Honolulu Harbor | Page 8 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

February 28, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Fort Kekuanohu

Russians arrived in Hawaii in 1804 on ships associated with the Russian-American Fur Trading Company stationed at what is now Sitka, Alaska, to obtain fruit, vegetables and meat.

During this timeframe, Hawai‘i served as an important provisioning site for traders, whalers and others crossing the Pacific.

On O‘ahu, in 1815, Kamehameha I granted Russian representatives permission to build a storehouse near Honolulu Harbor.

But, instead, directed by the German adventurer Georg Schaffer (1779-1836,) they began building a fort and raised the Russian flag.

They built their blockhouse near the harbor, against the ancient heiau of Pākākā and close to the King’s complex. There are reports that the Russians used stones from Pākākā in building their facility.

As a side note, Pākākā was the site of Kauai’s King Kaumuali‘i’s negotiations relinquishing power to Kamehameha I, instead of going to war, and pledged allegiance to Kamehameha, a few years earlier in 1810.

When Kamehameha discovered the Russians were building a fort (rather than storehouses) and had raised the Russian flag, he sent several chiefs, along with John Young (his advisor,) to remove the Russians from Oʻahu by force, if necessary.

The Russian personnel judiciously chose to sail for Kauai instead of risking bloodshed. On Kauai, there they were given land by Kauai’s King Kaumuali‘i; the Russian Fort Elizabeth was built soon after on Kaua‘i.

The partially built blockhouse at Honolulu was finished by Hawaiians under the direction of John Young and mounted guns protected the fort.

Its original purpose was to protect Honolulu by keeping enemy or otherwise undesirable ships out. But, it was also used to keep things in (it also served as a prison.)

By 1830, the fort had 40 guns mounted on the parapets all of various calibers (6, 8, 12 and probably a few 32 pounders.) Fort Kekuanohu literally means ‘the back of the scorpion fish,’ as in ‘thorny back,’ because of the rising guns on the walls. In 1838 there were 52 guns reported.

The fort protected Honolulu Harbor and also housed a number of administrative functions, including many years of service as Honolulu’s police headquarters. The first courts of the islands were held here until a new courthouse was built in 1853, adjacent to the fort.

Barracks, Officers’ quarters, the Governor’s House, prison cells, a guardhouse and several powder magazines were inside the 340-by-300-foot long, 12-foot high and 20-foot thick walls. The main entrance faced mauka, up Fort Street.

The fort’s massive 12-foot walls were torn apart and the fort dismantled in 1857 and used to fill the harbor to accommodate an expanding downtown.

Fort Street is one of the oldest streets in Honolulu and is named after this fort. Today, the site of the old fort is the open space called Walker Park, a small park at the corner of Queen and Fort streets (also fronting Ala Moana/Nimitz.)

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No._1._View_of_Honolulu._From_the_harbor._Burgess-(c._1854)

Louis_Choris_-_'Vue_du_port_hanarourou'-Port_of_Honolulu-1816

Honolulu_Fort_by_George_Henry_Burgess,_c._1857

Fort of Honolulu-John_Colburn-visited Honolulu twice during the voyage-July 8-23, 1837 and May 31-June 10, 1839

Interior_of_the_Fort,_Honolulu_Harbor-1830s-1840s

Honolulu_Fort_(PP-36-5-001)-1837

Honolulu Waterfront-Fort-Prison-Judiciary

Dr. Thomas T. Waterman inspecting old cannon from the old Fort, Honolulu.-PP-37-4-008

Canon from Honolulu Fort (Kekuanohu) (1816) which was demolished 1857.

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February 15, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Honolulu, 1810

This reconstructed map (from Bishop Museum Press,) reportedly a reasonably accurate depiction of Honolulu in 1810, is based on three documents:

John Papa ʻĪʻī recorded the location of trails and various sites in Honolulu between 1810 and 1812 in his “Fragments of Hawaiian History;” a sketch map made by lieutenant Charles Malden of HBMS Blonde in 1825; and a government road map of 1870.

The map notes locations of uses in 1810 with subsequent road alignments as of 1870 – the present day street alignments are generally similar to the 1870 road alignments.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. For me, maps and pictures capture moments in time and, in doing so, tell us stories. I love maps, especially old ones, because of the stories they tell.

