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October 25, 2018 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Amfac Center

The story of Hawai‘i’s largest companies dominates Hawaiʻi’s economic history. Since the early/mid-1800s, until relatively recently, five major companies emerged and dominated the Island’s economic framework. Their common trait: they were focused on agriculture – sugar.

They became known as the Big Five: C. Brewer (1826;) Theo H Davies (1845;) American Factors (Amfac) – starting as Hackfeld & Company (1849;) Castle & Cooke (1851) and Alexander & Baldwin (1870.)

“By 1941, every time a native Hawaiian switched on his lights, turned on the gas or rode on a street car, he paid a tiny tribute into Big Five coffers.” (Alexander MacDonald, 1944) Things changed.

On June 3, 1968, the first increment of Mililani’s single-family homes went on sale; 112 houses were originally offered for purchase at $25,000 to $35,000 each.

In its time, Mililani was one of the biggest signifiers that the Big Five were abandoning agriculture in Leeward and Central Oahu in favor of suburban development. Castle & Cooke created Mililani out of pineapple fields it had owned since 1948. (In 1976, the H-2 Freeway opened.)

On June 19, 1970, following the changes in travel that the introduction of jetliners in 1959 made another Big Five company, Alexander & Baldwin, was seeing changes. Just 6-years previously, A&B bought out the interests of other Big Five ownership in Matson (Castle & Cook, C Brewer and Amfac). (NY Times)

In 1970, A&B’s Matson line’s Lurline had her last voyage – it was the end of the era (dating back to 1933) of Matson’s 5-day luxury liner travel between Hawai‘i and the West Coast, and the end of Boat Days at Honolulu Harbor. (Honolulu Magazine)

About this time, other changes were going on in downtown Honolulu, around the waterfront – Amfac was redeveloping its headquarters building.

Previously (1901), Amfac-predecessor Hackfeld built a stone and concrete building that covered the mauka-Ewa corner of the block and had its main public entrance on the Queen-Fort Street corner, beneath a fourth-level dome.

Another entry closer to the harbor on the Fort Street side opened to the company’s three floors of offices, many occupied by managers and clerks for the once immense operations of one of the largest of Hawai‘i’s Big Five sugar companies.

Oliver Traphagen came up with a both ornate and solid design for U-shaped structure to extend the whole of the Fort Street frontage and continued in along the Queen Street and Halekauwila Street (now Nimitz) sides.

The project was completed in March 1902. For over half a century, the Hackfeld Building (later renamed American Factors (Amfac) Building) dominated the harbor edge of downtown Honolulu. (Fort Street Mall)

Then, starting in the late-1960s, Amfac was redeveloping its headquarters in a joint venture (under the name Center Properties) with Seattle developer Richard H Hadley. The new complex eventually filled the entire block bounded by Bishop, Queen Fort and Halekauwila (now Nimitz) Streets.

The new complex, named Amfac Center, was built in two distinct phases between 1968 and 1971; the towers are marble-faced skyscrapers, now recognized as late International Style or, alternatively, as “Formalist.”

The first of the two 20-story buildings, the Amfac Tower (Amfac Building), was completed in 1968 at the corner of Bishop and Halekauwila (now Nimitz) streets.

The old stone Hackfeld/Amfac Building came down in 1969 to prepare for the construction of the second of the two Amfac Center buildings, the Hawaii Tower (Hawaii Building), completed in 1971.

After subsequent sales of controlling interests in the company and liquidation of land and other assets, in 2002, the once dominant business in Hawaiʻi, the biggest of the Hawaiʻi Big Five, Amfac Hawaiʻi, LLC filed for federal bankruptcy protection. (TGI)

That year, John Edward Anderson, purchased the Amfac Center and renamed it the Topa Financial Center. Topa comes from the Topatopa mountain range in Ojai, east of Santa Barbara, California, where Anderson has a ranch of the same.

Topa means gopher in the language of the Chumash, American Indians who live in the Santa Barbara area. As part of the name change, Amfac’s 20-story twin towers were renamed the East Tower and West Tower. (Ruel)

(There is some suggestion that there is a connection between the Amfac Center and the former World Trade Center (completed in 1973), reportedly through the architect who was apparently associated with each. If so, more to come on that.)

