Hawaii | Page 358 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

Cornwall’s Foreign Mission School

Cornwall-home_of_the_Foreign_Mission_School-by_Barber-(WC)-1835

Steward’s_House

Cornwall Valley Map Sketch-1825-26

Cornwall Map-1854

Litchfield and Cornwall Map

Henry_Opukahaia,_ca. 1810s

Four_Owyhean_Youths-Thomas Hoopoo, George Tamoree, William Tenooe and John Honoree

February 24, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Humu‘ula Sheep Station

Historically, sheep-raising was one of the oldest introduced agricultural pursuits in Hawai‘i. Sheep were originally introduced to the Big Island by Capt. George Vancouver in 1793, when he left two ewes and a ram at Kealakekua.

Sheep were being raised for export by 1809 and flourished through the early part of the 20th century. Most meat was consumed locally and wool was supplied to mainland US buyers. Wool production reached its peak in 1875 when 565,000-pounds were sent overseas.

A visible remnant of the sheep industry is the Humu‘ula Sheep Station, situated at the junction of Saddle Road and Mauna Kea Access Road on the lower slopes of Mauna Kea.

The Sheep Station has historical and architectural interest because sheep raising, although never a major industry, was carried on until the last large flock in the Islands, located at Humu’ula, was phased-out in the early 1960s.

The Humu‘uIa Sheep Station Company chartered by the Hawaiian Government in 1883, was an operation of H. Hackfeld and Company.

By 1894, the company had erected large and extensive paddocks at Kalai‘eha (named for the pu‘u (cinder cone) near the site) and also had a station at Keanakolu (near where DLNR has some cabins and other facilities on the Mana-Keanakolu Road that skirts the east and north side of Mauna Kea.)

Ownership of the station then came under Parker Ranch and operations continued for years, often little known by Hawai’i residents due to its comparatively isolated location.

Sheep raising at Humu‘uIa was given‐up in 1963 and although abandoned as a sheep station, cattle ranch support activities continued until 2002, when the Parker lease expired.

The Sheep Station site contains a mix of structures and artifacts with varying degrees of historic, architectural and aesthetic significance.

Existing structures include offices, living facilities, outbuildings, work sheds, shearing sheds, holding pens and catchment facilities.

Buildings and artifacts tell an interesting architectural story and provide a historic backdrop for a contemporary rustic experience.

The site was assessed by the State Historic Preservation Division for placement on the Hawai’i Register of Historic Places.

The historian determined that the site’s architectural interest and merit lie in “structures (c. 1900) [that] are typical ranch house style but are particularly interesting for their ‘homemade’ contrived plans and arrangements, both functional and picturesque.”

The main historic building on site consists of an office and dwelling which was part of a cluster that represents the property’s rustic character. It was originally built as a men’s living cottage and, over time, converted to office and residential use.

The structure was built in stages and consists of two distinct wings, both with gable roofs. The 1973 SHPD assessment refers to the elaborate decoration of the living room with skylight, wainscoting and carved scrollwork.

Unfortunately, the building has deteriorated from neglect and lack of maintenance. A preliminary architectural inspection indicates that the building will require extensive structural rehabilitation to meet current health and safety standards for occupancy.

The good news is DHHL, owner of the site, adopted the ‘Āina Mauna Legacy Program. One of the actions called for in that Plan and its accompanying Environmental Assessment is the restoration and adaptive reuse of the Humu‘ula Sheep Station.

We are honored and proud to have prepared the ʻĀina Mauna Legacy Program planning document, Implementation Strategy and Work Plan, Cultural Impact Assessment and Environmental Assessment for DHHL.

We are equally proud the ʻĀina Mauna Legacy Program was unanimously approved by the Hawaiian Homes Commission and was given the “Environment/Preservation Award” from the American Planning Association‐Hawaiʻi Chapter and the “Koa: Standing the Test of Time Award” by the Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture and the Hawaiʻi Forest Industry Association.

Humuula Sheep Station-1892

Humuula Sheep Station

Humuula-Register_Map-668-SC_Wiltse-1862

Aina_Mauna_Legacy_Program-Map

February 23, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Uluniu Swimming Club

As a little kid, we’d go down to Waikiki Beach and visit my grandmother at the Uluniu Swimming Club.

Back in those times, it seemed like it was a place only grandmothers went; from my sub-four-foot perspective, the place was packed with old ladies.

It figures, Uluniu was originally founded as the Women’s Auxiliary of the Outrigger Canoe Club.

The facility was right on Waikiki Beach between the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and the Moana Hotel, next door to the old location of the Outrigger Canoe Club.

I remember the hau-covered trellised walkway into the club.

