Kahuku

December 10, 2021 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kahuku Air Base

In the early-1900s, a young Italian named Guglielmo Marconi had a new invention: wireless radio. Global communications (using Morse Code) took a giant leap forward, with a two-pronged system of submarine cables and transoceanic wireless communication.

A Marconi station was set up at Kahuku, Oʻahu with a transmitter/receiver radio station & antenna farm. This put Hawaiʻi at the forefront in the use of this technology; it was the largest wireless telegraph station in the world in terms of capacity and power. By 1916, there was regular telegraphic communications between Hawaiʻi and Japan, a distance of 4,200 miles.

With the end of WWI, Radio Corporation of America (RCA) took over the facility; then, preparations and defense facilities, in anticipation of WWII, started popping up on the island.

The north-Oʻahu facility was under the overall command of the Hawaiian Air Force (HAF) headquartered at Hickam, Oʻahu. The HAF was activated on October 28, 1940, as the first air force outside the Continental US. (Bennett)

On November 25, 1941, Army Engineers took over the RCA facility and started constructing an Army Air Base in and around it. They also constructed two other North Shore airfields at Kawaihāpai (Mokuleʻia/Dillingham) and Haleiwa.

The old Marconi/RCA administration building was converted into air base headquarters and Commanding Officer’s quarters. The usual theater of operations support buildings were constructed (i.e., control tower, barracks for enlisted men, officer’s quarters, mess halls, chapel, dispensaries, cold storage, two fire stations, paint shop, Post Exchange, radio station, telephone exchange, etc.)

Early attempts at building a single runway on the limestone, sand dunes and wetlands at Kahuku Point were hindered by poor drainage, which necessitated that the runway being relocated three times before a suitable location was found. To mitigate drainage problems at the location, a system of canals, subterranean drain pipes and culverts were built.

Eventually, two runways were built at Oʻahu’s northern-most point (the runways followed the original line of Marconi towers) – the military reservation was named the “Kahuku Airfield Military Reservation;” also known as “Kahuku Air Base.”

Thirty-two earthen revetments were constructed between both runways to provided minimal protection of aircraft and ground maintenance crews during any aerial or sea bombardment. The typical revetment was trapezoidal in cross section about 14-feet high.

The air base had been planned as a stopover point for the planes on their way to the Western Pacific; the length and width of the runways were a clear indication they were designed to accommodate heavy bombers, i.e., B-17 and B-24, as well as cargo transports ranging from C-47 to C-54. The absence of hangers attested to the airfield being in operation for the duration of the war. (Bennett)

Kahuku Army Air Base (AAB) was activated on June 26, 1942, and became an important training facility for pilots assigned to Wheeler in central Oʻahu adjacent to the large Army post of Schofield Barracks.

The runways were ideal for training flights as they possessed good approaches, appropriate length, and fine takeoff clearance. The base accommodated various air groups and squadrons that flew an assortment of aircraft, i.e., B-24, B-25, F-7, P-47 and C-47, which flew out of Kahuku for various periods of time, either pending deployment to the Central Pacific war zone, or rotated back to Oahu for reassignment, or deactivation.

Then “(t)he large Tsunami that hit the Hawaiian Islands on 4/1/46, caused extensive damage to the air base, the NE/SW runaway was within 100 yards of the shoreline and the NW/SE runway, 200 yards.”

According to an Army Corps of Engineers report, “The wave washed over the protecting sand dunes, rushing inland in some places to a half mile, smashing buildings, uprooting parking areas, and bringing tons of sand & debris onto the runways. Army personnel verbally informed the Estate that their previous fear that the field was too close to the water was amply borne out.”

A portion of the former facility is now part of the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge. It was established in 1976 to provide habitat for Hawai‘i’s four endangered waterbirds: aeʻo (Hawaiian stilt,) ʻalae keʻokeʻo (Hawaiian coot,) ʻalae ʻula (Hawaiian moorhen) and koloa maoli (Hawaiian duck.)

As part of the O‘ahu National Wildlife Refuge Complex, the refuge consists of both natural and artificially maintained wetlands. Two wetland units are included within the James Campbell Refuge, the Kiʻi Unit and the Punamano Unit.

Likewise, a portion of the former facility is within the Turtle Bay Resort area. The Airfield, revetments and barracks occupied approximately 195-acres (23%) of the Resort property.