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American Factors (formerly H.Hackfeld)-PP-7-5-018-00001
American Factors (formerly H.Hackfeld)-PP-7-5-018-00001
American Factors (formerly H.Hackfield)-PP-7-5-019-00001
American Factors (formerly H.Hackfield)-PP-7-5-019-00001
American Factors (formerly H.Hackfield)-PP-7-5-023-00001
American Factors (formerly H.Hackfield)-PP-7-5-023-00001
American Factors Building was demolished in 1970
American Factors Building was demolished in 1970
Fort St. from Aloha Tower-Amfac_is_domed_bldg-PP-39-4-001-1937
Fort St. from Aloha Tower-Amfac_is_domed_bldg-PP-39-4-001-1937
Amfac Gate-Old Courthouse-SB-05-29-67
Amfac Gate-Old Courthouse-SB-05-29-67
Amfac_Building-removing_H_Hackfeld_from_Building-1918
Amfac_Building-removing_H_Hackfeld_from_Building-1918
TOPA-Financial-Center-Colliers
TOPA-Financial-Center-Colliers
TOPA-Financial-Center-in-Honolulu
TOPA-Financial-Center-in-Honolulu
Downtown and Vicinity-Dakin-Fire Insurance- 2-Map-1891-Hackfeld
Downtown and Vicinity-Dakin-Fire Insurance- 2-Map-1891-Hackfeld
Honolulu and Vicinity-Dakin-Fire Insurance- 02-Map-1906-Hackfeld
Honolulu and Vicinity-Dakin-Fire Insurance- 02-Map-1906-Hackfeld
Downtown_Honolulu-Building_ownership_noted-Map-1950-Amfac-LH
Downtown_Honolulu-Building_ownership_noted-Map-1950-Amfac-LH

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Hackfeld, Amfac, American Factors, Heinrich (Henry) Hackfeld, Topa Center, Hawaii Building, Amfac Building, Hawaii, Big 5

August 1, 2017 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Queen’s Hospital Subscribers

Hawaiians called the hospital and dispensary Hale Ma‘i o ka Wahine Ali‘i (literally, sick house of the lady chief,) or Hale Ma‘i for short. Opening day was August 1, 1859. (Greer)

“The Queen’s Hospital was founded in 1859 by their Majesties Kamehameha IV and his consort Emma Kaleleonalani. The hospital is organized as a corporation …”

“… and by the terms of its charter the board of trustees is composed of ten members elected by the society and ten members nominated by the Government ….” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 31, 1901)

“(A) number of persons, resident in Honolulu and other parts of the Kingdom have entered into a voluntary contribution, by subscription, for the purpose of creating a fund, for the erection and establishment of a Hospital at Honolulu, for the relief of indigent sick, and disabled people of the Hawaiian Kingdom, as well as of such foreigners, and others, as may desire to avail themselves of the same …”

The “subscribers … resolved that they should associate themselves together as a Body Politic and Corporate, for the purpose of carrying into effect the objects and intentions of the said subscribers …”

“…the following on behalf of the said subscribers were elected by ballot to act as Trustees, on behalf of the said subscribers, viz, BF Snow, SC Damon, SN Castle, CR Bishop, JW Austin, EO Hall, TJ Waterhouse, WA Aldrich, WL Green and H Hackfeld …”

“His Majesty then designated the following ten persons, Trustees, on behalf of the Government, viz, His Royal Highness Prince L (Lot) Kamehameha, David L Gregg, Wm Webster, GM Robertson, TC Heuck, John Ladd, James Bissen, HIH Holdsworth, AB Baker, L John Montgomery.” (Charter of the Queen’s Hospital)

Some 250 businesses, groups, and individuals had subscribed $13,530; the king and queen headed the list of subscribers with pledges of $500 each. (Greer) The following are the initial 10-Trustees who were elected:

Benjamin Franklin Snow had “a spacious two-story coral building that stood on Merchant street, near the corner of Fort … The building was erected early in the forties,’’ and for some time was occupied by Makee & Jones, afterwards Makee & Anthon.

It was moved into by Captain Snow, following his fire in the Brewer premises on Fort street in 1852. Snow was associated with the early entities that eventually formed C Brewer. Snow died December 20, 1866 on the fortieth anniversary of his arrival in Honolulu from Boston in the brig Active. (Thrum)

Samuel Chenery Damon, son of Colonel Samuel Damon, was born in Holden, Massachusetts, February 15, 1815. He was graduated from Amherst College in 1836, studied at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1838-39, and was graduated at Andover Theological Seminary in 1841. He was an American missionary.

He was preparing to go to India as a missionary and was studying the Tamil language for that purpose, when an urgent call came for a seaman’s chaplain at the port of Honolulu in the Hawaiian Islands. He was ordained September 15, 1841, and he decided to accept the position at Honolulu.

Damon was pastor of the Seamen’s Bethel Church, chaplain of the Honolulu American Seamen’s Friend Society and editor of the monthly newspaper The Friend. He died February 7, 1885, at Honolulu, and his funeral next day was attended by a very large congregation, including King Kalākaua his ministers. (Crane, Historic Homes, 1907)

Samuel Northrup Castle landed in the Sandwich Islands (Hawaiʻi) in 1837 as part of the 8th Company of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. He was assigned to the ‘depository’ (a combination store, warehouse and bank) to help the missionaries pool and purchase their supplies, to negotiate shipments around the Horn and to distribute and collect for the goods when received.

Twelve years after Castle had landed in the Islands, the American board decided that its purposes had been accomplished. It advised its representatives that their work was done and the board’s financial support would end. He needed to make a living since monetary support from Missions headquarters had been discontinued.

Castle and his good friend Amos Starr Cooke decided they would become business partners. Many of the missionaries were planning to remain; their needs must be met, so those of other residents and the crews of the whaling ships which wintered in Honolulu harbor. On June 2, 1851, they formed Castle & Cooke.

Charles Reed Bishop was born January 25, 1822 in Glens Falls, New York, and was an orphan at an early age and went to live with his grandparents on their 120-acre farm learning to care for sheep, cattle and horses and repairing wagons, buggies and stage coaches.

By January 1846, Bishop was ready to broaden his horizons. He and a friend, William Little Lee, planned to travel to the Oregon territory, Lee to practice law and Bishop to survey land. They sailed around Cape Horn on the way to Oregon. The vessel made a stop in Honolulu on October 12, 1846; both decided to stay. (Lee later became the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi.)

Bishop met and married Bernice Pauahi Paki. Bishop was primarily a banker (he has been referred to as “Hawaiʻi’s First Banker.”) An astute financial businessman, he became one of the wealthiest men in the kingdom from banking, agriculture, real estate and other investments.

James Walker Austin was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, January 8, 1829. He graduated from Harvard College in 1849, and from the Law School two years later. He went in 1851 to California, and then to the Sandwich Islands and was determined to settle there. He was admitted to the Bar in that country, and in 1852 was appointed district attorney.

He was elected to the Hawaiian Parliament, and reelected for three sessions. He was speaker of the House one session. In 1868 he was appointed justice of the Supreme Court by a special act of the Legislature, and he was chosen to revise the criminal code of the islands, in connection with two other judges of the Supreme Court. He was the guardian a number of years, of Lunalilo, heir to the throne.

He returned to the US in 1872 for the education of his children, after a residence at the Sandwich Islands of twenty-one years. He went to Europe the last year of his life, with his wife and daughter; he died in Southampton, England, October 15, 1895. (New England Historic Genealogical Society)

Edwin Oscar Hall arrived with the 7th Company of American missionaries in 1835. He was a Printer and Assistant Secular Agent. He was released in 1850 and became the editor of “The Polynesian” and manager of the Government printing office, 1850-52. The business of EO Hall & Son, Limited started in 1852 at the corner of Fort and King streets.

The firm continued to deal in hardware, agricultural implements, dry goods, leather, paints and oils, silver-plated ware, wooden ware, tools of all kinds, kerosene oil, etc, until about the year 1878, when dry goods were dropped, except a few staple articles. (Alexander)

On May 7, 1891 several EO Hall corporate officers, under the direction of Jonathan Austin, filed with the Hawaiian government to form a partnership to produce and supply electricity as the Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO.) (HAER) Five months later – on October 13, 1891 – the co-partnership was dissolved and Hawaiian Electric was incorporated, with total assets of $17,000 and William W Hall as its first President. (HECO)

John Thomas Waterhouse “was born in Berkshire, England, in 1816, and went to school at Wood House Grove boarding school in 1825. The school was a Methodist preacher’s son’s school. I attended that until I was 13 years of age.” He became a businessman.

“I will tell you how the spirit of trade first came upon me. A man was allowed to come on the play ground once a week, Saturdays, to sell notions, etc. I used to invest my little money in sundries which I bought from this man, and sell them again to my playmates during the week at an advance, on credit.”

“Well, I had made a little money, and had heard of the United States, and concluded to cross the Atlantic to (the US.) I had become infatuated with reading the life of John Jacob Astor, and I started out from England, April, 1833, with a determination to become a John Jacob Astor”.

Later, “My father was appointed to a position at Australia and Polynesia and he went there with our entire family, ten brothers and sisters and my wife. I was in business in Hobert Town, Tasmania, for ten years, owning a large number of vessels, and I was a very active man in business there.”

“I had very poor health and was recommended to go to Honolulu, in the Sandwich Islands. Well, I went there in one of my own vessels and purchased the property where I now live. That was in 1851, and from San Francisco I travelled backward and forward a great deal and improved very much in health …”

“… and I wish to say right here that the Sandwich Islands are really as fine islands as you can find anywhere in any part of the Pacific, and are known as the ‘Paradise of the Pacific.’” (Hawaiian Gazette, September 24, 1889)

William Arnold Aldrich was born March 27, 1824 at Westmoreland, Cheshire County, New Hampshire. In 1853, Aldrich and Charles Reed Bishop were business partners in Aldrich & Bishop, Importers and Dealers in General Merchandise.

Their building was located on the ewa-mauka corner of Queen and Kaʻahumanu Streets. They primarily sold merchandise to be shipped to supply the California Gold Rush, as well as provisioning whaling vessels.

The general store partnership of Aldrich and Bishop terminated as the whaling industry declined and they later formed a banking institution, the kingdom’s largest financial institution (1858;) this later became First Hawaiian Bank.

William Lowthian Green “was born in Doughty street, London, September 13, 1819. He received his early education in Liverpool, which was completed at King William’s College in the Isle of Man. … He was by profession a merchant. His family for two generations had been engaged in commercial pursuits in the north of England.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, February 21, 1900)

He joined the rush to California to try his luck finding gold (some of his friends were fortunate, there – he wasn’t.) Green’s health failed after some time in the goldfields and in 1850 he determined to go to China. The ship called at Honolulu, and Green, unable to withstand the hardships of a sailor’s life, and having letters to prominent residents of Honolulu, presented his credentials. (Nellist)

“During the intervals of leisure in his several occupations as merchant, founder of the now prosperous iron works, sugar planter, Deputy British Commissioner, Senator and at times Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, his mind, we may be certain, was fixed upon the working out of the geological theory of the conformation of the earth’s crust.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, February 21, 1900)

Heinrich (Henry) Hackfeld arrived in Honolulu with his wife, Marie, her 16-year-old brother Johann Carl Pflueger and a nephew BF Ehlers on September 26, 1849. Having purchased an assorted cargo at Hamburg, Germany, Hackfeld opened a general merchandise business (dry goods, crockery, hardware and stationery,) wholesale, as well as retail store on Queen Street.

As business grew its shipping interest, manufacturing and jobbing lines developed a web of commercial relationships with Europe, England and the eastern seaboard. Hackfeld outfitted several whalers and engaged in the trans-shipment trade.

Hackfeld developed a business of importing machinery and supplies for the spreading sugar plantations and exported raw sugar. H Hackfeld & Co became a prominent factor – business agent and shipper – for the plantations. They also opened BF Ehlers dry goods store.

With the advent of the US involvement in World War I, things changed significantly for the worst for the folks at H Hackfeld & Co. In 1918, using the terms of the Trading with the Enemy Act and its amendments, the US government the companies and ordered the sale of German-owned shares. (Jung)

Shares in the companies were sold to American interests and the former H Hackfeld & Co took a patriotic sounding name, ‘American Factors, Ltd;’ BF Ehlers dry goods store also took a patriotic name, ‘Liberty House.’

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Old_photograph_of_the_Queen's_Hospital
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Filed Under: General, Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Buildings, Prominent People, Economy Tagged With: Samuel Chenery Damon, Samuel Northrup Castle, James Walker Austin, Edwin Oscar Hall, Charles Reed Bishop, William Arnold Aldrich, Kamehameha IV, William Lowthian Green, Queen Emma, Heinrich (Henry) Hackfeld, Queen's Hospital, John Thomas Waterhouse, Benjamin Franklin Snow

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