Shortly following the organization of the Outrigger Canoe Club in 1908, wives of members demanded facilities for women at the Club so they, too, could enjoy the ocean waters in front of the Club.

Uluniu started in Waikiki in 1909; it was located in a grove called Helumoa (they say there were 10,000 coconut trees; in 1795, King Kamehameha I established a home in the Helumoa coconut grove.)

The Women’s Auxiliary provided women and girls with a recreational environment, away from the men’s club.

In 1914 Uluniu was the first women’s club to be affiliated with the Amateur Athletic Union when Ellen Fullard-Leo became the first woman member of the AAU.

The Uluniu was asked to design “sensible bathing costumes” for women (short sleeves and legs). These bathing suits not only were used in Hawaii, they became the standard for all National AAU competition. (Uluniu)

In 1925, the Club separated from the Outrigger and became the Uluniu Women’s Swimming Club, accepted male spouses as non-voting members, and sponsored swimming programs, meets and competitions with trophies sought by local high schools.

The Swanzy Cup, named for Julie Judd Swanzy, the first club president, was given to individuals, mostly for high school swimmers.

The Uluniu Bowl trophy was awarded to teams, and was won so many times by the Punahou School team that the Club has given it on permanent loan to the school.

“Our club stands for something valuable and solid, not only in its direct influence on the beach but indirectly on the community at large.”

“The club offers a chance to use the beach here to our members and their children and for the older members without children, there is always this lovely shaded lanai with a view out over the ocean and enjoyment in the late afternoon.” (Castle; OCC)

On October 9, 1939, a new clubhouse was opened. Previously the clubhouse was located between the OCC and the Moana Hotel; it was later moved Waikiki of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and remodeled.

In 1965, the Club changed its name for the third time to the Uluniu Swimming Club and admitted men as voting members. This was in preparation for the loss of the Waikiki lease, when both Outrigger and Uluniu had to leave their Waikiki properties.

The club no longer has a place at Waikiki; its last day on Waikiki Beach was June 26, 1968.

In the 1970s, the club purchased the present clubhouse property in Lāʻie, overlooking a large coconut palm-lined lawn extending to the beachfront.

Members and their guests can stay at the clubhouse, “Kaiwao” (literally, “inland of the sea;”) it’s located just past the Polynesian Cultural Center.

It’s actually a beach house used by members as an overnight-retreat. With about 100 members in the club, members share responsibility of management and care for the house.

In 2008, about five-decades after first visiting Uluniu as a little kid, I joined the Uluniu Swimming Club; we enjoy our retreats to the beach house.

Uluniu-400

Uluniu

Waikiki-1958-Royal_Hawaiian-Uluniu_Swim_Club-Outrigger_Canoe_Club

Waikiki_Beach_and_Moana_Hotel-1940

Royal_Hawaiian_Hotel-Moana_Hotel-Aerial-1930

Royal_Hawaiian_Hotel-from_Moana_Pier-1940

Royal_Hawaiian_Hotel-1951

Early_view_of_Outrigger_Canoe_Club

View from beach to house at Uluniu Laie house

View from house to beach at Uluniu Laie house

Uluniu Womens Swimming Club sign

February 22, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hawaiian Floral Parade

“In no other city in all the United States is Washington’s Birthday observed as it is in Honolulu. It is the one national holiday which the Hawaiian city has chosen above all others for its own, to celebrate as no other American city is able to do.”

“Nowhere else under the American flag does the twenty-second of February find smiling ‘skies, flower—scented breezes, and an enthusiastic and patriotic populace.”

“For the past six years the celebration of the day has centered in a great floral pageant in which all the nationalities of Honolulu’s most cosmopolitan population have vied with each other in doing honor to the memory of America’s first President and great statesman.”

“Each year has seen the efforts of the preceeding one surpassed, and the 1911 celebration gives promise of very far eclipsing all of the others.”

“The Floral Parade idea originated some eight or nine years ago, but it was not until 1906 that the date was finally set for Washington’s Birthday, and the parade became a regular institution.”

“The first parade was held on Thanksgiving Day, and was largely an automobile parade, made up of decorated motor cars, which at that time had come to be quite common in the city.”

“Each year the idea developed, however, until finally it was recognized as everybody’s celebration, and everybody felt that he had a definite part to play in making the show a success. From being simply a day’s diversion for a few of the city’s wealthy class, it has now come to occupy the most important place in the year’s calendar of holidays for every one in the Territory.”

“In fact, one day is now scarcely big enough to hold it, and last year the carnival feature (which has come to claim a prominent place, although not thought of in the earlier years) was inaugurated the evening before, as it will be again this year. The project of making the celebration cover the entire week will be carried out within the next year or two.”

