Hilo | Page 4 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

May 23, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Camp Sague

The Spanish-American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence.

Back then, Spain had interests in the Pacific, particularly in the Guam and Philippines. Although the main issue was Cuban independence, the ten-week war was fought in both the Caribbean and the Pacific.

At the time, there was no assigned garrison in the Islands until August 15, 1898, when the 1st New York Volunteer Infantry regiment and the 3rd Battalion, 2nd US Volunteer Engineers landed in Honolulu for garrison duty. They setup camp (‘Camp McKinley’) at Kapiʻolani Park.

Later (November 8, 1898,) approximately 200-soldiers of the 1st New York sailed from Honolulu to Hilo to inspect sites for a possible permanent military post. (Greguras) The troops landed at Waiākea in Hilo and stayed in a large warehouse for one night.

“The mariners under Christopher Columbus were no more anxious and certainly no happier to set foot on land in 1492 than were the New York Volunteer troops which left Honolulu last Tuesday morning on the Kinau, to feel the terra firma of Hilo under them this morning.”

“To say that the trip over was rough is putting it mild. In fact, judging from the number of men who cast their bread upon the (rough) waters, it could not have been worse. After leaving Diamond Head shoal the Kinau tossed, rolled and pitched so heavily that at times many of the men made frantic efforts to reach life preservers.”

“Miss Anna Rose, who was a passenger on board the steamer won the hearts of all the boys by her kindly interest and solicitation in their welfare. She cheered and comforted the sick, brought them little delicacies and in diverse other ways did she make herself the most popular person on board.”

“In appreciation of her service the band serenaded Miss Rose a number of times. She was also voted unanimously the queen of the First New York Volunteers.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, November 14, 1898)

A highlight of their visit was a hike to Kilauea volcano. “The march to the Volcano was begun at noon on Monday last. There was a heavy downfall of rain, but the boys kept up their spirits.”

“A halt for lunch was made eight miles from Hilo, and camp for the night was then made at Kilohana at 3:30 o’clock in the afternoon. Shelter for the night was found in Mr Lee’s barn and in the church.”

“The march next day was resumed, at 10 o’clock. A halt was made at Mountain View hotel, where Mr Hambly entertained the boys at lunch. All the way the boys were the recipients of hospitality and greetings. Mrs. Trowbridge served sandwiches as the troops marched passed her house.”

“Tuesday night was spent at Wailiʻili the home of Mr. Hitchcock. Eight miles beyond, the Volcano house was reached, and here hot lunch was served by Mr. Waldron, and a mile and a half beyond shelter tents were pitched and the men went into camp.”

“The Volcano house has been thrown open to the boys during their stay and the band has given several concerts. Friday morning the entire command went, to the Volcano.” (Hawaiian Star, November 21, 1898)

The camp which the soldiers established at the Volcano was named Major Sague Camp. (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, November 21, 1898) Sague of the 1st New York was in command of the detachment. The troops were in this camp for only three days, returning to Honolulu on December 5th.

A November 24, 1898 letter from a member of Company I of the 1st N.Y. indicates the camp was near the crater of the volcano, about two miles from the Volcano House “in a large (koa) grove with lots of dead wood on the ground.” (Stenzel)

Back in Hilo, “A very interesting affair was the raising of the flag at Riverside Park, formerly known as Reed’s Island, on Thursday. Mr. Pratt had arranged the matter almost extemporaneously, which made the whole occasion perhaps more enjoyable than if it had been a formal and long prearranged ceremony.”

“The commanding officers of this portion of the 1st New York Volunteers, kindly asented to give a military air to the flag raising by the presence of the troops and regimental band, while Queen Anna graciously consented to hoist the American emblem.”

“The troops marched up Waiānuenue street about 2:30, seized the ravine which bounds that side of Reed’s Island without opposition and scaled the opposite cliffs, preceeded by the Queen who proved her physical powers again. The flag was hoisted to the music of the ‘Star Spangled Banner’.”

“A large crowd of townspeople viewed the ceremonies from the Island and from the opposite banks. The day was one of the most perfect which even Hilo affords the occasion was one of great interest to the Hiloites.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, November 15, 1898)

Another important event was the Thanksgiving luau; “the New York soldiers at Hilo were given a big Thanksgiving luau by Mr and Mrs CC Kennedy at the big sugar plantation in Waiakea.”