October 24, 2019 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Kainalu

This spot was formerly called Kalehuawehe. The surf break ‘Castles’ is named after the Castle family’s four-story beachfront home.

In 1837, Samuel Northrup Castle arrived in Honolulu as a missionary. He left Hawaiʻi for a short time then returned as a businessman for the mission. With Amos Cooke, he founded Castle & Cooke Company in 1851 – it grew into being one of Hawaiʻi’s “Big Five” companies.

One of his ten children would surpass him as a businessman. James Bicknell Castle was born November 27, 1855 in Honolulu to Samuel and Mary (Tenney) Castle. He attended Punahou School 1867–1873, and then Oberlin College.

Castle acquired property in Waikīkī; it had been the home of Boki, the governor of O’ahu, and his wife Liliha. In 1899, James B. Castle built his Waikīkī home and called it ‘Kainalu.’ It was a lavishly furnished four-story mansion with extensive grounds, an ocean pier and other amenities.

In business, he greatly expanded Castle & Cooke in the sugar and railroad industries. One of his first moves was in 1890 when Lorrin Thurston and others joined to create the Kahuku Plantation Company on land subleased from Benjamin Dillingham.

Castle is credited with winning control of the Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company from Claus Spreckels in 1898, which he sold to Alexander & Baldwin for a large share of their stock. He later bought large amounts of land, such as Kāneʻohe Ranch.

He then moved to his next phase of his work, which was to connect the Dillingham’s Oahu Railway & Land Co. (OR&L) in Kahuku with the proposed street railway system in Honolulu by way of the Windward Coast.

His plan was to extend his Koʻolau Railroad Co. south of Kahana Bay through Kāneʻohe and Kailua, and on to Waimanalo where it would go through a tunnel and into Manoa Valley and connect with the Rapid Transit & Land Co.

Unfortunately, he died in 1918 before the project could be completed; however, he ran the line from Kahuku to Kahana Bay and extended his plantation and used this railway to haul it to the Kahuku mill. The train service completely closed down by 1952.

When Castle died, his widow found the beachfront property more than she wished to keep up. Mrs. James B. Castle was impressed by the charitable work being done by the Elks (the Honolulu Elks Lodge 616 was established on April 15, 1901) and in 1920 sold them 155,000 square feet on the beach at Waikīkī complete with lavish home, for $1 a square foot.

For decades, the Elks membership and officers worked to raise funds to pay off the mortgage. Every possible method of raising funds was tried. Elks held carnivals, “smokers,” baseball matches, boxing matches, theatricals, auctions, circuses, concerts and dances.

Funds were raised for charity, and a bit set aside to retire the mortgage. Finally, on March 3, 1943, as members sang “Auld Lang Syne;” the mortgage was burned with great ceremony.

Several times since 1920 the sale of the property was proposed and even authorized, but motions were defeated or rescinded. Most prominent was a protracted discussion with the Outrigger Canoe Club, which was looking for a new home.

Between 1954 and 1956, Outrigger Canoe Club made several offers to purchase about half the Castle property. All were refused. Eventually, in 1955, the Elks agreed to lease property to Outrigger. Negotiations continued, and a lease was signed effective November 17, 1956.

In 1958 the Lodge determined to raze Kainalu and rebuild a new lodge. After an April gala aloha event, the old Lodge was demolished in June of 1959. Ground breaking for the new building took place on August 17, 1959. On June 20, 1960, the first meeting was held in a new building, the present lodge building.

In the sand, constantly washed by the waves, are 6 flat-topped black basalt rocks set in cement. The rock is said to come from the Kaimuki Quarry. Also visible is one round, bowl-shaped object. These are the last remnants of the James Castle home.

The multi-sided stones were the footings for pillars holding up the Castle home’s dining room. Facing the ocean, 9 tubular wooden pillars sat on the round cement footings, and in the rear a second row of heavier pillars sat on the lava rock.

In 2007, a rent dispute between the Elks Lodge and Outrigger Canoe Club was settled by a three-member arbitration panel. Terms of the new rent between the next-door neighbors were not disclosed because of a confidentiality agreement (the Elks Lodge, the landowner, was seeking up to $1 million or more a year in rent from the canoe club for a 99-year lease that was renegotiated midway through the term.)