“New Orleans has her Mardi Gras; Pasadena, her Tournament of Roses; and Portland, Oregon, her rose Festival, each rivaling in a manner the elaborate fiestas and pageants of the Old World.”

“But it remained for Hawaii, the ‘Paradise of the Pacific,’ to originate a celebration of an attractiveness not possible in any less favored part of the world.”

“Honolulu’s Floral Parade does not represent so large an expenditure of money as do some of the others, but nature has furnished the mid-Pacific Islands with things that money cannot buy in perfect weather, brilliant flowers, and a mixture of races working in harmony to produce a day of brilliant novelty and interest that cannot be duplicated.”

“For the past three or four years steamship facilities have been entirely inadequate to bring the crowds of tourists who turn Hawaii-ward with the coming of February, and their enthusiastic praise insures for succeeding years renewed interest in Hawaii from every country in the world.”

“It is such appreciation, too, that adds zest to the workers on each succeeding year – this and the healthy rivalry between the different branches – for the cost of Hawaii’s one great day, not alone in money, but in hard work for months before, is something that cannot be adequately expressed.”

“Citizens and visitors who are in Honolulu on the eve of February 22 (1911) – Washington’s Birthday – will find one of the principal downtown streets closed to public traffic, and two of the largest wharves similarly cut off for a time from public use …”

“… while big trans-Pacific liners scheduled to dock at those wharves will have to steam to a less convenient wharf at the other end of the harbor.”

“The closed street and the closed wharf will be alive with hustling humanity. Early in the evening – Honolulu time – a famous statesman will touch a button in Washington – the President of the United States, in the White House – and the button will ring in Honolulu.”

“ The current starting from the White House will be relayed by direct wires to a huge electric clock in Honolulu, and the timepiece will burst into illumination, showing the famous device of the Brotherhood of Elks – the clock that points to the hour of eleven, when Elks all over the world pause to remember kindly their absent brothers.”

“It will be eleven when the button is touched in Washington, and that will be about seven o’clock in Honolulu. This is the time for the opening of the Washington Birthday Carnival and Floral Parade season of festivities in Honolulu, and President Taft, being an Elk, has been asked to start the celebration.”

“Honolulu’s Floral Parade observance of Washington’s Birthday is only a few years old, and the Carnival features, undertaken by Honolulu Lodge, No. 606, B. P. O. E., are only two years old.”

“The Floral Parade was a brilliant success from the start, and has become a public institution, managed by public-spirited citizens year after year. and planned and looked forward to like the Mardi Gras in New Orleans.”

“A majority of the entries in the Parade are floats and decorated automobiles. Honolulu leads all American cities in the number of privately owned autos, in proportion to her size, and an increasing number of the Owners, from year to year, join in the pleasant competition for honors in beauty of decorations.”

“The custom of selecting “malihinis” for judges has been adopted in recent years. Malihini is Hawaiian for strangers, and usually in this connection means visitors, or tourists.

“Last year the floats of the nations were brilliant features of the parade. The Chinese and Japanese especially, with their native wealth in color decorations, put forth striking efforts. and the great Chinese dragon was a sight not to be forgotten.”

“The lodges, societies. clubs, and, in some cases, business organizations, had elaborate floats, while some of the private entries of individuals were of exquisite beauty. Society had its part, and some of the vehicles, carrying feminine beauty arrayed in harmony with the color scheme of the floral decorations, were dreams of beauty.”

“‘Pilikia’ had a prominent place in the parade. He was a frightful-looking monster, doomed to be overpowered and burned to death before the day was over. Pilikia, be it explained for the benefit of the malihini, is a Hawaiian word meaning trouble.”

“The god, or rather demon, of trouble, put together by James Wilder, was a monster of frightful mein. He lived through the parade, but when night came, in the presence of a vast crowd at Palace Square, he was tried and condemned to death.”

“Struggling and wailing, he was cast into a living volcano while the multitude howled with joy, and, by the terms of the allegory. Trouble was dead in Honolulu. It is understood that during the past year the monster reappeared, and if he can be captured he will be tried again.”

“The Carnival features last February were all in the block in front of the Young Hotel. The street was closed and turned over to the Elks, as it will be this February, and within their enclosure the enterprising members of Honolulu Lodge arranged and carried out an entertainment to which the principal exception taken was that the crowds were so large it was difficult to get in.”

“There were many of the features of a circus, with well-known citizens at the sideshows and booths, and society ladies doing their part, and there was a mock court in continuous session.”

“The judge was a fiery citizen of Honolulu named George A. Davis, and he was voted a brilliant success, acquittals of defendants being entirely unheard of during the whole session, and pleadings being assessed with Solomon-like wisdom.”