This map tells lots of stories. Here are highlights on some.

The first thing that jumps out at you is the timeframe and location of the map – 1810 in Honolulu.

As you will recall, 1810 marks the ultimate unification of the Hawaiian Islands.

It was here, in 1810, at Pākākā (the point jutting into the harbor,) where negotiations between King Kaumuali‘i of Kaua‘i and Kamehameha I took place – Kaumuali‘i ceded Kauaʻi and Ni‘ihau to Kamehameha and the Hawaiian Islands were unified under a single leader.

This time and place marks the beginning of the unified islands. This location continues to be the center of commerce, government, finance, etc in the State.

A bit more history: Kamehameha I, who had been living at Waikiki since 1804, moved his Royal Center there in 1809. His immediate court consisted of high-ranking chiefs and their retainers.

Those who contributed to the welfare and enjoyment of court members also lived here, from fishermen and warriors to foreigners and chiefs of lesser rank. (Kamehameha’s home and surrounding support uses are noted with his name (adjoining Pākākā.))

In those days, this area was not called Honolulu. Instead, each land section had its own name (as noted on the map.)

There are reports that the old name for Honolulu was said to be Kou, a district roughly encompassing the present day area from Nuʻuanu to Alakea Streets and from Hotel to Queen Streets, which is the heart of the present downtown district.

Honolulu Harbor, also known as Kuloloia, was entered by the first foreigner, Captain William Brown of the English ship Butterworth, in 1794. He named the harbor “Fair Haven.”

The name Honolulu (meaning “sheltered bay” – with numerous variations in spelling) soon came into use.

As you can tell by the overlaying 1870 road map, it is obvious that following this timeframe, the fringe reefs noted on the map were filled in and land added to the water front. (In 1810, the waterfront was along the present Queen Street.)

Between 1857 and 1870 a combination of fill and dredging formed the “Esplanade” (not labeled on this map (because it’s over the reef) between Fort and Merchant Streets, creating the area where Aloha Tower is now located.)

In 1907, the reefs fronting the Kakaʻako area (on the right of the map) were filled in to make Fort Armstrong.

Fort Street, one of the oldest streets in Honolulu, was not named for Fort Armstrong; it was named after Fort Kekuanohu (aka Fort Honolulu,) constructed in 1816 by Kamehameha.

Today, the site of the fort is generally at the open space now called Walker Park, a small park at the corner of Queen and Fort streets (there is a canon from the old fort there) – (Ewa side of the former Amfac Center, now the Topa Financial Plaza, with the fountain.)

The left section of the map (where Nuʻuanu Stream empties into the harbor) identifies the area known as Kapuukolo; this is “where white men and such dwelt.”

Of the approximate sixty foreign residents on O‘ahu at the time, nearly all lived in the village, and many were in the service of the king.

Among those who lived here were Don Francisco de Paula Marin, the Spaniard who greatly expanded horticulture in Hawaiʻi, and Isaac Davis (Welsh,) friend and co-advisor with (John Young (British)) to Kamehameha. (The Marin and Davis homesites are noted on the map.)

The large yam field (what is now much of the core of downtown Honolulu) was planted to provide visiting ships with an easily-stored food supply for their voyages (supplying ships with food and water was a growing part of the Islands’ economy.)

This map, and the stories it tells, gives us a glimpse into Hawai‘i’s past.

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Downtown_Honolulu-sites-uses_noted-1870_roads_in_red-Map-1810

January 2, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Marine Railway

“In September the Government granted to A. G. Benson, of New York, a contract to build a Marine Railway at Honolulu, to cost from $75,000 to $100,000, to take up ships of 800 tons burthen, in ballast. The monopoly was to continue for twenty years.”

“The site of the proposed railway, which was given by government to Benson, was at the foot of Maunakea street, now the fish market. But nothing was ever done, beyond signing the contract, it was understood for the want of funds”. (Saturday Press, April 22, 1882; Maly)

“Of the industries of Honolulu the operation of the Marine Railway is one of the most important in a variety of ways. It gives employment to much skilled labor, thus helping to keep a good class of people in the city. By a large consumption of shipbuilding material, the railway adds much directly to local trade”

“Its existence is a powerful inducement for shipping in these seas to call at this port for needed repairs; also for vessels trading between this and foreign ports to have works of renovation done here that, without such a convenience, they would require to go to San Francisco or elsewhere to have accomplished.”