James Castle and his wife had one child, Harold Castle; in the form of various gifts, Harold Castle is the man behind Castle Hospital, Castle High School, Kainalu Elementary, Central Union Windward Church and the Windward Branch of Hawaiʻi Pacific University.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

An aerial view of the Elks Lodge’s original Waikiki building.

James Castle estate built in 1899 and sold to the Elks Club in 1920. Torn down in 1951

Mrs. Castle, widow of businessman James B. Castle, sold their Waikiki home to the Elks after he died in 1918.

September 6, 2018 by Peter T Young 5 Comments

Kahuku Ranch

On July 8, 1861 184,298 acres of Kahuku, the entire ahupua‘a was assigned by King Kamehameha IV to Charles Coffin Harris under Patent 2791 for $3,000. As with most grants it recognized the “ancient boundaries” and reserved “the rights of native tenants.”

Harris, a graduate of Harvard learned the Hawaiian language and set up a law practice in Hawai`i. His service to the kingdom included Minister of Finance, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hawai`i’s first Attorney General, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and then Chief Justice, 1877-1881, police magistrate and legislative member.

Kalākaua studied law under Harris at the age of 17 making it no surprise Harris became the King’s adviser. While no record of Harris’ activities in Kahuku could be found the land may not have been used for ranching until the next owner. (Helen Wong Smith)

Ownership of Kahuku Ranch transferred from Harris to Theophilus Brown of Groton Connecticut on April 3, 1866 for the price of $5,250. Theophilus’ brother Captain Robert Brown operated the Ranch bringing his family with him.

A visitor to the ranch during these years was Mrs. Alura Brown Cutler wrote the ranch had miles of stone walls enclosing gardens, cattle yards, calf pasture, goat and pig pens.

The gardens contained fig and peach trees as well as bananas and mulberries. She reported the house was located seven miles from the sea and five stone houses for families working for the ranch were provided. (Helen Wong Smith)

Then, “On Friday, March 27, 1868, at 5:30 a.m., several whaling ships anchored in Kawaihae Harbor noticed a dense column of fume reflected by a bright light southwest of the summit of Mauna Loa.”

“An eruption near Moku`āweoweo had taken place, lasting several hours before subsiding. Pele’s hair had drifted down upon the residents of Ka‘ū and South Kona, indicating the presence of lava fountains above. (HVO; Helen Wong Smith)

“This was the scene that opened before us as we ascended the ridge on Friday (April 10, 1868). At the left were these four grand fountains playing with terrific fury, throwing blood-red lava and huge stones, some as large as a house, to £ varying from 500 to 1,000 feet.”

“The grandeur of this scene, ever changing like a moving panorama, no one who has not seen it can realize. Then there was the rapid, rolling stream, rushing and tumbling like a swollen river, down the hill, over the precipice and down the valley to the sea, surging and roaring like a cataract, with a fury perfectly indescribable.”

“This river of fire varied from 200 to 800 feet in width, and when it is known that the descent was 2,000 feet in five miles, the statement that it ran at the rate of ten to twenty-five miles an hour will not be doubted.”

“We waited till night, when the scene was a hundred fold more grand and vivid. The crimson red of the lava now doubly bright, the lurid glare of the red smoke-clouds that overhung the whole, …”

“… the roaring of the rushing stream, the noise of the tumbling rocks thrown out of the crater, the flashes of electric lightning, and the sharp quick claps of thunder – altogether made the scene surpassingly grand.” (HM Whitney, editor of the Honolulu Advertiser, April 13, 1868)

“The 1868 flow destroyed the house of Capt. Robert Brown …. The flow advanced so quickly on the house that Captain Brown and his family escaped with only the clothes on their backs.”

“Soon after the eruption, Theophilus sold the ranch to a hui (group) that included George Jones, who bought out his partners’ interests to became sole owner in 1877.”

“Another Mauna Loa eruption in 1887 produced an ‘a‘ā flow to the west of the 1868 eruption. From vent to ocean, the flow advanced 24 km (15 mi) in about 29 hours and came close – but did not damage – Jones’ residential compound.”

“The real impact of the 1887 eruption on Jones’ ranch was the flow of sightseers. George was known as a very hospitable man and, for several weeks, was forced to suspend operations in order to accommodate the hordes of curious visitors.”