“This year, in addition to a repetition of this carnival feature, the Elks are to hold a water carnival and electric illumination on the waterfront. The illumination will rival that of the great battleship fleet, some of which lay at the wharves, which are to be reserved for the Elks’ use.”

“The aquatic features will be such as only Hawaii can show. The Elks have nearly a dozen committees at work upon their plans -and propose to make both features of the Carnival annual affairs, which, with the Floral Parade, will cause Washington’s Birthday to be easily the big holiday of the year in Hawaii.”

“That the big February fiesta in Honolulu is attracting attention elsewhere is shown not only by the hundreds of letters received inquiring about it, but in a much more substantial way by the fact that three excursion parties from the mainland – each in its own chartered steamer – will be in Honolulu during the Carnival week.”

“Definite news of the efforts of another party to come has been received, but it will probably be impossible to secure another steamer. The regular steamers will be crowded with Honolulu—bound passengers, and the interisland steamers will bring residents of all the islands of the group to Honolulu.”

Beginning with the Mid-Pacific Carnival in 1904, a series of multiethnic public celebrations and parades were created to attract tourists and showcase Hawaiʻi’s multi-ethnic culture. The Hawaiian Floral Parade was a part of this.

The Mid-Pacific Carnival, held in February, celebrated Washington’s birthday with spectacular and historic pageants and military parades featured. It was held at Aʻala Park in downtown Honolulu. Circus acts, sideshows and hula dancers entertained the public and included an annual Floral Parade. In 1916, Mid-Pacific Carnival merged into the Kamehameha Day Parade (and was later held in June).

Mid-Pacific Carnival-auto-1908

Hawaiian Floral Parade

Mid-Pacific Carnival-grandstand-auto-1907

Mid-Pacific Carnival-car

Mid-Pacific Carnival-Pau_Riders

Mid-Pacific Carnival-Band_on_Horseback

Mid-Pacific Carnival-tractor-1913

Mid-Pacific Carnival-parade-1910

Mid-Pacific_Carnival

February 21, 2019 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Mokulua

Mokulua (meaning, “the two islands”) are two islets off the windward coast of O‘ahu.

They are also commonly known as “The Mokes” or the “Twin Islands.” They are about a mile off Lanikai.

The larger island is also known as Moku Nui, Big Moke and Two Humps (13-acre land area.)

The smaller island is also known as Moku Iki, Baby Moke and One Hump (9-acre land area.)

The Mokulua islands are part of the summit caldera of the Ko‘olau shield volcano that slid into the ocean in one or a series of massive landslides more than a million years ago.

In what scientists call the Nu‘uanu Debris Avalanche, a landslide sheared off a third of O‘ahu and swept material more than 140 miles north of O’ahu and Moloka’i.

The Mokulua Islands, large basaltic outcrops from the sea floor, are located about 4,000 feet offshore and rise approximately 200 feet above sea level.

These old offshore islets (as well as many others off O‘ahu and around the Neighbor Islands) form the Hawai‘i State Seabird Sanctuary, created to protect the thousands of seabirds who seek refuge in and around the main Hawaiian Islands.

The majority of seabird-nesting colonies in the main Hawaiian Islands are located on the offshore islands, islets and rocks. Many of these offshore islands are part of the Hawaii State Seabird Sanctuary System.

These sanctuaries protect seabirds, Hawaiian Monk seals, migrating shorebirds, and native coastal vegetation. These small sanctuary areas represent the last vestiges of a once widespread coastal ecosystem that included the coastlines of all the main Hawaiian Islands. (DLNR)

Mokulua are primary nesting sites for ‘Ua‘u kani (Wedge-tailed Shearwater) and ‘Ou (Bulwer’s Petrel.)

The Wedge-tailed Shearwater is a dusky brown bird with white breast feathers, long and thin wings, a hooked bill and a wedge-shaped tail.

The wailing sound made by these birds at their burrows at night inspired the Hawaiian name, which means “calling or moaning petrel.”

The Bulwer’s Petrel has long pointed wings, a long pointed tail, a black bill and pale short legs. Adult males and females are overall sooty-brown, with a pale bar across the proximal half of upper wings.

Multiple commercial operations cater to the Mokulua-bound kayakers and provide equipment rental and guided eco-tours. Permits are required to land any business-oriented vessel at the regulated sanctuaries.

The sandy beach at Moku Nui is a destination for thousands of (resident and visitor) kayakers, surfers, and boaters every year.

Clearly marked paths on the shoreline of Mokulua North are the only places visitors are allowed to walk. In addition to the no alcohol rules, bringing dogs to the islet, camping and campfires are prohibited.