“When it is considered that vessels while waiting for repairs are the means of circulating money from outside sources, in addition to the expenditure of the railway workmen’s wages in the shops, the importance of the work, in that respect alone, to the city needs no magnifying.”

“As a convenience for inter-island shipping, which was one of the main objects held in view by the projectors of the enterprise, the railway has been a boon of incalculable value. It would be needless to go into particulars to prove this manifest advantage of having such a work established in the chief port of the kingdom.”

“The Honolulu Marine Railway is a monument to the statesmanlike forethought, public spirit and enterprise of the Hon. Samuel G. Wilder.”

“In the year 1880 the Government of this kingdom, of which Mr. Wilder was Premier and Minister of the Interior, advertised in England, America, France and Sweden, for estimates from engineers for either a dry dock or marine railway at Honolulu.”

“Of all the responses received the estimates of Mr. Horace I. Crandall, forwarded through the Hawaiian Consulate of Boston, were accepted. In April, 1881, Mr. Crandall arrived here to make the necessary surveys.”

“After an examination of the harbor and its bottom he reported to the authorities that a stationary dry dock was impracticable, on account of the coral formation, that would form its floor, being so porous that it would be impossible to keep it dry, even at an enormous expense for pumping.”

“A floating dry dock was also out of the question on account of the circumscribed limits of the harbor. A marine railway was therefore decided upon by the Government, and Messrs. Wilder & Co. contracted to build it, the head of the firm having in the meantime retired from His Majesty’s Cabinet.”

“Of course, Mr. Crandall was selected as engineer, and in view of his record, particularly as a submarine engineer, it would indeed have been difficult to have found a better man.”

“In the year 1854, while living at New Bedford, Massachusetts, he invented an improved style of marine railway, since known as ‘Crandall’s Patent Marine Hallway.’”

“Up to the time he became known here, Mr. Crandall had built no less than twenty-three of these railways on the coasts of North and South America, from North Sydney in Nova Scotia to Buenos Ayres, Argentine Republic.”

“In addition to these works, he had built an important bridge on one of the Pacific Railway lines, and was for a time proprietary manager of a coal mine in Cape Breton, N. S.”

“He was also the author of many mechanical inventions of great utility, and is a relative of Mr. James Crandall, of the United States, the inventor of the famous and ingenious ‘Crandall’s Toys.’”

“The work of construction was begun on the railway on February 11th, 1882. A large amount of material for filling up the ground on the site being required, it was necessary to build a land railway from the spot to the base of Punchbowl.”

“This work was accomplished under the mechanical superintendence of Mr. James Lyle, who had been employed as foreman of the works.”

“He had been Mr. Crandall’s foreman, many years previous, in the construction of the Buenos Ayres marine railway, and also in later works of the same kind at other places.”

“Mr. Crandall came out in the same season from Canada, with a brigade consisting of two skillful divers, thirteen shipwrights accustomed to marine railway work, and one mechanical engineer. So expeditiously was the work forwarded that on the first day of January, 1881, the railway was ready for business.”

“The engines for the railway were made at Geo. Forester & Co.’s works. Liverpool, England, and all the wrought iron work, chains, etc., were made by Henry Wood & Co., Liverpool. Oregon forests provided the wood, the native woods being too heavy, as well as difficult to get and work.”

“The railway has a capacity for vessels of fifteen hundred tons with ballast. It cost in the neighborhood of one hundred thousand dollars to build.”

“Upon the completion of the railway it was leased for fifteen years from the Government by the Hon. Mr. Wilder. lie operated it successfully until Feb. of the present year, when, with the permission of the Government, he made a transfer of the lease to Messrs. Sorenson & Lyle, the latter having been superintendent of the works from the start.”

“Mr. Sorenson is the veteran master shipwright of this port, having been engaged in that business here for about 27 years. Many a gallant craft has he ‘hove down,’ when that was the only method in vogue here, and transformed from the condition or a more or less battered and fouled hulk to her original seaworthiness.”