“About a year-and-a-half after the 1887 eruption, Jones sold the ranch to Col. Samuel Norris. Norris, described as eccentric and peculiar, was not hospitable to his fellow Caucasians.”

“Another Mauna Loa eruption in 1907 produced lava flows to the west of the 1887 and 1868 flows, further reducing pasture lands. Tourists flocking to the new flows were not welcomed by the new ranch owner.”

“Norris was 66 when he bought the ranch. In 1910, when he realized he was dying, Norris essentially gave away the ranch, “selling” it to his long-time friend, Charles Macomber, for a dollar, complaining that lava flows had devalued the property. Norris died a few months later.”

“The upper reaches of the ranch were overrun by lava in 1903, 1916, and 1926 but these eruptions did not precipitate a sale as the earlier ones had.“

“In 1912, Macomber sold the ranch to A.W. Carter for inclusion in the famed Parker Ranch.” “During this ownership 1,200 head of cattle were largely run on the land nearest the highway, marginally using the land above the 1,400 foot elevation”

“On February 6, 1947 Parker Ranch sold Kahuku to James W Glover founder of the general construction firm bearing his name …. During his ownership Glover planted koa for logging and continued the installation of smooth wire fencing.”

“After Glover’s death, the ranch was sold under court order by the Hawaiian Trust company, the executor of his estate to pay estate debts including inheritance taxes amounting to almost a million dollars. The trustees of the Samuel M. Damon Estate made the winning bid in 1958”. (HVO; Helen Wong Smith)

On July 3, 2003, the National Park Service partnered with the Nature Conservancy to purchase the 116,000-acre Kahuku Ranch from the estate of Samuel Mills Damon as an addition to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, increasing the size of the park by 50% to 333,086 acres. (Vacation and event rentals remain for remnants of the former Kahuku Ranch, makai of the highway)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Kahuku Ranch-NPS

Kahuku Ranch sale-SB

January 4, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

“It is not only by far the worst part of the Island, but as barren waste looking a country as can be conceived to exist … we could discern black Streaks coming from the Mountain even down to the Seaside.”

“But the s[outhern] neck seems to have undergone a total change from the Effect of Volcanoes, Earthquakes, etc … By the SE side were black honey comd rockds, near the s extremity were hummocks of a Conical Shape which appeared of a reddish brown rusty Colour, & we judged them tot consist of Ashes.”

“The s extremit, which projects out, has upon it rocks of the most Craggy appearance, lying very irregularly, & of most curious shapes, terminating in Sharp points; horrid & dismal as this part of the Isalnd appears …”

“… yet there are many Villages interspersed, & it Struck us as being more populous than the part of Opoona [Puna] which joins Koa [Ka‘ū+. There are houses built even on the ruins lava flows we have describ’d.”

“Fishing is a principal occupation with the Inhabitants, which they sold to us, & we also had a very plentiful supply of other food when off this end…”

“…those we saw off Kao [Ka`ū], are very tawny, thin, & smallmean looking people, which doubtless arises from their constant exposure to the heat of the Sun, their being mostly employed in fishing or other hard labor on shore, & to their spare diet.” (King’s Journal)

“Kahuku, a very large ahupua‘a which for many years has been a ranch, is just beyond the southwest shoulder of Mauna Loa.”

“Over these heights the moisture-laden trade winds, having traversed the wet uplands and forested interior of eastern Ka‘ū, Hilo, and Hāmākua Districts, spread a great roll of cool clouds.”

“These masses of cool water vapor expand and precipitate as rain when they meet the air that rises morning to evening from the ocean, warmed in its passage over the dry lower plains of Kahuku, Manuka, and neighboring Kona.”

“Warmed trade winds also blow in over the southeast coast and Ka Lae, crossing the high rolling plains of Kama‘oa and Pakini, there precipitating much moisture as dew where it meets the cooled air blanketing the uplands.”

“Actually, during the months of March through November, the blanket of cool moist air moving over the upland flank of Mauna Loa, and the warm damp flood of wind diverted inland and overland by the high plains of Kama‘oa and Pakini …”

“… are nothing more nor less than vast eddies of the great southeastward flow of arctic air, which is warmed as it passes over the ocean in these latitudes.”

“These we term the “trades” – the winds so named because the ‘traders’ (sailing vessels) utilized their regular flow from March through November in their voyages.”

