Images of Old Hawaiʻi

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January 23, 2020 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Old Plantation

Curtis Ward was born in Kentucky and arrived in Hawaiʻi in 1853, when whaling in the Pacific was at its peak. Curtis worked at the Royal Custom House, which monitored commercial activity at Honolulu Harbor for the kingdom.

Victoria Robinson was born in Nu’uanu in 1846, the daughter of English shipbuilder, James Robinson and his wife Rebecca, a woman of Hawaiian ancestry whose chiefly lineage had roots in Kaʻū, Hilo and Honokowai, Maui.

Ward started a livery with headquarters on Queen Street and expanded into the business of transporting cargo on horse-pulled wagons. The size of Ward’s work force became just as big as the harbor’s other major player, James Robinson & Co. (Victoria’s father.)

When tensions began to rise between the American North and South in the late-1850s, Ward would defend his Southern heritage. As a result, Ward’s home, named “Dixie,” was often stoned by Northern sailors. (Hustace)

Curtis and Victoria married in 1865 and for many years they made their home near Honolulu Harbor on property presently occupied by the Davies Pacific Center.

Seven daughters were born during these years: Mary Elizabeth, Kulamanu, May, Einei, Lucy, Kathleen and Lani.

As was common for many young married couples of English and Hawaiian ancestry during this period, the Wards socialized comfortably with Honolulu’s expatriate British families, as well as with members of the various Royal families.

This was a period of considerable turbulence in Hawaiian political affairs, and Curtis and Victoria joined with their friends in resisting the rising power of the sugar barons and firmly opposed reciprocity with the United States. (Ward Centers)

Even in later years, Victoria Ward held to her political convictions and remained a loyal friend and supporter of Liliʻuokalani after the overthrow of the monarchy in 1893. (Ward Centers)

Then, the Wards bought land on what was then the outskirts of Honolulu, eventually acquiring over 100-acres of land running from Thomas Square on King Street down to the ocean.

They built the “Old Plantation” in 1882, a stately, Southern-style home on the mauka portion of the property. It featured an artesian well, vegetable and flower gardens, a large pond stocked with fish, and extensive pasturage for horses and cattle. Self-sufficient as a working farm, Old Plantation was surrounded by a vast coconut grove.

In 1882, Curtis Ward died at age 53, leaving Victoria to raise seven daughters and manage the estate.

The Blaisdell Center has been in operation since 1964 and in 1994 was remodeled and expanded. The Blaisdell Center complex includes a multi-purpose Arena, Exhibition Hall, Galleria, Concert Hall, meeting rooms and parking structure.

In 2002, Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc (owner of Ala Moana Center) closed on an agreement to buy Victoria Ward Ltd., giving it control of one of the state’s largest private landowners and operator of a growing retail complex in Kakaʻako.

In 2010, General Growth spun off its development properties as the Howard Hughes Corporation and is working on plans for the creation/redevelopment of an urban master planned community in Kakaʻako. (OHA and Kamehameha Schools are other large landowners in Kakaʻako.)

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  • 19580108 – Ward Estate (looking out driveway toward King Street. The daughters of Curtis P. Ward, gentleman from Kentucky who built Old Plantation, once romped on this lanai. SB BW by Terry Luke.
  • OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Filed Under: Prominent People, Buildings Tagged With: Hawaii, James Robinson, Oahu, Kakaako, Victoria Ward, Blaisdell Center, Honolulu International Center, Old Plantation, Neal Blaisdell

March 15, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ward Homes

Curtis Perry Ward was born in Kentucky and arrived in Hawaiʻi in 1853, when whaling in the Pacific was at its peak. Curtis worked at the Royal Custom House, which monitored commercial activity at Honolulu Harbor for the kingdom.

Victoria Robinson was born in Nuʻuanu in 1846, the daughter of English shipbuilder, James Robinson and his wife Rebecca, a woman of Hawaiian ancestry whose chiefly lineage had roots in Kaʻū, Hilo and Honokōwai, Maui.

Curtis and Victoria married in 1865. They lived in several houses, each named with a southern reference, ‘Dixie,’ Sunny South’ and ‘Old Plantation.’

‘Dixie’

Ward started a livery with headquarters on Queen Street and expanded into the business of transporting cargo on horse-pulled wagons. The size of Ward’s work force became just as big as the harbor’s other major player, James Robinson & Co. (Victoria’s father.)

Curtis and Victoria married in 1865 and for many years they made their home near Honolulu Harbor on property presently occupied by the Davies Pacific Center.

When tensions began to rise between the American North and South in the late-1850s, Ward would defend his Southern heritage. As a result, Ward’s home, named “Dixie,” was often stoned by Northern sailors. (Hustace)

“Lili‘uokalani liked young Ward and felt sympathy for him as a passionate upholder of Confederate rights.” (Taylor) “(A)ccording to a family story, some members of the court privately expressed sympathy for Ward’s Southern allegiance during the War Between the States.”

“Lydia Lili‘u Pākī is said to have worked quietly at night, in the privacy of her chambers, sewing a Confederate flag for Ward.”

“He accepted her gift with pleasure and promptly attached it to the canopy of his four-poster bed, declaring it was his wish to die under the flag.” (Hustace)

‘Sunny South’

In 1869, he purchased a 7-acre parcel in Pawa‘a. (Hustace) Ward then moved to the country on Waikiki Road (Kalākaua Avenue,) and built a home designed in Southern Colonial style. (Krauss)

(It was between Washington Intermediate and Makiki Stream – across from what was later the Cinerama Theater.) (Hustace)

Ward “built a huge beach house on Waikiki” with a “great gate over which he carved the home’s name – ‘Sunny South.’” (Courier-Journal, August 6, 1963)

“‘Sunny South’ on the Waikiki road testified to his love of his former home in the States, was an unreconstructed Confederate.…”

“For political reasons mostly he used to have trouble with the boys of Punahou College. They went down Waikiki way now and then and pulled off his ‘Sunny South’ sign, leaving it in the road.”

“Finally they concluded to take it away bodily, carry it to their rooms in the college dormitory and whittle it into inch bits, making a street bonfire afterward of the shavings.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, May 3, 1903)

‘Old Plantation’

“In 1880 Ward built a mansion with stately verandas, chandeliers, high ceilings and a ball room. He fashioned it directly after his home in Lexington (Kentucky) and called it ‘Old Plantation.’”

“The site of ‘Old Plantation’ once was known as ‘Little Kentucky.’” (Courier-Journal, August 6, 1963) Old Plantation became one of the showplaces of Honolulu and remained substantially unchanged for nearly 80 years.

Members of the Ward Family worked hard to preserve Hawaiian cultural traditions and also supported many social service activities in the community. (Ward Centers)

The Wards were early supporters of child welfare and animal rights, and they devoted considerable energy toward the establishment of the Hawaiian Humane Society. They also contributed financial support to Kapiʻolani Maternity Hospital, St. Clement’s Church and to the Academy of the Sacred Hearts. (Ward Centers)

Victoria Ward established Victoria Ward Ltd. in 1930 to manage the family’s property, primarily the remaining 65-acres of Old Plantation, now part of the core of Kakaʻako real estate adjoining downtown Honolulu. Victoria Ward died April 11, 1935.

In 1958, the city bought the mauka portion of the Old Plantation Estate and tore it down to build the Honolulu International Center (later re-named Neal S. Blaisdell Center (after Honolulu’s former Mayor.))

Victoria Ward established Victoria Ward Ltd. in 1930 to manage the family’s property, primarily the remaining 65-acres of Old Plantation, now part of the core of Kakaʻako real estate adjoining downtown Honolulu. Victoria Ward died April 11, 1935.

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Ward Homes
Ward Homes

Filed Under: Prominent People, Buildings Tagged With: Hawaii, Victoria Ward, Curtis Perry Ward, Blaisdell Center, Honolulu International Center, Old Plantation, Theo H Davies, Dixie, Sunny South

October 18, 2015 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

War Memorial Municipal Auditorium

“Dedicated to All the Sons and Daughters of Hawai‘i Who Served Their Country in Time of War and in Special Tribute to those Who Gave Their Lives in Order That Freedom and Justice Might Prevail Throughout the World”

Apparently, so said the plaque outside what was initially referred to as the War Memorial Municipal Auditorium; its name was changed a few times.

And, the plaque is now missing – and apparently, so is the memory and original intent of the complex as a War Memorial.

Let’s look back …

In 1955, the Territorial Legislature passed Act 145 authorizing $3-million in bonds for the City and County to construct a War Memorial Municipal Auditorium. Then Congress stepped in to approve the State’s bond proposal.

By then, the idea was for the auditorium to honor those from Hawai‘i who served and sacrificed in WWII and Korea.

The house bill (HB 900) noted, “a municipal auditorium in the City and County of Honolulu would be a proper and fitting memorial to the said veterans (of WWII and Korea) and further would enhance the general welfare of the people of the city of Honolulu.”

Petitions and Bills were discussed seeking authorization for the “board of supervisors of the city and county of Honolulu to issue bonds in the sum of $3 million …”

“… for the purpose of land acquisition, plans, construction, equipping, and furnishing a war memorial municipal auditorium in the city and county of Honolulu.” Congressional Record, Volume 101, page 1143, June 9, 1955)

“HB 7755. A bill to enable the Legislature of the Territory of Hawaii to authorize the city and county of Honolulu, a municipal corporation, to Issue general obligation bonds; to the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs.” (Congressional Record, Volume 101, page 807, July 30, 1955)

“404. Also, petition of the city and county clerk. Honolulu, T. H., requesting the enactment of legislation appropriating $3-million for land acquisition, plans, construction, equipping, and furnishing war memorial municipal auditorium in the city and county of Honolulu; to the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs.” (Congressional Record, Volume 102, page 32, January 5, 1956)

Finally, on July 11, 1956, the Senate and House of Representatives of the US Congress enacted Public Law 694 and approving the bond in the Territory’s Act 145, giving the City and County of Honolulu the authority to move forward.  The site was the former ‘Old Plantation’ of the Ward Estate.

Initial legislation referred to the facility as the War Memorial Municipal Auditorium; on September 24, 1963, the City Council adopted a resolution naming the complex the ‘Honolulu International Center; then, on January 14, 1976, the City Council renamed the center as the ‘Neal S Blaisdell Memorial Center.’

Finally, on September 12, 1964 the Center was dedicated by Mayor Blaisdell; apparently, a memorial plaque noted the dedication of the facility as a war memorial (apparently, with the language noted at the top, here.)

However, over the years, the memorial plaque has been lost and the Neal S Blaisdell Center’s intended purpose as a war memorial has been forgotten.

Through persistence of Tanya Harrison and other volunteers at the Neal S Blaisdell Center War Memorial Project, Honolulu’s war memorial is no longer forgotten.

Recently (March 11, 2015,) the Honolulu City Council adopted Resolution 15-44, stating, “the City is currently considering long-range plans for the redevelopment of the fifty year-old Neal S Blaisdell Center complex …”

“… as such plans are discussed, the public should be reminded of the Neal S. Blaisdell Center’s heritage as a war memorial and its original purpose to honor Hawaii’s fallen heroes”. They sought rededication of the Blaisdell Center as a War Memorial.

The Honolulu City Council also noted, “all of the counties of the State of Hawai‘i honor and remember Hawai‘i’s war dead and war veterans in living memorials …”

“… such as the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium, Kauai War Memorial Convention Hall, Kauai Veterans Memorial Hospital, Maui’s War Memorial Stadium Complex and Hilo’s Kalākaua Park War Memorial Pond”.

They asked the City administration to rededicate the Blaisdell as a War Memorial and erect new plaques.

The good news is that the rededication ceremony of Blaisdell is scheduled for 5 pm, Tuesday, November 10, 2015, on the Blaisdell Center lawn between the Concert Hall and Ward Avenue.

The City will be unveiling a new replacement memorial plaque during the rededication ceremony. The public is invited. (Lots of information and images are from the Neal S Blaisdell Center War Memorial Project.)

Visit the Blaisdell Memorial Project at:
http://www.blaisdellmemorialproject.org

Visit and ‘Like’ their Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/blaisdellmemorialproject

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Blaisdell_art-1967
Blaisdell_art-1967
Honolulu War Memorial Construction Begins-News-1962
Honolulu War Memorial Construction Begins-News-1962
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Honolulu_International_Center-under_construction-1963
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Blaisdell_Center-Construction-interior
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Blaisdell_Center_Construction
Byron-Trimble-June-1963
Byron-Trimble-June-1963
Blaisdell_Arena-(WC)
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Ward_Estate-Old_Plantation-form use of Blaisdell site-DMYoung)
Concert Hall Construction Ceremony plaque-1963
Concert Hall Construction Ceremony plaque-1963

Filed Under: Buildings, Economy Tagged With: Hawaii, Honolulu, Oahu, Victoria Ward, Blaisdell Center, Honolulu International Center, Old Plantation, War Memorial Municipal Auditorium

October 18, 2014 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Seven Sisters

Nā-Huihui-O-Makaliʻi, “Cluster of Little Eyes” (Makaliʻi) (a faint group of blue-white stars) marks the shoulder of the Taurus (Bull) constellation.  Though small and dipper-shaped, it is not the Little Dipper.

Traditionally, the rising of Makaliʻi at sunset following the new moon (about the middle of October) marked the beginning of a four-month Makahiki season in ancient Hawaiʻi (a sign of the change of the season to winter.)

In Hawaiʻi, the Makahiki is a form of the “first fruits” festivals following the harvest season common to many cultures throughout the world. It is similar in timing and purpose to Thanksgiving, Oktoberfest and other harvest celebrations.

Something similar was observed throughout Polynesia, but it was in pre-contact Hawaiʻi that the festival reached its greatest elaboration.  As the year’s harvest was gathered, tributes in the form of goods and produce were given to the chiefs from November through December.

Various rites of purification and celebration in December and January closed the observance of the Makahiki season. During the special holiday the success of the harvest was commemorated with prayers of praise made to the Creator, ancestral guardians, caretakers of the elements and various deities – particularly Lono.

Makaliʻi is also known as the Pleiades; its common name is the Seven Sisters.

But it is not these seven sisters that is the subject of this summary; this story is about Mellie, Kulamanu, May, Einei, Lucy, Kathleen and Lani – the seven daughters of Curtis and Victoria Ward.

Curtis Perry Ward was born in Kentucky and arrived in Hawaiʻi in 1853, when whaling in the Pacific was at its peak. Curtis worked at the Royal Custom House, which monitored commercial activity at Honolulu Harbor for the kingdom.

Victoria Robinson was born in Nuʻuanu in 1846, the daughter of English shipbuilder, James Robinson and his wife Rebecca, a woman of Hawaiian ancestry whose chiefly lineage had roots in Kaʻū, Hilo and Honokōwai, Maui.

Ward started a livery with headquarters on Queen Street and expanded into the business of transporting cargo on horse-pulled wagons. The size of Ward’s work force became just as big as the harbor’s other major player, James Robinson & Co. (Victoria’s father.)

Curtis and Victoria married in 1865 and for many years they made their home near Honolulu Harbor on property presently occupied by the Davies Pacific Center.

The Wards bought land on what was then the outskirts of Honolulu, eventually acquiring over 100-acres of land running from Thomas Square on King Street down to the ocean.

They built the “Old Plantation” in 1882, a stately, Southern-style home on the mauka portion of the property.  It featured an artesian well, vegetable and flower gardens, a large pond stocked with fish, and extensive pasturage for horses and cattle. Self-sufficient as a working farm, Old Plantation was surrounded by a vast coconut grove.

Here’s a link to a video of “Old Plantation” with Anna Machado Cazimero, Kanoe Cazimero, Rodney Cazimero, Melveen Leed and Tito Berinobis. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtPTv1QENC0

That year, Curtis Ward died (at age 53,) leaving Victoria to raise seven daughters and manage the estate.  Here’s a little bit about the girls.

Mary Elizabeth “Mellie” Ward (February 16, 1867 to July 26, 1956) – married Frank Hustace September 30, 1886; Frank worked with, then succeeded his father-in-law in the draying business.

May Augusta Ward (May 10, 1871 to January 6, 1938) – married Ernest Hay Wodehouse in 1893; he was a prominent figure in the business world of Hawaiʻi; former president of Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association and the Sugar Factors Co, Ltd.

Annie Eva Theresa “Einei” Ward (March 13, 1873 to July 19, 1934) – married Wade Armstrong (Einei was the first of the Ward sisters to die, living to the age of 61.)

Keakealani Perry “Lani” Ward (May 27, 1881, December 31, 1961) – married Robert Booth; in 1966, Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women and Children completed a new four-story Lani Ward Booth wing on Punahou Street.

Three sisters never married, and Lucy and Kathleen lived their lives at Old Plantation:
Hattie Kulamanu Ward (March 26, 1869 to March 2, 1959)
Lucy Kaiaka Ward (August 27, 1874 to March 20, 1954) (one of the founding members of the Hawaiian Humane Society)
Victoria Kathleen Ward (February 27, 1878 September 12, 1958)

Victoria Ward established Victoria Ward Ltd. in 1930 to manage the family’s property, primarily the remaining 65-acres of Old Plantation, now part of the core of Kakaʻako real estate adjoining downtown Honolulu.  Victoria Ward died April 11, 1935.

Victoria Ward was loyal to the Kingdom (Queen Liliʻuokalani was her personal friend) and she died under the flag much in the same way her husband passed under the Confederate flag more than 50 years before.  (Command)

Three sisters, Lucy Kathleen and Kulamanu, took control of the Victoria Ward Estate, with Kathleen becoming president and Lucy the secretary.

All was not always happy in the family.

In 1951, sisters Lucy and Kathleen sued to establish guardianship for sister Kulamanu.  At the hearing, evidence of insanity was undisputed and proved to the judge’s satisfaction that Kulamanu was mentally incapable of managing her estate. On evidence of suitability the probate judge found that Hawaiian Trust Company, Limited, is “a fit and proper person to be appointed” as guardian of her estate.  (Circuit Court Records)

Later (1957,) the Supreme Court decided on sisters Lani and Mellie (and nephew Cenric Wodehouse) petition for the appointment of a guardian for their sister, Kathleen, alleging that Kathleen was seventy-seven years of age, mentally infirm and unable to manage her business affairs.

The court found Victoria Kathleen Ward was incompetent to manage her business affairs (but not insane) and appointed Chinn Ho, Mark Norman Olds and George H Vicars, Jr guardians of the property.  (Supreme Court Records)

In 1958, the city bought the mauka portion of the Old Plantation Estate and tore it down to build the Honolulu International Center (later re-named Neal S. Blaisdell Center (after Honolulu’s former Mayor.))

The Blaisdell Center has been in operation since 1964 and in 1994 was remodeled and expanded.  The Blaisdell Center complex includes a multi-purpose Arena, Exhibition Hall, Galleria, Concert Hall, meeting rooms and parking structure.

On April 8, 2002, General Growth Properties, Inc announced the acquisition of Victoria Ward, Limited; this included 65-fee simple acres in Kakaʻako, with improvements of over one-million square feet of leasable area (Ward Entertainment Center, Ward Warehouse, Ward Village and Village Shops.)

General Growth later (2004) acquired the Howard Hughes Corporation.  With excessive debt, General Growth was pushed into bankruptcy in 2009; then, in 2010, it spun off the Ward assets into the Hughes entity (General Growth was out of bankruptcy by the end of that year.)

The image shows Mellie, Kulamanu, May, Einei, Lucy, Kathleen and Lani – seven sisters, and daughters of Curtis and Victoria Ward.  In addition, I have added other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Filed Under: Prominent People Tagged With: Hawaii, Kakaako, Victoria Ward, Curtis Perry Ward, Blaisdell Center, Honolulu International Center, Old Plantation, Makalii

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People, places, and events in Hawaiʻi’s past come alive through text and media in “Images of Old Hawaiʻi.” These posts are informal historic summaries presented for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes.

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