“Mr. Lyle, his partner, has spent his whole life in shipyards and on dry-docks and marine railways. His father was a leading ship-builder in Nova Scotia, a country second to none for the class of wooden ships it sends forth, whoso sails speck every sea with whiteness.”

“Shipbuilding is therefore second nature to both members of the firm now operating the Honolulu Marine Railway.”

“Ample stocks of material are always at hand, and shipowners and masters sending vessels away from here for rehabilitation cannot possibly fare any better in obtaining the required services elsewhere.”

“Every facility is here provided for ship and boat building and repairing. As no slight guarantee to the safety of the works and the assurance of prompt service thereupon, the fact may be stated that from the beginning of operations to the present time there has been no mishap of any kind on the railway.”

“A thorough ship’s blacksmith, in the person of Mr. Hugh Munro, is employed at the works constantly, and his execution of any kind of ship’s forging cannot be excelled in workmanship. Then the Honolulu Iron Works can always, in an emergency, provide any ordinary metallic fittings of a ship, so that on the whole this port is exceedingly well equipped for repairing ships.”

A ‘Marine Railway’ “is an inclined railway, descending from a repairing shipyard into deep water. A heavy platform with high frames at the sides, called the cradle, slides upon series of rollers running in grooves in ironclad timber rails.”

“A system of chains connected with powerful steam winches is employed to let the cradle down into deep water and haul it up again. When the cradle is run out into a sufficient depth, the vessel to be hauled up is floated between the arms of the cradle.”

“Then a system of movable blocks, worked by cranks from the tops of the cradle frames, grasps the hull of the vessel, and the cradle and its burthen are drawn up high and dry.” (Daily Bulletin, August 14, 1885)

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Lyle and Sorenson’s ‘Marine Railway’-north_end_of_Kakaako-1885

Marine Railway-Bertram

December 9, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Robinson Wharf

“The oldest firm in Honolulu, that of James Robinson & Co … was commenced in 1822, and the shipyard located on the point (Pākākā) in 1827, where by patient industry, close application to the business, and prudent management of their affairs”.

“The commencement of this firm was through a common friendship and common misfortune—the result of one of those accidents which give a turn to human life, and wholly divert it from its former course. In 1821, Mr. Robinson and Mr. Lawrence, both young men, left England to seek their fortunes in the distant and then imperfectly known Pacific Ocean.”

“They sailed in the Hermes, reaching Honolulu in the spring of 1822. The Japan whaling-ground having been just brought into notice, the Hermes, together with the British ship Pearl, started the same day from this port to cruise there.”

“Twenty days out, on the same night, both vessels ran upon an unknown reef and were totally lost. More than sixty persons were thus thrown upon a desolate, barren lagoon island, in an unfrequented part of the ocean, with no prospect of succor except through their own management and skill.”

“Mr. Robinson commenced to build a schooner from the wreck of the ships, in which, with eleven others, he subsequently reached these islands in October, 1822. Before the completion of the schooner, an English whaler made the reef, and took away all the men except Mr. Robinson’s party of six, and six sailors, who would neither go away nor work for their own deliverance.”

“Four months were spent upon the reef – now known as the Pearl and Hermes Reef – and the schooner, short of water and provisions, started for Honolulu.”

“A long passage of ten weeks, with no other nautical instrument than an old quadrant and a pinchbeck watch to determine their position, brought them in sight of Hawaii with scarcely any provisions left, and only three gallons of fresh water on board.”

“Mr. Robinson and Mr. Lawrence, thus thrown upon this Island as waifs from the sea – their original plans entirely broken up, had really, by their indomitable energy and thrift, made the wreck on the Pearl and Hermes Reef the foundation of their subsequent business and financial success.”

“Their schooner was sold here for two thousand dollars, and Mr. Robinson found immediate engagement to put up others, imported about that time from the East.”

“They found that a shipyard was already a necessity of the port, and they entered upon the business. In 1827 they obtained from Kalaimoku, Pākākā – the Point – then nothing more than a coral reef, on which they established their shipyard and built the first wharves able to take alongside coasters and ships.” (Hawaiian Gazette, September 16, 1868)

“(A)t that time (they were) the only ship builders and repairers on the islands and in fact in the Pacific.” (Gilman; Cultural Surveys)

In 1840, the Polynesian commended the partners and their shipyard: “Honest, industrious, economical, temperate, and intelligent, they are living illustrations of what these virtues can secure to men. …”

“Their yard is situated in the most convenient part of the harbor has a stone butment and where two vessels of six hundred tons burthen can be berthed, hove out, and undergo repairs at one and the same time. There is fourteen feet of water along side of the butment.”

“The proprietors generally keep on hand all kinds of material for repairing vessels. Also those things requisite for heaving out, such as blocks, falls, etc. On the establishment are fourteen excellent workmen, among whom are Ship Carpenters, Caulkers and Gravers, Ship Joiners, Block-makers, Spar-makers, Boatbuilders, etc.”

In mid-September 1830, Joseph Elliott moved to The Point to open a hotel with Robinson. Lawrence and Holt, Robinson’s partners, appear to have specialized in the hotel and liquor business, which also featured a boarding house. The Shipyard Hotel had the advantage of being a “first chance – last chance” operation.

Years rolled on, and the firm of James Robinson & Co. (including Robert Lawrence and Mr. Holt) was a significant success and carried on a business that employed a large number of ship-carpenters and caulkers. More whaling ships were repaired at their establishment than at any other in the Pacific.

“In April 1847, James Robinson & Co. opened a butcher shop on the new wharf opposite the custom house. In September, W. H. Tibbey, butcher, began to operate in a shop on the government wharf.”

“In February 1848, the Sandwich Islands News complained of a ‘filth hole’ near the meat market on the wharf. Pedestrians waded knee-deep through the mire while their noses absorbed the terrible smell.” (Greer)

“(I)n December 1850 new sanitary regulations upped the pressure. Notices in Hawaiian and English went to all butchers and were posted in town; they strictly prohibited cow slaughtering at any place within the city limits, on any highway leading thereto, and on the banks of or over any stream used for drinking.” (Greer)

“Through the long period of forty-six years this firm has identified itself with the business interests of the Islands, and its name and financial resources have become familiarized to all our residents.”

“The partnership that existed was not one founded on legal forms or written conditions. It was commenced and has been carried on these long years through the simple force of individual character and confidence in personal integrity.”

“That either member of the firm insisted upon a business transaction or as investment contrary to the opinion of the others, was an unknown fact.”

“The firm has always been a unit in its plans and transactions, keeping their affairs to themselves and continuing steadily prosperous.” (Hawaiian Gazette, September 16, 1868)

This partnership lasted until 1868, when Mr. Lawrence died. For many years their building was one of the sights of the town, being decorated with the figurehead from an old vessel.

Robinson became so wealthy; reportedly, he lent substantial funds to the Hawaiian government during the 1850s and maintained a close relationship with the kingdom’s leaders until his death in 1876.

Hawaiians called him Kimo (James) Pākākā as Honolulu Harbor grew up around his shipyard. In 1843, James Robinson married Rebecca Prever; they had eight children: Mark, Mary, Victoria, Bathsheba, Matilda, Annie, Lucy and John.

Mr. Robinson died at his residence in Nuʻuanu valley August 8, 1876. However, his legacy lived on through his children.

His descendants became a well-known island family and his fortune founded the Robinson Estate. His son, Mark, was a member of Queen Liliʻuokalani’s cabinet (Minister of Foreign Affairs) during the chaotic last months of the monarchy as factional battles separated the royal government. He was a founder of First National Bank of Hawai’i and First American Savings.

His daughter Lucy married a McWayne (apparently, Robinson’s ship facility eventually became McWayne Marine Supply at Kewalo Basin – some old-timers may remember that later name.)

Daughter Victoria married a Ward. Their residence was known as Old Plantation, and included the current site of the Neil F. Blaisdell Center. Her estate, Victoria Ward Ltd, had other significant holdings in Kakaʻako.

Daughter Mary married a Foster. Her husband Thomas Foster was an initial organizer of the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company. That company founded a subsidiary, Inter-Island Airways, that later changed its name to Hawaiian Airlines.

Foster had also purchased the estate of the renowned botanist William Hillebrand, which was bequeathed to the city as Foster Botanical Garden at the death of his wife Mary.

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November 14, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Endicott – Taft

William Endicott was born in Salem, Massachusetts, in November 1826, to a prominent family with deep colonial roots. He studied at Harvard College, graduating from Harvard Law School in 1850. He then established his own law practice.

When Massachusetts expanded its supreme court, Endicott was named to one of the new seats in 1873; he served on the high court for nine years. Endicott resigned in 1882, citing ill health. (UVA)

During the 1870s, several advances took place in the design and construction of heavy ordnance, including the development of breech-loading, longer-ranged cannon, increasingly made of steel rather than iron. Coupled with these developments was a growing alarm over the obsolescence of existing seacoast defenses.

In 1883, the navy began a new construction program for the first time since the Civil War. The navy’s new ships were to be used offensively rather than defensively. This naval policy, along with the advances in weapon technology, required a new system of seacoast defenses which would safeguard America’s harbors and free the navy for its new role. (Coastal Defense Study Group)

In 1885 President Cleveland made Endicott his secretary of war. A joint army, navy, and civilian board was formed, headed by Endicott, to evaluate proposals for new defenses.

The Endicott Board of Fortifications, created by Congress in March 1885, recommended a major improvement program for the modernization of port defenses along the Eastern seaboard and Great Lakes. (UVA)

From 1890 to 1905, the United States undertook a massive program to modernize its coastal defenses. Known as the Endicott era; the huge construction program resulted in all the major harbors being fortified with newly designed steel guns ranging in size from 3 to 12 inches in diameter of bore and 12-inch, breech-loading mortars.

The gun emplacements were constructed with reinforced concrete and had huge earthen or sand parapets in front. Bombproof magazines were placed far underground.

Electrically controlled submarine mine defense projects were developed for the harbors, and fire control systems for locating targets and directing artillery fire were developed.

Improvements in design and construction techniques were made as the program moved forward and those batteries constructed toward the end of the period were more efficient than the early works. Hawaii’s coastal defenses, coming after those on the mainland, would be the beneficiary of these improvements.

As construction wound down on the mainland in 1905, concerns about the state of the nation’s defenses were still heard. A few
important harbors, such as Los Angeles, still lacked fortifications, as did the new American overseas interests, including Hawaii, the Philippines, and the Panama Canal, then under construction.

President Theodore Roosevelt appointed Secretary of War William H. Taft to head a new National Coast Defense Board to review the state of the defenses and to further their effectiveness technically. (Thompson)

In January 1905 Roosevelt instructed Secretary of War William H. Taft to convene the National Coast Defense Board (Taft Board) ‘to consider and report upon the coast defenses of the United States and the insular possessions.’ (Dorrance)

The improvements resulting from the Taft Board’s work included organization of coastal searchlights in batteries for the illumination of harbor entrances, electrification of the fortifications (lighting, communications, ammunition handling), and development of a modern system of aiming.

Since these advances coincided with the construction of Oahu’s fortifications, the new gun and mortar batteries and the mine defense may be said to be from the Taft period. (Thompson)

The Taft Board report recommended in 1906 that O’ahu’s defenses consist of fortifications that defended Honolulu Harbor and Pearl Harbor. The recommendations were refined by a joint Army and Navy board in 1908, and the harbor defense buildup on O’ahu followed the refinements until the onset of World War I.

In 1908 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was in the midst of constructing O‘ahu armored fortifications in accordance with the recommendations of the joint board.

These weapons were to be emplaced within new military reservations that were eventually named Forts Armstrong, Kamehameha, DeRussy and Ruger.

Fort Armstrong (Battery Tiernon) got two 3-inch cannons in 1909; Fort Kamehameha got two 12-inch cannons at Battery Salfridge in 1907 and eight 12-inch mortars at Battery Hasbrouck in 1909); Fort DeRussy got two 14-inch cannons at Battery Randolph and two six-inch cannons at Battery Dudley; and Fort Ruger got eight 12-inch mortars at Battery Harlow in 1907. (Dorrance)

The forts and battery emplacements were constructed according to the concepts of the times. The batteries were dispersed for concealment and to insure that a projectile striking one would not thereby endanger a neighbor. They were open to the rear to facilitate ammunition service at a rapid rate.

The mortars were emplaced four to a pit and were secure when exposed to the flat naval fire of the time. The guns were mounted on disappearing carriages that remained concealed behind a frontal parapet until elevated to fire. (Dorrance)

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