“In the season of southerly (kona) cyclonic storms, the wind and rain came in upon western Ka‘ū from oceanward in more violent gusts, sometimes sweeping in with great force.”

“These kona storms originate in the equatorial regions, hence their warm winds are heavily laden with moisture.”

“Coming upon the cool uplands their heavy black clouds produce electric storms, with thunder and lightning, and downpours starting with light gentle rain (hilina), which gradually increase into deluges, at times veritable cloudbursts.”

“These winter storms drench the whole land, which, whether dry lava, grassland, or forest, soaks it up greedily, and in the uplands stores it beneath the forests.”

“Continuing our journey into Ka‘ū, going southeastward, the next ahupua‘a after Manuka is Kahuku. Until the land was covered by lava through much of the verdant lower forest area in the last century, this must have been a far more favorable area for human occupation than was Manuka.”

“The evidence of such occupation have, however, been obliterated. Where lava has not covered the land, the pastures of Kahuku Ranch have done so. The seacoast of Kahuku is a barren as any on this side of Hawaii.”

“Standing on top of a hillock named Pu‘u Lohena on the east of Pakini and looking north across the 1868 flow, one can see beyond lava-covered land to where there was an open sandy area of Ka’iliki’i between two sections of the 1868 flows.”

“Ka‘iliki‘i was in 1823 described by Ellis as ‘a populous shore village’” The open ground led directly north toward Kahuku from the beach at Ka‘iliki‘i, where travelers from Kona often landed. “

“We could see how their path would have crossed an older flow that was there before the 1868 flow, as they headed for a break in the pali. This is a low dip in the ridge called Lua Puali.”

“In its lower reaches Kahuku is said formerly to have had flourishing gardens of sweet potato and sugar cane on the land now covered with lava.”

“If so, and we have no reason to doubt the veracity of informants, there must have been underground water here. Surface verdure, also, may have drawn more cloud and dew.”

“There probably was more rain coming across from Pakini when the plains east of the Pali-Mamalu and Pali Kulani (the great cliff that borders Kahuku on the east) were more verdant and covered with brush.”

“The bare lava of the recent flows, and the now dry plains of Pakini, Kama‘oa, and Ka‘alu‘alu must desiccate the winds which, sweeping along the coast line, normally throw up a cloud of cooled air that is moisture laden when the trade winds blow.”

“There is no similar drift of moisture over the naked shores of Kahuku and Manuka. Yet these coasts, barren as they are today, must have sufficed as good fishing grounds for the population settled in the two western ahupua‘a of Ka‘ū.”

“Wai-o-‘Ahu-kini close by, with its spring, pond and canoe haven, and the best fishing ground in all Hawaii, was awarded in the ancient land allotment to Pakini, then one of the most verdant of the plains areas of cultivation.”

“Doubtless it was Pakini’s numerous population, which gave its ali‘i power, that was responsible for this award.” (Handy, Handy & Pukui)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Kahuku GoogleEarth

September 24, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Marconi Wireless

Until 1840 any immediate communication between human beings was limited to the range of the eye or the ear. In nations such as France, Russia and Great Britain, fire signal towers stretched the length of the country to serve as early warning systems.

During the nineteenth century scientists and inventors came to better understand electricity’s ability to transmit sound, and with this understanding came such inventions as the telegraph by Samuel Morse in 1840, the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell in 1875, and the phonograph by Thomas Alva Edison in 1877.

In addition to these new wonders came such scientific advances as James Clerk Maxwell’s 1865 theory, which postulated electromagnetic waves existed and moved at a uniform speed, but varied in length and frequency.

In 1888, Heinrich Hertz proved this theory by demonstrating that electricity could bridge a gap from one coil to produce a current in another. These all laid the groundwork for humanity’s delving into the possibility of wireless communication.

Then came Guglielmo Marconi (who was born at Bologna, Italy on April 25, 1874.) In 1895, he began laboratory experiments at his father’s country estate where he succeeded in sending wireless signals over a distance of one and a half miles.

In 1900, he took out his famous patent No. 7777 for “tuned or syntonic telegraphy” and, on an historic day in December 1901, determined to prove that wireless waves were not affected by the curvature of the Earth.

He used his system for transmitting the first wireless signals across the Atlantic between Poldhu, Cornwall, and St. John’s, Newfoundland, a distance of 2,100 miles. (Nobel Prize)

In the Islands, “Telegraph communication seems likely soon to be in operation between our islands. Marconi has successfully sent telegrams across the British channel without wire.”

“An invisible electric ray is flashed from lofty mast, directed to receiver thirty miles away, which records it. So Hawai‘i will not need an inter-island cable. Rain, fog and darkness do not obstruct the ray.” (The Friend, May 1, 1899)

Then interisland wireless came; “Just about the latest wonder accomplished by science is telegraphing without wires, communicating between far distant and mutually invisible points by means of the ether which is believed to exist as a sort of cement holding the molecules of the atmosphere together.”

“Today Hawaiians will be given their first opportunity of witnessing the workings of this marvel the marvel by which a young Italian boy named Marconi astonished the world a few years ago.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, June 16, 1900)

Then, the American Marconi Company began establishing global coverage with long distance, paired sending and receiving stations not only in England, France and the United States, but also Spain, Italy, Egypt, India, and Argentina.

Hawaii was viewed as a bridge facilitating wireless communication between California, Hawaii and Japan as well as Australia; he planned facilities at Koko Head and Kahuku. At the time of Kahuku’s opening, it was the largest wireless telegraph station in the world in terms of capacity and power.

Everything in the plant was in duplicate, the one system backing up the other, so there was no reason to have to shut down operations because of a need to undertake repairs. (NPS) “Quite a large staff is housed in the Marconi Hotel, some operators and some engineers.” (Marconi Service News)

“Besides being included in the great chain of wireless stations which are to be erected by the Marconi Company, Hawai‘i has been favored with being selected as the site for the largest wireless station in the world.”

“While situated in the middle of the Pacific ocean, isolated, as it were, from the rest of the world except for a single cable and a wireless station only capable of working at night …”

“… Hawai‘i will be able to throw off this isolation with the coming of the Marconi system, get into a more complete touch with the rest of the world, and be drawn into closer relations with the country of which it is a territory.” (Star Bulletin, April 19, 1913)

The transoceanic stations were officially opened on September 24, 1914, approximately two months after the start of World War I in Europe. (NPS)

The first message (from Governor Lucius Pinkham to President Woodrow Wilson) read, “With time and distance annihilated and space subdued through wireless triumphs and impulse …”

“… the Territory of Hawai‘i conveys its greetings, profound respect and sympathy to Woodrow Wilson, president of the United States, as he so earnestly seeks the blessings of peace and good will for all men and all nations. (Star Bulletin, September 24, 1914)

President responded with a short, “May God bring the nation together in thought and purpose and lasting peace.” (NPS)

“Today marks a new era in transpacific and world-communication for the people of Hawai‘i. With the opening of two great wifeless stations on Oahu by the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America ‘’

“… Uncle Sam’s midpacific territory is brought closer and is bound closer than ever to her sister commonwealth of the mainland.” (Star Bulletin to Associated Press, September 24, 1914)

The Marconi Wireless Telegraph Station at Kahuku includes four buildings: the power house/operating building, hotel, administration building, and manager’s cottage.

With the end of WWI, Radio Corporation of America (RCA) took over the facility; then, preparations and defense facilities, in anticipation of WWII, started popping up on the island.

On November 25, 1941, Army Engineers took over the RCA facility and started constructing an Army Air Base in and around it. (They also constructed two other North Shore airfields at Kawaihāpai (Mokuleʻia/Dillingham) and Haleiwa.)

The old Marconi/RCA administration building was converted into air base headquarters and Commanding Officer’s quarters. The RCA buildings, with the exception of the powerhouse/operating building, were also used by the air field.

The hotel became the base headquarters, the administration building housed base operations, and the manager’s house became the commanding officer’s quarters.

The usual theater of operations support buildings were constructed (i.e., control tower, barracks for enlisted men, officer’s quarters, mess halls, chapel, dispensaries, cold storage, two fire stations, paint shop, Post Exchange, radio station, telephone exchange, etc.)

The April 1, 1946 tsunami devastated the Kahuku Air Base, destroying numerous buildings and covering the runways with debris. Following this tidal wave, military air operations ceased at Kahuku and sometime between June 12, 1946 and March 1947 the lands were returned to Campbell Estate.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger