEST Photographer-Augie Salbosa. Date-February 22, 1991-(LOC)-058526pv

Hanalei_Pier,_Hanalei_Bay_off_Weke_Road,_Hanalei_(Kauai_County,_Hawaii)-(WC)-1978

VIEW OF PIER, LOOKING NORTHWEST Photographer-Augie Salbosa. Date-February 22, 1991-(LOC)-058528pv

September 14, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ancient Agricultural Production Intensification

According the research and reporting by noted archaeologists, there were three main technological advances resulting in food production intensification in pre-contact Hawai‘i: (a) walled fishponds, (b) terraced pondfields with their irrigation systems and (c) systematic dry-land field cultivation organized by vegetation zones.

Walled Fishponds

The Hawaiian walled fishpond stands as a technological achievement unmatched elsewhere in island Oceania. Hawaiians built rock-walled enclosures in near shore waters, to raise fish for their communities and families. It is believed these were first built around the fifteenth century.

Only in Hawaiʻi was there such an intensive effort to utilize practically every body of water, from seashore to upland forests, as a source of food, for either agriculture or aquaculture.

The ancient Hawaiian fishpond is a sophisticated land and ocean resource management technique. Utilizing raw materials such as rocks, corals, vines and woods, the Hawaiians created great walls (kuapā) and gates (mākāhā) for these fishponds.

The general term for a fishpond is loko (pond), or more specifically, loko iʻa (fishpond). Loko iʻa were used for the fattening and storing of fish for food and also as a source for kapu (forbidden) fish.

The cultivation of fish took place in Hawaiian agricultural pondfields as well as in specialized fresh and brackish water fishponds. Walled, brackish-water fishponds were usually constructed on the reef along the shore and one or more mākāhā.

Samuel M. Kamakau points out that “one can see that they were built as government projects by chiefs, for it was a very big task to build one, (and) commoners could not have done it (singly, or without co-ordination.)” Chiefs had the power to command a labor force large enough to transport the tons of rock required and to construct such great walls.

In 1848, when King Kamehameha III pronounced the Great Māhele, or land distribution, Hawaiian fishponds were considered private property. This was confirmed in subsequent Court cases that noted “titles to fishponds are recognized to the same extent and in the same manner as rights recognized in fast land.”

Lo‘i Kalo (terraced pondfields)

A second technological invention by Hawaiian Polynesians was the development of their extended stone-faced, terraced pondfields (lo‘i) and their accompanying irrigation systems (‘auwai) for the intensive cultivation of wetland taro (kalo.)

The terraces were irrigated with water brought in ditches from springs and streams high in the valleys, allowing extensive areas of the valleys to be cultivated. The irrigation ditches and pondfields were engineered to allow the cool water to circulate among the taro plants and from terrace to terrace, avoiding stagnation and overheating by the sun, which would rot the taro tubers.

An acre of irrigated pondfields produced as much as five times the amount of taro as an acre of dryland cultivation. Over a period of several years, irrigated pondfields could be as much as 10 or 15 times more productive than unirrigated taro gardens, as dryland gardens need to lie fallow for greater lengths of time thin irrigated gardens.

In addition, walled pondfields not only produce taro, but were also used to raise an additional source of food, freshwater fish: primarily the Hawaiian goby (‘o‘opu nakea) and certain kinds of shrimp (‘opae.)

Captain George Vancouver visited O‘ahu in 1792 and wrote about the taro gardens in tine Waikīkī-Kapahulu-Mo‘ili‘ili-Manana complex that he observed:

“Our guides led us to the northward through the village [Waikiki], to an exceedingly well-made causeway, about twelve feet broad, with a ditch on each side. This opened to our view a spacious plain…the major part appeared divided into fields of irregular shape and figure, which were separated from each other by low stone walls, and were in a very high state of cultivation.”