“The tables were arranged in the big sugar room of the mill, which had been elaborately decorated with palms, flowers and flags. Instead of table cloths the food stuffs, prepared, cooked and served in Hawaiian style, were placed upon ti leaves, which literally covered the tables.”

“The services of all the young ladles in the city were engaged to wait on the soldiers, while to the married ladles fell the responsibility of arranging the tables for the feast.”

“At each plate – wooden – was a handsomely printed souvenir menu of what comprised the feast. The delicacies placed before the boys to eat, as printed on the menu, were: fish, from the Waiākea ponds; Taro; Pig, wrapped in ti leaves; Sweet Potatoes; Breadfruit; Beef, wrapped in ti leaves; Turkey, Kukui nuts, Rolls, Taro Pudding, Hawaiian Pudding, Mince Pie, Fruits, Soda Water, Lemonade, Coffee, Poi and Cigars.”

“When all had eaten until they could eat no more the tables were cleared away, the floor prepared for dancing and this was the order of the afternoon. For the dancing the military band furnished the music, while the music for the evening dance, in the same place, was furnished by the Wela Ka Hao orchestra.”

“Returning to camp the men were loud in their praises for Mr and Mrs Kennedy and all the good people who assisted In trying to make the Thanksgiving day feast a most pleasant event.” (Hawaiian Gazette, November 29, 1898)

In the end, Sague, in expressing his appreciation on behalf of all soldiers, noted, “Hilo is all right. When we were in San Francisco the boys had a continual round of feeding.”

“Let me say on behalf of this detachment of the First New York Volunteers that since passing out of the Golden Gate, Hilo is the only place where they have felt at home. It is the only place they have been where cordiality has been expressed by word and deed.”

“The boys will remember it and in the 600 to 800 letters which leave the camp and go to the relatives and friends in the Empire State the praises of Hilo and Hilo people will be sung. On behalf of the boys who are here let me thank you all for your generous treatment.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, November 21, 1898)

Following the war, Sague returned home to Poughkeepsie, NY and in 1906 was elected Mayor of the city, “whose administration has stimulated Poughkeepsie to the attitude of a wide awake American city.” (Vassar Miscellany, February 1, 1912)

On April 5, 1905, Major John K Sague Camp, United Spanish War Veterans, was organized in Poughkeepsie; Sague served as its first commander. (Poughkeepsie New Yorker, July 7, 1941) (Greguras)

May 17, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

“Hawaiʻi has a Federal Building – Hilo Got It.”

Postal services in Hilo commenced in 1858. However, when the Hawaiian Islands became a territory of the US in 1900, officials determined that both postal and court facilities should be expanded to better serve the citizens. (GSA)

Likewise, a need was expressed in governmental correspondence for new federal and Territorial offices. Successive early Territorial governors agreed that a new federal office building should be constructed in Hilo. (NPS)

“A block was set aside in Hilo for public building purposes. Governor Frear recommended that it be cut in two, one half for federal purposes and the other half for territorial purposes.”

“Congress accented this proposal on condition that the government sell all the building then on the properties and devote the proceeds to building roads around and through the property as divided.” (Hawaiian Gazette, November 12, 1912)

New York architect Henry Whitfield designed the new building in 1915. Whitfield, who was Andrew Carnegie’s brother-in-law, had just completed the design for the Honolulu Carnegie Library. Whitfield designed the building in the Mediterranean Renaissance Revival style, which blends traditional classical architecture with features more suited to a tropical climate. (GSA)

“…the contract for the erection of the Hilo federal building had been let to the Campbell Construction Company of Salt Lake City at its bid of $185,522”. (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, April 10, 1914)

“Twenty-five per cent of the Hilo federal building is completed. One-fourth of the structure is finished; three-fourths more has to be done before the structure can be handed over to the eager public.”

“This good news will probably cause a stir or surprise in Honolulu, where they are still fighting and squabbling over the site for their federal building.”

“Hilo knew what she wanted some years ago and she has what she wants right now in the shape of a rapidly growing, federal building.” (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, November 8, 1917)

“’There have been delays, sure, but we fully expect to have the Hilo federal building finished and ready for a house warming by November 1,’ declared Mr Campbell, who represents the mainland contractors who secured the big job a couple of years ago.”

“’I would suggest Thanksgiving Day as the one to celebrate on, and I hope the contractor will have something to be thankful about when the job is pau that is the right word, isn’t it for all through.’”

“The federal building job has been delayed from time to time by the usual red tape and pass-it-along stunts of the Washington authorities. … The first Intention was to have a house warming about Christmas time, but there is now no need to wait until then.” (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, May 17, 1916)

The building was one of the first in Hawaiʻi constructed using reinforced concrete, a technology that was common on the mainland. Construction was completed and the building occupied in 1917.

It originally functioned as a courthouse, post office and custom house. Other tenants included the Immigration Bureau, Agricultural Extension Service, Weather Bureau and Internal Revenue Service. (GSA)

The original portion of the building was a rectangular structure with a portico on the main (south) side and a projecting wing on the north side.

The original portion has a full basement, a raised first floor two stories in height which contained the post office, a second floor one story in height which contained the court functions, and a fourth-story clerestory with windows above the original courtroom. (NPS)

By the 1930s, tenants required more space and two wings were added to the building between 1936 and 1938. Louis A Simon, supervising architect of the US Treasury, designed the wings in a style compatible with that of the original building.

The three stories of the additions correspond to the first, mezzanine and third floors of the original building. The result was a U-shaped building with a deep front courtyard overlooked by open verandas on three sides.

The clerestory, or band of windows, admits light into the interior of the third story; there are five skylights on the building, including one on the penthouse roof, that also serve to illuminate the interior.

It still houses federal agencies, although the main US Post Office was moved to a new building near the local airport in 1978, leaving a branch operation in its place. The Third Circuit Court vacated its courtroom and ancillary facilities on the third floor in 1979.

On Memorial Day in 1922, the American Legion planted 17 royal palms along Kekaulike Street to commemorate Hawaiian citizens who died in World War I. (GSA)

Federal Building, US Post Office Hilo

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Federal Building, US Post Office and Courthouse, Hilo

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Federal Building, US Post Office-Mason

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March 21, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kaipalaoa

Ka niu peʻahi kanaka o Kaipalaoa.
The man-beckoning coco palms of Kaipalaoa.

(The swaying palms that once grew at Kaipalaoa, Hilo, seemed to wave an invitation. ʻŌlelo Noʻeau #1502)

Hilo is likely to have been one of the first Polynesian settlement areas on Hawai‘i Island; oral history and local legend indicate that Polynesians first settled Hilo Harbor around 1100 AD.

Early accounts of Hilo Bay describe a long black sand beach stretching along present day Bay Front from the Wailuku River to the Wailoa River.

Many heiau (temples) attested to the prosperity of Hilo. Kaipalaoa (Sea Whale) Heiau sat on the southern banks. The village at Kaipalaoa was a major trade center, where people from the northern districts met the people of the southern portions of Hilo and Puna.

Kamehameha was familiar with the Hilo district from his youth. Kaipalaoa, across the Wailuku River from Pu`u`eo was a favorite surfing area, and at least eight excellent breaks could be found from Pu‘u‘eo to Waiākea. (Yuen)

Kamehameha I began a war of conquest, winning his first major skirmish in the battle of Mokuʻōhai (a fight between Kamehameha and Kiwalaʻo in July, 1782 at Keʻei, south of Kealakekua Bay on the Island of Hawaiʻi.) Kiwalaʻo was killed.

Captain George Vancouver, an early European explorer who met with Kamehameha at Hilo Bay in 1794, recorded that Kamehameha was there preparing for his invasion of the neighbor islands, and that Hilo was an important center because his canoes were being built there.

Desha wrote that “It is thought that there were as many as seven mano [twenty eight thousand] people who gathered at the shore at Kaipalaoa when the ali‘i landed”. The people of Hilo had long prepared for Kamehameha’s arrival and collected a large number of hogs and a variety of plant foods, to feed the ruler and his warriors.

Kelly surmised that the people of Hilo had actually prepared for a year prior to Kamehameha’s visit and expanded their fields into the open lands behind Hilo to accommodate the increased number of people that would be present.

Kelly also speculated that many of the fishponds in Waiākea were created to feed Kamehameha, his chiefs, and craftsmen. The area at Hilo Bay that housed Kamehameha’s canoe fleets continues to be the site of canoeing, both recreational and competitive. (Rechtman)

By 1795, having fought his last major battle at Nuʻuanu on O‘ahu with his superior use of modern weapons and western advisors, he subdued all other chiefdoms (with the exception of Kauai).

However, after a short time, another chief entered into a power dispute with Kamehameha; his name was Nāmakehā (the brother of Kaʻiana, a chief of Kauai who had been killed in the Battle of Nuʻuanu.)

Previously, Kamehameha asked Nāmakehā (who lived in Kaʻū, Hawai‘i) for help in fighting Kalanikūpule and his Maui forces on O‘ahu, but Nāmakehā ignored the request.

Kamehameha, on Oʻahu at the time, returned to his home island of Hawaiʻi with the bulk of his army to suppress the rebellion. The battle took place at Kaipalaoa, Hilo. Kamehameha defeated Nāmakehā.

This was the final battle fought by Kamehameha to unite the archipelago. (Kamehameha negotiated a settlement with King Kaumualiʻi for the control of Kauai and Niʻihau, in 1810.)

Although Kamehameha’s warriors had won the battle over Nāmakehā, they then turned their rage upon the villages and families of the vanquished. It was about the same time and place of the Nāmakehā Rebellion that Kamehameha decreed Ke Kānāwai Māmalahoe (The Law of the Splintered Paddle.)

When Liholiho was born at Hilo in November 1797, he was immediately taken from his mother and given to the guardianship of Kaahumanu. (Sinclair) The first-born child of Keōpūolani and Kamehameha, his piko was ceremonially cut at Kaipalaoa, at the heiau of the same name. (Correa)

Stokes included descriptions of Kaipalaoa heiau as: “Probably located just west of Isabelle Point. The native name of this point is Kaipalaoa”. (Scheffel)

Kaipalaoa Point is now known as Cocoanut Point. “The native name of [Isabelle Point] is Kaipalaoa.” (Stokes) Isabel and Kaipalaoa points are separated by only about three hundred feet. (Hawaiian Place Names)

“The site of Kai-palaoa Heiau was on the land of Kai-palaoa, and lay just seaward, and a little toward Wai-anuenue St, from the site of the Hilo Armory at the upper end of the short street from the shore to Ke-awe St, and on the side toward the river a little below the bridge to Pu-u-eo, near the Library.”

“The Armory site was formerly occupied by the royal residence of King Ka-mehameha I, which was named Ka-hale-‘ilio-‘ole – The House Without Rats (or, commoners).” (Kekahuna)

Kaipalaoa heiau is “Near armory site, Hilo; of pookanaka class; the heiau at which Umi’s life was threatened, and the place where Kamehameha is said to have proclaimed his Māmalahoe law (Law of the Splintered Paddle). Destroyed in the time of Kuakini’s governorship of Hawaii.” (Hawaiian Place Names)

Between 1863 and 1890 a landing wharf and US Coast Guard lighthouse were built at the foot of Waiānuenue Avenue. Passengers and freight were transported to steamers anchored in the bay. (HHF & Cultural Surveys)

By 1870, three heiau in Hilo – Kaipalaoa, Kanowa/Kanoa, and Honokawailani – were described as already being “ruins”. Lydgate describes the Hilo bay front area as it looked in 1873:

“The sea at that time came right up to the bank edge of Front street, so that in heavy weather the spray blew more or less up into the street. Along Front street tall coconut trees of great age towered up over the street.”

“From the foot of Church street extending along the beach it was open country, with the exception of one Hawaiian home, one canoe-builder’s workshop – or halau, as it is called by the Hawaiians – and a tumbled down little blacksmith shop some distance farther on.” (Hawaii County)

December 8, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Building Breakwaters

In 1899, Herbert, William, Jack and Edgar Young were at Catalina Island; the year before they started taking fishing parties out daily and conducting excursions to the coral gardens.

Then the Hawaiian Islands attracted their attention, and, as William put it, they “went with high hopes and the spirit of a pioneer toward strange lands and all the beauty of sky and sea in the blue Pacific.” (Herb and William were headed to Hawai‘i.) “On January 9, 1900, we sailed out of Golden Gate toward the Great adventure …”

“For years we had heard tales of Hawaii; now at last we were to see it for ourselves. Every passing hour, every wave curling under our bows brought us so much nearer, and the eyes of youth, straining ahead of the ship, seemed almost to glimpse a palm-fringed shore where life was gay and living carefree.”

“At last, on January 19, after a fine voyage, we sighted Honolulu. The green shores. the white beach and coral formations, the boats of the Kanakas, the town rising at the harbor edge to be lost in the verdure of the tropical plants …”

“… the great forest of masts and spars in the harbor, the clear water and brilliant coloring of everything within eyeshot made a picture that the years could not dim. Here at last was the land of my dreams, the real El Dorado, the place which one may leave, but to which he will always return, the enchanting isles where there is no good-bye, but only Aloha.”

“We dropped anchor at quarantine and stood on deck, silently, in wonder at the natural beauty of the island. Would our dreams come true here?”

Most associate Young Brothers as an inter-island barge company. But, in their early years in the Islands, Young Brothers did a lot of things. Young Brothers was given a contract to help with the original dredging of Pearl Harbor. They engaged to tow mud scows out to sea and dump them.

They also got involved in the construction of a couple substantial breakwaters that continue to protect some significant bays.

In the late 19th century, the growing sugar industry in East Hawai’i demanded a better and more protected port, and a breakwater was constructed on Blonde Reef in Hilo Bay to shield ships from rough waters as they entered Hilo Harbor.

In 1911, Young Brothers contracted with the Lord Young Construction Co. to tow barges to build the breakwater at Hilo harbor on the Big Island.

They bought the tug Mikiala and went to work towing barges of huge rocks from the Hamakua coast and dumping them to build the long breakwater which protects the harbor today. Building it took many long months.

Jack Young was in charge of the work at Hilo and spent the better part of a year skippering the Brothers (the name of their tug) as it towed a scow loaded with rock to be dumped on the breakwater extension.

Dangerous conditions that developed during the Hilo breakwater construction were somewhat inevitable, given the unpredictable ocean swells and enormous load carried by the rock scow.

A news article appearing in the Pacific Commercial Advertiser on December 25, 1911, provides some insights into the job of building the breakwater as the Young Brothers’ crew experienced it:

“The sea had been rough for several days, and finally made it impossible to work. On Monday, the … scow was taken out in tow of the Hukihuki, having on board about 125 tons of rock, which it was to dump on the bottom ….”

“Here the substructure, which has been laid by Lord & Young, forms a kind of artificial reef over which the waves break in stormy weather. On the day in question, the breakers were thundering in at a great rate, and great combers were continually sweeping the deck of the scow.”

“Nevertheless, the Hukihuki bucked through the swirling water, and she had just brought the scow over the substructure, though not in the exact place where the load was to be dumped, when trouble began.”

“The heavy scow was let down, in the trough between two big waves, to such a depth that one of her edges struck the rock of the substructure with such a force that the timbers were splintered and broken, and the water began to pour in through the leak.”

“All thought of depositing the load had to be abandoned, and the Hukihuki maneuvered the disabled craft out of the breakers. The scow was sinking so rapidly that it was impossible to save the load, and good Kapoho rock was jettisoned.”

“By good seamanship the scow was towed to safety, where she is being repaired.”

Contrary to urban legend, the Hilo breakwater was built to dissipate general wave energy and reduce wave action in the protected bay, providing calm water within the bay and protection for mooring and operating in the bay; it was not built as a tsunami protection barrier for Hilo.

It was while they were engaged in building the Hilo breakwater that Captain Jack Young met and fell in love with Alloe Louise Marr. She had come to Hilo from Oakland, California, in 1909 with her father, Joseph Thomas Marr, to visit his cousin, Jack Guard.

John Alexander (Jack) Young and Alloe Louise Marr were married in a double wedding ceremony with her cousin, Stephanie Guard and John Fraser on September 20, 1911 at Hilo. They returned to Honolulu to live. The couples remained friends and co-workers in shipping.

In 1922, Young Bros. Ltd. contracted the towing to build the breakwater at Nawiliwili harbor hauling by barge the 6-ton rocks from the quarry on the coast of Maui to build the base of the breakwater.

The waterfront community was shocked when Captain Jack Young died of a heart attack at his home on October 23, 1946. Alloe Louise Young was afflicted with a brain tumor in 1945 and died October 9, 1947 at her home on McKinley Street.

I am the youngest brother of the youngest brother of the youngest brother of Young Brothers. Jack and Alloe Young are my grandparents.

We never met them, and they never knew they had grandchildren from their son Kenny; they both had died before they knew my mother was pregnant with my older brother. (Lots of information here is from Young Brothers: 100 Years of Service and a Young family background and genealogy.)

October 30, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Moʻoheau Bandstand

It had a rough start.

The name “Moʻoheau,” which the legislature directed by concurrent resolution without consulting the people of Hilo or their representative in the Legislature, gave rise to a great deal of dissatisfaction.

Hilo papers put ballots in their papers and readers were encouraged to cut them out, note their preference and take them to the Board of Trade. (Hawaiian Star, May 7, 1904)

The namesake for the park, Chief Kaʻaiawa I Moʻoheau, is a relative of Admiral George Charles Moʻoheau Kauluheimalama Beckley. (Hawaiian Star, May 7, 1904; Boy Scouts)

Beckley was grandson of George C Beckley (one of “Kamehameha’s Haoles” and first commander of Fort Kekuanohu.) Like his grandfather, “for forty years he followed the sea” and later was decorated with the Order of the Crown of Hawaiʻi and the Star of Oceania by King Kalākaua.

Beckley also received the honorary title of “The Admiral of Honolulu Harbor” from the Association of Masters, Mates & Pilots No. 54″, of which he was a member.

Among other park names suggested were “Ocean Park,” “Seaside Park,” “Hilo Park,” “Recreation Park,” “Lihi-kai (seaside) Park,” “Ponahawai Park,” “Piopio Park” and “Liholiho.” (Hawaiian Star, May 7, 1904)

In defense of the park name, Beckley noted, “I will build in Moʻoheau park at my own expense a pavilion for the band. I claim I have an interest in Hilo second to none. I leave it to the public.”

Moʻoheau Park and Bandstand were dedicated in January 2, 1905. “The arrangements for the opening of the Mooheau Park are practically complete. … It is not expected that the park can be laid out by a landscape gardener before the opening exercises.” (Hawaiian Star, December 12, 1904)

“The trustees of the parks and public grounds of Hilo have intimated a desire to have each citizen plant a tree or shrub in the park grounds at noon, and this, too, may be a part of the program. Visitors will be requested to bring their own garden tools and trees.” (Hawaiian Star, December 12, 1904)

“The dedication of Moʻoheau hall presented to Hilo by Admiral George Beckley, was an imposing and very enjoyable affair. The pavilion was luxuriously decorated with the American and Hawaiian flags and streamers of all national colors. Forests of fern and palm adorned the Interior.” (Evening Bulletin, January 3, 1905)

A frequent user of the bandstand was the Hilo Band (later known as Hawaiʻi County Band;) Moʻoheau Park Bandstand has been the band’s performing home ever since its completion. (Wong)

The band started as a family band in 1883 by brothers, Joaquin and Jules Carvalho, immigrants from the Azores Islands, who made their living as barbers in Hilo. On concert days, they closed up the shop; Joaquin would take the baton to lead the band while Jules played the cornet. After the concert, they would re-open the barbershop and go back to cutting hair. (Wong)

In 1911, “(t)he bandstand at Moʻoheau Park has been converted into a schoolroom by the county fathers, on account of the fact that the accommodations at the Riverside School are inadequate and the County has no funds at present with which to build an addition.” (Hawaiian Star, February 27, 1911)

“This class formerly occupied the basement of the Riverside building and it was so damp in the present weather that it was thought best to make the change.” (Hawaiian Star, February 27, 1911)

A little later, the Waiolama Reclamation Project included the draining and filling of approximately 40-acres in the area between the Hilo Railway tract, Wailoa River, and Baker and Front Streets. It included diversion of the Alenaio Stream. (1914-1919)

Moʻoheau Bandstand also has an ongoing modern history.

When the Republican Party was in control of Hawai‘i from 1900 to 1954, the GOP fielded candidates of Hawaiian, Chinese, Japanese and Chinese Hawaiian ancestries, particularly in racially-mixed neighborhoods. (Chou)

The goal of ethnic balance in political slates received major impetus in the Democratic Party, especially in the case of American Japanese veterans of World War II who joined under John A Burns’ leadership. (Chou)

According to Democratic Party lore, in 1954, Hawaii Republicans attempted to foil the growing Democratic Party by reserving all the large public spaces for election-eve rallies. (star-bulletin)

Reportedly, every election since 1954, Hawaiʻi’s Democrats come to Hilo and the bandstand at Moʻoheau Park for the rally to end their primary campaign. (1954 was the year they took over the Territorial Legislature from the Republicans.)