In 1815, the explorer Kotzebue added to these descriptions by writing about the gardens and the artificial ponds that were scattered throughout the area:

“The luxuriant taro-fields, which might be properly called taro-lake, attracted my attention. Each of these consisted of about one hundred and sixty square feet, forms a regular square, and walled round with stones, like our basins. This field or tank contained two feet of water, in whose slimy bottom the taro was planted, as it only grows in moist places. Each had two sluices. One to receive, and the other to let out, the water into the next field, whence it was carried farther.”

Dryland Field System

The third form of subsistence intensification involved the systematic cultivation of dryland crops in their appropriate vegetation zones as exemplified by the Field Systems in Kona, Kohala, Kaupō and Kalaupapa (Ka‘ū reportedly also has a field system.)

Cultivation of the soil in Kona was characterized by a variety of non-irrigated root and tree crops grown for subsistence, each farmer having gardens in one or more vegetation zones. Each crop was cultivated in the zone in which it grew best.

Reverend William Ellis described the area behind Kailua town in Kona above the breadfruit and mountain apple trees as, “The path now lay through a beautiful part of the country, quite a garden compared with that through which they had passed on first leaving the town.”

“It was generally divided into small fields, about fifteen rods square fenced with low stone walls, built with fragments of lava gathered from the surface of the enclosures. These fields were planted with bananas, sweet potatoes, mountain taro, paper mulberry plants, melons, and sugar-cane, which flourished luxuriantly in every direction.”

Farmers found, farmed and intensified production on lands that were poised between being too wet and too dry. Archaeological evidence of intensive cultivation of sweet potato and other dryland crops is extensive, including walls, terraces, mounds and other features.

The fields were typically oriented parallel to the elevation contours and the walls; sometimes these were made up of a grid of rain-fed plots, defined by low stone field walls built, in part, to shelter sweet potatoes and other crops from the wind.

Since the dryland technique was away from supplemental water sources, this was truly dryland agriculture. There was no evidence to level terraces as in irrigated pondfield systems (taro lo‘i,) and there was no evidence of water control features or channels; so the conclusion was the system was strictly rainfed.

The inspiration (and much of the information) for this post came from research from Dr. Marion Kelly.

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Moku‘ula

Moku‘ula

Fish_Ponds_at_Honoruru,_Oahu,_by_John_Murray,_after_Robert_Dampier-(WC)-1836

Honolulu_Harbor_to_Diamond_Head-Wall-Reg1690 (1893) - Waikiki_portion-(note_fish_ponds-rice_fields_(formerly_used_as_taro_loi)

c. 1826 lithograph, William Ellis C., Big Island. Waipio Valley, Ahupua’a.

Stepped terrace walls under hau trees, Kahaluʻu Taro Loʻi-(WC)

Hanalei_Valley_Taro-Loi-(WC)

Loi-Kalo-Punaluu-(KSBE-BishopMuseum)-1924

Water from the ‘auwai going back to the kahawai-(KSBE)

Kohala Field System-walls-trails-map-Vitousek

Kalaupapa_Field_System-densely packed windbreak field walls are visible from the air-(McCoy)

Map of Islands noting Majory Dryland Field Systems-(Kirch)

September 13, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Star Spangled Banner

Often overlooked, twenty-nine years after the end of the American Revolution, conflict between the new United States and Britain flared up, again.

The War of 1812 broke out for a variety of reasons, including Britain’s seizure of American ships, forced taking of American sailors into the British navy and restriction of trade between the United States and France.

In June 1812, James Madison became the first US president to ask Congress to declare war (he sent a war message to the Congress on June 1, 1812 and signed the declaration of war on June 18, 1812.) (The conflict ended with the Treaty of Ghent, in 1815.)

The tensions that caused the War of 1812 arose from the French revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1792–1815).

During this nearly constant conflict between France and Britain, American interests were injured by each of the two countries’ endeavors to block the United States from trading with the other.

In Hawaiʻi, the issue of interest was the export of sandalwood – the War of 1812 interfered with trade in the Pacific.

Exports were interrupted by the battling nations as warships were sent to protect their own commerce and destroy that of the enemy. Hawaiʻi was blockaded during the war.

In addition, several Hawaiians served with the US in the war, including Humehume (Prince Kaumualiʻi, son of King Kaumualiʻi,) Thomas Hopu and William Kanui (all three were also on the Thaddeus with the first missionary company to Hawaiʻi, in 1820.)

A lasting legacy of the War of 1812 was the lyrics of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the US national anthem. They were penned by the amateur poet Francis Scott Key after he watched American forces withstand the British siege of Fort McHenry (named for James McHenry, Secretary of War, 1796 – 1800.)

Following the Burning of Washington and the Raid on Alexandria, Key set sail from Baltimore aboard the ship HMS Minden, flying a flag of truce on a mission approved by President James Madison. Their objective was to secure the exchange of prisoners.

On September 13, 1814, nineteen British ships aimed their cannons and guns on the fort. Amazingly, an estimated 1,500 to 1,800 British cannonballs failed to cause any significant damage to a fort which was unable to fire back on the ships because they were positioned just out of range of the American guns.

During the rainy night, Key had witnessed the bombardment and observed that the fort’s smaller “storm flag” continued to fly, but once the shell and rocket barrage had stopped, he would not know how the battle had turned out until dawn. By then, the storm flag had been lowered and the larger flag had been raised.

Key was inspired by the American victory and the sight of the large American flag flying triumphantly above the fort. That morning, he penned the poem that eventually became our country’s National Anthem.

The flag, with fifteen stars and fifteen stripes, came to be known as the Star Spangled Banner Flag and is today on display in the National Museum of American History in the Smithsonian Institution.

The song gained popularity throughout the nineteenth century and bands played it during public events, such as July 4th celebrations.

On July 27, 1889, Secretary of the Navy Benjamin F. Tracy signed General Order #374, making “The Star-Spangled Banner” the official tune to be played at the raising of the flag.

I was fortunate to have attended a Coastal States Organization meeting in Baltimore, Maryland while I served as Director at DLNR. I took the time to visit Fort McHenry to better see and understand what it looked like.

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Star Spangled Banner Flag that inspired the lyrics of the US national anthem when it flew above Fort McHenry in 1814-(WC)

War of 1812 – Star Spangled Banner Anthem

September 12, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Anthony Allen

The history of the Black presence in Hawaiʻi goes back to the early sailors; Blacks were crewmembers of Cook’s second and third Pacific voyages.

There is a “high likelihood” for the presence of Blacks on many of the ships that crossed the Pacific. Free and unfree Blacks had been serving onboard these ships in a variety of capacities.

Between about 1820 and 1880, hundreds of whaling ships annually pulled into (primarily) Honolulu and Lāhainā, and a significant number of Blacks stayed behind in the islands and became permanent residents where they worked as cooks, barbers, tailors, sailors on interisland vessels and members of musical groups.

Discussion of early African-American presence in Hawaiʻi usually starts with Anthony D. Allen. He was born a slave on the German Flats, in New York, in 1774. At about the age of 24, fearing his old master’s widow (Dougal) might sell him and he would have to leave his mother, he arranged for a new slave master and he was bought for $300.

Shortly thereafter, in 1800, he made a flight for freedom from Schenectady, NY, and made his way to Boston. He went to work at sea, sailing with the same sea captain for eight years, seven as steward and one as cook.

Many other African Americans worked in the maritime industry during this period as crew members, pilots, cooks, stewards, stevedores, builders and captains. In the coming decades, Americans with African lineage would account for up to 50 percent of the maritime forces. (Scruggs, HJH)

In 1806, he ran into his former slave master and was almost forced back into slavery. Mr. Coolege, the ship owner on which he worked, agreed to pay the former owner $300; the former owner agreed.

In return, Allen gave Coolege a promissory note to pay him back. In April 1807, Allen paid the note back. He spent the next few years sailing across the globe – Boston, France, Haiti, Havana China, Northwest US and eventually, in 1811, Hawaiʻi.

Called Alani by the Native Hawaiians, Allen served as steward to Kamehameha the Great and he acquired a parcel of about six acres. He married a Hawaiian woman and had three children who survived into adulthood. (HHS)

He “resided at Waikiki, lived as comfortably, and treated us as courteously, as any who had adopted that country before our arrival.” (Hiram Bingham)

John Papa ʻĪʻī, a neighbor of Allen, in his testimony confirming rights to the land, told how Allen acquired his land: “The Allens got this land from an old high Priest – Hewa hewa. … this land was given him in the time of ‘’Kamehameha I’.” (HJH)

By 1820, Allen owned a dozen houses, “within the enclosure were his dwelling, eating and cooking houses, with many more for a numerous train of dependents. There was also a well, a garden containing principally squashes, and in one part, a sheepfold in which was one cow, several sheep, and three hundred goats.” (Sybil Bingham Journal)

Allen’s land held a variety of business enterprises, including animal husbandry, farming, a boarding house, a hospital, a bowling alley and a grog shop. Besides keeping his own animals, Allen boarded cattle for others. Allen may have operated the first commercial dairy in Hawaiʻi.

“Waikīkī” was once a vast marshland whose boundaries encompassed more than 2,000-acres (as compared to its present 500-acres below the Ala Wai Canal we call Waikīkī, today).

Allen’s six-acres and home were about two miles from downtown at Pawaʻa, between what we now call Waikīkī and Mānoa at what is now the corner of Punahou and King Streets. This is where Washington Intermediate School is now situated. (Washington was the first intermediate school built on Oʻahu; it opened in 1926.)

In addition to his farming, Allen provided overnight accommodations – one of the earliest known hotel uses in Waikīkī. Several references note his property as a “resort.” (Hawaiʻi’s first “hotel” may be attributed to Don Francisco de Paula Marin, sometime after 1810 on Marin’s property at Honolulu Harbor.)

Reverend Charles Stewart notes of Allen’s place in his journal, “… it is a favourite resort of the more respectable of the seamen who visit Honoruru. …” With it, he had a popular bowling alley.

He entertained often and made his property available for special occasions. “King (Kauikeaouli – Kamehameha III) had a Grand Dinner at A. D. Allen’s. The company came up at sunset. Music played very late.” (Reynolds – Scruggs, HJH)

He even operated a hospital where ill or injured seamen and sea captains were taken ashore to recuperate; however, it is not clear if he had medical training or who else there did.

It appears that Allen helped oversee the construction and maintenance of one of the first improved roads in Honolulu, probably what today is known as Punahou Street, which becomes Mānoa Road.

In the “… valley of Manoa … this afternoon Mr. Bingham drove me in a wagon to it. There is now a good carriage road … as far as the country house of Kaahumanu … five miles from Honolulu.” (Reynolds, Scruggs, HJH)

Allen, the former slave, died of a stroke on December 31, 1835, leaving behind a considerable fortune to his children.

In tribute to Allen, Reverend John Diell noted, “The last sun of the departed year went down upon the dying bed of another man who has long resided upon the island. He was a colored man, but shared, to a large extent, in the respect of this whole community. …”

“He has been a pattern of industry and perseverance, and of care for the education of his children. … In justice to his memory, and to my own feelings, I must take this opportunity to acknowledge the many expressions of kindness which we received from him from the moment of our arrival.”

The image shows an 1874 map (Waikiki DAGS Reg-797-(portion)) that notes the property owned by Anthony D Allen.

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September 10, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

The Cathedral of Saint Andrew

Saint Andrew’s Cathedral is a branch of Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church; belonging to the Anglican Communion (also called “Episcopal” in the United States and Scotland).

Kamehameha IV and his Queen Emma rejoiced at the birth of their son, Albert Kauikeaouli Leiopapa a Kamehameha, on May 20, 1858.

They were both very interested in the Anglican/Episcopal Church and in 1859 asked Queen Victoria to send them clergy of the Church of England. In part, they wished their young son to be baptized and “be instructed in the fundamentals of Church of England worship.”

In 1861, the King and Queen gave land, part of their royal garden, on which a Cathedral was to be built. While planning and fund-raising began a small Pro-Cathedral was constructed of wood on the corner of Nuʻuanu and Kuakini Streets in 1862.

This would remain in use for more than twenty years, the time it would take for the first phase of the cathedral to reach completion.

Thomas Staley was consecrated in England to become the first Bishop of Hawaiʻi. In anticipation of the arrival of the Bishop, the King translated much of the Book of Common Prayer into the Hawaiian language.

After the Bishop’s arrival in Honolulu, the King and Queen were baptized and confirmed in the Anglican Church. (This was the second baptism for each; in their childhood they had been baptized in the Calvinist faith.)

The first services of the church were held on October 12, 1862 (150-years ago today,) amidst a time of mourning for the young Prince of Hawaiʻi, the only son of the King and Queen who died shortly before the arrival of the Bishop.

The subsequent untimely death of King Kamehameha IV on St. Andrew’s Day, November 30, 1863, led his brother, Lot (King Kamehameha V) to dedicate the cathedral to St. Andrew as a fitting memorial to a King.

Queen Emma proceeded alone to lead the project. She traveled to England to raise money, to commission architects, and to purchase stone from Caen in Normandy, which was shipped to Hawaiʻi as ballast in sailing ships.

The corner stone was laid March 5, 1867 by King Kamehameha V and work was begun on the foundation and choir sections of the building (he viewed building the cathedral as a tribute to his brother.)

The first twenty years were a struggle with and for money, materials and men, but with the aid of supporters, the nave (the main body and central approach to the high altar) of the cathedral was completed in time for Christmas, 1886.

Queen Emma did not live to worship in the Cathedral. She had died the previous year on St. Mark’s Day, 1885.

The first two bays of the building were completed in 1902 and the building was consecrated at that time. Also in that year, the Church of England deemed it appropriate to transfer its responsibility for the church in Hawaiʻi to the Episcopal Church of the United States.

In 1908, a plan for a tower in the same gothic style as the church was conceived and it was dedicated in 1912. It was not until 1958 that the final two bays of the nave were completed, along with the entrance area, vestibule and the Great West Window.

The new Anglican Church in Hawaii was called the Hawaiian Reformed Catholic Church, indicative of the evolution of the Church of England of the time. The name would change in 1870 to the Anglican Church in Hawaii.

Kamehameha IV and his Queen Emma dedicated their marriage to serving the health, educational and spiritual needs of their people.

To these ends they founded The Queen’s Hospital (now The Queen’s Medical Center), several schools, including The St Andrew’s Priory School and St. Albans (now ʻIolani School), and were instrumental in bringing the Anglican church to the islands.

While St. Andrew’s Cathedral was begun in what has been called the Golden Age of the Hawaiian monarchy, it continued through the upheaval of the overthrow of the monarchy, garnering in those troubled times the allegiance of both Queen Liliʻuokalani, Hawaiʻi’s last monarch, and Sanford Dole, President of the Republic of Hawaiʻi.

Queen Liliʻuokalani took on Queen Emma’s role as a visible and energetic leader in the work of the church, moving into the twentieth century.

In the Hawaiian tradition, two red and yellow kahili stand at the front of the cathedral, serving as physical reminders of the royal patrons of the cathedral.

Historically, there were two congregations. One congregation was at first composed of Hawaiian-speaking worshipers, and the other was composed of English-speaking worshipers. The Hawaiian language is still used in some of the services.

In 2002, the Royal Patrons Chapel was created, the Wahi Kapu, or Sacred Space, dedicated to the memory of King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma.