Kaimuki | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

July 23, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

King’s Daughters Home

A small number of women banded together as a King’s Daughters’ Circle for the purpose of learning more how to care for others, taking the motto, ‘Not to be ministered unto, but to minister.’

At the time, Honolulu had no haven for friendless and lonely old persons who were aging. Then, the distress of two such old ladies inspired the King’s Daughters with the determination to meet this need.

The aim was to comfort and care for those in need, just as one would care for a relative or friend. “No efforts are spared in removing all trace of the institution from this home, where each person is given a pleasant, private room in which to spend declining years among little, treasured possessions.” (Honolulu Star-bulletin, April 9, 1914)

On July 15, 1910, they rented and furnished a house in Makiki and called it the King’s Daughters’ Home.

The aim of the Circle was first “to furnish a genuine home to all those in need because of age or weakness, and second, to furnish a Christian home for persons in middle life or past who receive but a trifle for their labor and are unable to pay the usual boarding-house rates”.

“(L)astly, (the goal was) to furnish for convalescents released from the care of hospital and physician, without a home or means and unable to work for a while, a place where they may go and have loving care for a few weeks and someone to help nurse them back to strength. (Honolulu Times, December 1, 1910)

“Viewed from a progressive standpoint, it may be said that there is scarcely a county in the United States which has not its home for old people without means. Honolulu has its Lunalilo Home for aged Hawaiians.”

“There are homes for the people of other races and hospitals for the white plague sufferers and those afflicted with other ills, but nowhere in this city of wealth is there a place where an aged Anglo-Saxon, whose younger days have been spent in faithful service, can enter and say, ‘This is my home.’” (Thrum)

The first home “installed these two dear old ladies with a matron to care for them. Later more women and some men were joined to the little family, the house was enlarged to meet the increasing demands for more accommodations”.

“(A)ssistants were engaged, and the work grew steadily, until now several small cottages have been added to the establishment, Yet, with these added facilities, the Old Folks’ Homes is taxed to capacity”. (Honolulu Star-bulletin, April 9, 1914)

“(T)here are scores of working women, very worthy women, Christian women, employed on meager salaries, by the week or by the day or the month, and that can afford to pay a small part only for room and meals. It is really hard, very hard, for them to make that little income meet the demands of food and raiment (clothing.”)

“Often they are constrained to live in the most frugal manner as to lodging and table board. But, if there can be a Home, plain, sweet, neat, with a good nourishing menu, three times a day, what a blessing!” (Honolulu Times, December 1, 1910)

“No sooner was the first home secured and opened with furnishings befitting the needs of those in the afternoon of life who had seen better days, but what its capacity was taxed, and from that time … there have been applicants for admission kept on the waiting list owing to its limited accommodations”.

“Thus from its inception, almost, has the need of enlargement been insistent and has sorely taxed the handful of promoters to meet this want of the community.” (Thrum)

“The King’s Daughters’ Circle has undertaken the work which the community has so far omitted. It has done what it could with limited means, secured from private sources, and now feels justified in asking the aid of the community for a building enterprise … like the magnificent YMCA structure”.

“Confident that their trust in this appeal is not misplaced, the organization of King’s Daughters engaged Mr HL Kerr, an architect who has designed a number of the finest buildings in the city, to draw plans for an Old People’s Home, to be erected on the Kaimuki site which the organization now owns”.

“The building as designed will afford ample and comfortable housing for fifty (occupants,) with additional quarters for nurses and other attaches of the institution. The structure as planned has all the essential provisions for insuring comfort to the (occupants,) and at the same time is artistic in design, supplying an edifice which, from an architectural point of view, will prove a credit to the city and a monument to the progressive spirit of the community.”

“The general idea of the architect has been to give a home effect inside and out, and to provide a building which will insure a maximum of comfort and convenience with a minimum of expenditure for its economical maintenance. The lanais and veranda are as generous in size as they are essential.”

“The dining hall and dining lanai may be operated separately or thrown together as desired, and the rooms which will be for general use are centrally located in order to be of the greatest service to all. … The rooms are large and airy, each provided with a generous clothes press, and there are ample toilet facilities included.”

“The upper floor is designed primarily for the use of the caretakers and assistants, and will also provide room for those among the old people who are able to mount the easy stairway.”

“One feature of the plans to which the attention of contributors is particularly called, is that it may be constructed in five parts or wings grouped about a central building, permitting any one person or group of persons who may so desire to build a wing as a memorial.” (Thrum)

There is a sad side to this story … reported in the Hawaiian Gazette, February 6, 1912. It relates to Mrs Margaret Jerome Healy and her friend Mrs Elisabeth Stevenson; both lived in the King’s Daughters Home.

Unfortunately Healy passed away.

“The old ladies of the home were all anxious to attend the funeral of their late companion, who was a general favorite among them … The superintendent demurred but it was finally decide that a refusal would result in unnecessary grievings and the permission was granted.”

“The aged women gathered about as the body was lowered and reverently bowed their heads as the last words of the service were spoken. Most of them were crying quietly and the moment, always so sadly dramatic, was doubly tense to those who felt the severing of the ties so poignantly.”

“Mrs. Stevenson’s heart, which has been weak, was unable to stand the tension of emotion and dropped quietly, the old lady sinking to the ground amidst her companions and peacefully passing across the borders to join her friend.”

Stevenson (who had been a nurse for the greater part of her life) died “before the open grave as the body of her departed friend was laid to rest.” (Hawaiian Gazette, February 6, 1912)

“They were two woman who shared the bonds of aloha in their last days of their lives on this earth, and they left together to the other side, without one feeling sadness for the other in one dying before the other, and one being left behind in this world grieving.” (Kuokoa, February 9, 1912) The King’s Daughters Home closed in 1978.

January 2, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Early Communication

“Marine Telegraph. Through the exertions of Mr. Jackson, Post Master, we are at length likely to have a marine telegraph erected on ‘Telegraph Hill,’ a knoll just back of Diamond Head and a little to westward of the government road to Waialae. A sum sufficient to defray the cost attending its erection and for keeping it in operation for some months has been subscribed.”

“So much has been said about the supposed value of a telegraph, that we are glad the experiment is to receive a fair trial. The telegraph will consist of a pole (seventy) feet in height, to have four arms, each four feet long.”

“From this knoll vessels can be seen in a clear day from twenty to twenty-five miles either way from Diamond Head, and all coasters as well as foreign vessels will be reported by it.”

“One advantage will be that China bound vessels, passing during the day time can be reported, and probably in most cases can be boarded from the port, to procure news, where heretofore they have passed without stopping.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, June 4, 1857)

On June 12, 1857, a marine telegraph was put into operation behind Diamond Head. A companion semaphore signal was put on Honolulu Hale on Merchant Street in downtown Honolulu.

This device was actually a kind of semaphore designed to send visual (rather than electric) signals to the post office in Honolulu Hale when an approaching ship was sighted. (Schmitt)

The ‘marine telegraph’ is a semaphore. Initially set up by the local Post Master to time the landing of ships to collect the mail, it also served as a means to notify the community of what ship was landing, especially those who service the ships and their passengers.

“There were very few who could not read the signals made by the directions of the arms of the semaphore and as soon as any was made some one would call out “whale ship coming past Koko Head” or “Fore and after coming past Barber’s Point” or “Steamer coming past Koko Head” as the case might be.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, May 21, 1905)

The postmaster posted advertisements in the newspapers offering to sell “Marine Telegraph Cards of Signals” for $1.

“Back of the head (Lēʻahi, Diamond Head) there was a lookout and when he saw a ship coming he raised a flag. Directly I saw it I gave the cry ‘Sail, ho!’ – and up went the signal on the semaphore. It was my call that brought the people from the neighboring offices and the signal from those further away.”

“If it turned out to be a whaler, all was well; but if it happened to be a schooner from the other islands I came in for a drubbing of words from everybody within the limits of civilization. I as the small boy who was blamed for the error of the lookout and seldom praised for his correct reports.” (Stacker; Sunday Advertiser, December 5, 1909)

“Naturally there was a good deal of rivalry among the pilots, for in those days and for years, they received their compensation by the way of fees. Each man was supposed to leave the pilot house when a signal was given and go out to meet the vessel. The first man out got the ship and the fee.”

“If there were more coming down the channel Signal No. 2 would show it.” (Stacker; Sunday Advertiser, December 5, 1909)

“This enterprise, which has now been conducted for some two years, has proved itself of so much public benefit that there is scarcely a man in the community who would not regret to see it discontinued.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, November 17, 1859)

Unfortunately, a storm in 1872 took the semaphore out of service. The loss was felt … “That the telegraph is needed and must be put in order again, everyone will concede; but the question is, whose duty is it to see the thing done.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 27, 1872)

The Chamber of Commerce met shortly thereafter. “It was the general understanding that the telegraph must be resumed, and a committee was appointed to procure subscriptions and attend to the necessary details.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, February 17, 1872)

“When the telephone system got into working order the lookout station was moved to a position on Diamond Head which gave a view further along the channel, because it was no longer necessary for the station to be in full view of the city.” (Hawaiian Star, February 10, 1899)

In 1878 Samuel G Wilder established the first telephone line on Oʻahu, from his government office to his lumber business. “By the fall of 1881 telephone instruments and electric bells were in place in the Palace.” (The Pacific Commercial, September 24, 1881) (Charles Dickey in Haiku, Maui had the first phones in the islands (1878;) connecting his home to his store.)

Diamond Head was connected by telephone with the book store of Whitney & Robertson conducted in Honolulu Hale. (Evening Bulletin, September 27, 1907) The Marine Telegraph semaphore system was later discontinued.

Right about this same time, Hawaiʻi was getting connected through a submarine telegraph cable. The first submarine cable across the Pacific was completed (landing in Waikīkī at Sans Souci Beach) linking the US mainland to Hawaiʻi, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji (1902) and Guam to the Philippines in 1903. (The first Atlantic submarine cable, connecting Europe with the USA, was completed in 1866.)

The first telegraph message carried on the system was sent from Hawaiʻi and received by President Teddy Roosevelt on January 2, 1903 (that day was declared “Cable Day in Hawaiʻi.”) On January 3, 1903, the first news dispatches were sent over the Pacific cable to Hawaiʻi by the Associated Press.

On the afternoon of July 4, 1903, Honolulu was connected to the Pacific cable from Midway Island, which extended east to the Philippines and China. On that day, the Pacific cable commenced full operation between Asia and Washington, DC.

June 12, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Pālolo Hill

“And they gathered their friends together and journeyed up into the hill country, and when they did not return others followed, saying unto them – ‘Why, therefore, do ye choose to dwell in the hill country?’“

“And they answered, ‘For it is here we obtain the freedom of the air, with all its freshness and purity; it is here we get strength for the mind and body, and it is here we enjoy the breath of life.’“ (Evening Bulletin, October 21, 1911)

So went the marketing for the Pālolo Hill development – the Homeland of Health – above Kaimuki.

The announcement of the project a year before carried the same positive enthusiasm, “Pālolo Hill may not only be destined to blossom as the rose, but it will be dotted with a thousand homes, the place of residence of delighted sojourners who seek the many incomparable advantages offered by climatic conditions only to be found in the Paradise of the Pacific, but Honolulu in particular.”

“The Kaimuki Land Company has completed all arrangements for setting a large force of men at work in the grading of fifty foot streets and plotting some twelve hundred lots in this sightly tract of land located at the terminus of the Hotel street and Waiʻalae car-line.”

“Pālolo Hill, commanding a magnificent view of the Pacific Ocean, the frowning slopes of Diamond Head, and the bald prominence of Koko Head, will be transformed into a place of much activity before the close of the old year.”

“The plans as outlined by the land company are elaborate in the extreme. The first of the week will find teams and graders at work on the roads. … (The central) avenue will serve as a feeder for the curved and winding highways that weave their way in and around the brow of this eminence.”

“It is claimed, that there is not a lot in the entire twelve hundred that is of lower elevation than three hundred feet. The highest elevation recorded in the tract is eleven hundred feet. A visit to the tract, where grading operations have already begun, would show that there is no portion of the district that has an unobstructed marine view. (Evening Bulletin, December 9, 1910)

Some background … William Lunalilo ended up with most of the area known as Kaimuki through the Great Māhele (1848.) Lunalilo was born on January 31, 1835 to High Chiefess Miriam ‘Auhea Kekauluohi (Kuhina Nui, or Premier of the Hawaiian Kingdom and niece of Kamehameha I) and High Chief Charles Kanaʻina.

When Kamehameha V died on December 11, 1872 he had not named a successor to the throne. The Islands’ first election to determine who would be King was held – Lunalilo defeated Prince David Kalākaua (the Legislature met, as required by law, in the Courthouse to cast their official ballots of election of the next King. Lunalilo received all thirty-seven votes.)

Lunalilo was the first of the large landholding aliʻi to create a charitable trust for the benefit of his people. He was to reign for one year and twenty-five days, succumbing to pulmonary tuberculosis on February 3, 1874.

His estate included large landholdings on the five major islands, consisting of 33-ahupuaʻa, nine ʻili and more than a dozen home lots. His will, written in 1871, established a perpetual trust under the administration of three trustees to be appointed by the justices of the Hawaiian Supreme Court.

His will instructed his trustees to build a home to accommodate the poor, destitute and infirm people of Hawaiian (aboriginal) blood or extraction, with preference given to older people. The will instructed the Trustees to sell all of the estate’s land to build and maintain the home. (Supreme Court Records)

In 1884, the Kaimuki land was auctioned off. The rocky terrain held little value to its new owner, Dr. Trousseau, who was a “physician to the court of King Kalākaua”. Trousseau ended up giving his land to Senator Paul Isenberg. Theodore Lansing and AV Gear later bought the Kaimuki land (in 1898.) (Lee)

Gear, Lansing & Co, one of Honolulu’s first real estate firms, envisioned Kaimuki becoming a high-class residential area, but was stymied by buyers’ lack of interest.

Later Charlie Stanton, FE Steere and Frank E Thompson formed the Kaimuki Land Company and took over the Kaimuki tracts. Eventually, they turned it over to Waterhouse Trust Company who sold the land for eight cents a square foot and nine cents for corner lots. (Takasaki)

(There appear to be some interchangeable names of the development entity: Kaimuki Land Company, Pālolo Land Company and Pālolo Land and Improvement Co.)

The Pālolo Land Company is an organization composed of several gentlemen who own upper Pālolo Valley and the scenic portion of Pālolo Hill it overlooks Kaimuki, and from Upper Pālolo Hill half of Oʻahu Island may be seen. Splendid roads have recently been constructed. (Mid-Pacific Magazine)

Not familiar with the Pālolo Hill subdivision name?

It’s not clear if any official name change took place, but we now typically refer to this area as “Wilhelmina Rise” and Maunalani Heights. (Some incorrectly say it was developed by Matson in the 1930s; the above notes it was built 20-years before and by local real estate developers.)

However, “The streets are … named after the steamers that make regular calls at the port of Honolulu. Wilhelmina Rise is a broad and absolutely straight thoroughfare extending for a mile and a half up the slope of Pālolo Hill.” (Evening Bulletin, December 9, 1910)

Up Pālolo Hill (Wilhelmina Rise,) you’ll find Lurline, Matsonia, Maunalani, Mana, Sierra, Wilhelmina, and Claudine, Matson liners and freighters.

April 1, 2022 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Diamond Head Charlie

“Ste-e-e-mer off Koko Head!” (PCA, 1906)

“Every merchant was supplied with the code, and whenever a schooner, a steamer, a mail packet, or a man of war, was sighted, the heart of the town knew it immediately.” (Hawaiian Star, February 10, 1899)

Pu‘u O Kaimukī (aka “Kaimukī Hill”) was used as a sighting and signal station (using semaphore technology,) giving it the name “telegraph hill.” It had broad view over the Pacific and line-of-sight to downtown Honolulu. Back then, they used this vantage point to spot ships coming in, and then conveyed the news to Honolulu.

This is where John Charles Pedersen was first stationed. Petersen was appointed lookout … by the then Minister of the Interior, Samuel G Wilder. The station was located at the top of Kaimuki Hill. (Evening Bulletin, September 27, 1907)

Semaphore towers used arms and blades/paddles to convey messages; messages were conveyed/decoded based on the fixed positions of these arms. Reportedly, in 1857, a semaphore mechanism on Puʻu O Kaimukī, with large moveable arms, was attached to the top of a sixty-foot pole and used to signal to Honolulu.

The official receiving station from Kaimukī was on Merchant Street, but some have suggested other receiving stations at Kaʻahumanu Street and the foot of Nuʻuanu.

Diamond Head was connected by telephone with the book store of Whitney & Robertson conducted in Honolulu Hale. (Evening Bulletin, September 27, 1907)

Petersen’s regular weather reports (telephoned every evening promptly at 10 o’clock,) “Diamond Head – 10 pm – weather, hazy; wind, fresh, NE,” or calls with a ship sighting, “Ste-e-e-mer off Koko Head!” “gladdens the hearts of thousands of people every week.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 29, 1906)

Following the call, HECO’s whistle would scream three long blasts, loud enough for all Honolulu to hear. This meant the ship would arrive in two hours, and people rushed to the harbor.

“All hands, including government officials of many grades and various departments, agents’ representatives, post office clerks, hotel and newspaper men, waterfronters, hackmen, messengers, shipping men, storekeepers, the large army of people “expecting friends,” and frequently Captain Berger and the Hawaiian Band, make haste to get down to the dock to ‘see the steamer come in.’” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 29, 1906)

“For many years all Honolulu has depended on one man to announce the sighting of mail and freight steamers as well as the fleet of ‘windjammers.’ … ‘John Chas. Peterson, Keeper Diamond Head Signal Station,’ as he is designated in the directory.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 29, 1906)

He was better known as Diamond Head Charlie.

Petersen was born in Gothenburg, Sweden. He came to the Islands eighteen years ago from San Francisco in the old schooner Lizzie Wight. He left for a short while, returned and married a Hawaiian who died four months after her child was born. “The pledge of their union still lives to cheer the father’s heart.”

“His house is built on a rough slope of Diamond Head, facing the sea and from its position the faithful lookout commands an almost unlimited view of the broad Pacific. His business is to watch for incoming vessels and report them. … He watches with unfailing zeal, and it is very seldom that a vessel ever escapes his sharp eyes.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 19, 1894)

“The great landmark on which he passes his time is well known to tourists and others, and it is eagerly watched for from the decks of incoming steamers. With the aid of glasses passengers can detect a small cottage, painted white, which is built on the side of the bleak extinct volcano.”

“Their home consists of bedrooms, a tiny bit of a pantry, and an observation room, from which Peterson scans the sea. On one side a large water tank stands, encased in wood; they must store the rain water or else go as far as James Campbell’s for the fluid.”

“In front of the cottage stands a flagpole eighty feet high, which is used for signaling. In a locker “Charlie” has a full complement of flags, and is proud of his belonging.”

“A large telescope stands in the observation room, which aids the eye to see a distance of at least thirty miles. It is a powerful glass and when a vessel is eight miles away she does not appear to be more than 1000 yards distant. This telescope was presented to the lookout by Wm. G. Irwin and other merchants about town.”

“Peterson is on duty about seventeen hours every day, and divides his time between watching for vessels and cooking his meals. He has no servants, and of course must prepare his own food, which is done under great difficulties at times, as he has no kitchen.”

“He comes to town but once a month for his pay. While he is absent from his post, which is taken for the time being by a native, he usually purchases enough supplies to last him a month. His salary at present is $75 a month. He started in sixteen years ago at $50, and after a year’s time the sum was increased to $60. He worked for twelve years for the last mentioned sum.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 19, 1894)

“His glory began to grow dim when the lighthouse was erected at the Head and a keeper came to divide honors with him. Though he has constantly been an important factor to the business community and reported the ships appearing off the port, he became less a household word after the installation of the trans-Pacific cable.” (Evening Bulletin, September 27, 1907)

“Each year since 1895 General Soper has made a Christmas collection for Charlie among the business men of the town. The largest sum was $440 collected in 1902. Charlie was a faithful man and the news of his death (September 27, 1907) caused widespread expressions of regret throughout the town. (Evening Bulletin, September 27, 1907)

“For several weeks past Peterson was in the hospital and little hope was held for his recovery. Close on the allotted three score years and ten, he now sighted that mysterious bark whose captain is called Death.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, September 28, 1907)

September 22, 2019 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Pu‘u O Kaimukī – Telegraph Hill

When King Kamehameha stationed his troops on the beaches of Waikīkī in preparation for the battle to take O‘ahu, he stationed lookouts at Pu‘u O Kaimukī (aka “Kaimukī Hill”) to spot enemies arriving by sea.

When Honolulu became a major port, “Kaimukī Hill” was used as a signal station (using semaphore technology,) giving it the name “telegraph hill.” It had broad view over the Pacific and line-of-sight to downtown Honolulu. Back then, they used this vantage point to spot ships coming in, and then conveyed the news to Honolulu.

Optical “telegraphs” or signaling devices have been traced back to ancient times (initially using torches) and were the fastest systems to convey messages over long distances; these “telegraphs” eventually moved toward semaphore towers.

If Internet and its communications channels are at the forefront of the signaling opportunities of the 21st century, the semaphore was the signals intelligence breakthrough at the time of Napoleon (and Washington and Kamehameha.)

Semaphore towers used arms and blades/paddles to convey messages; messages were conveyed/decoded based on the fixed positions of these arms.

During the Napoleonic Wars, the French revolutionized land-based communications with the construction of semaphore towers bearing rotating arms to fashion coded signals. The British quickly followed suit in that new era of signals intelligence.

The semaphore tower/semaphore line design was first thought up by Robert Hooke in 1684 and submitted to the Royal Society. The system was not implemented, though, due to military concerns.

However, this did lead to Claude Chappe developing the first visual telegraph in 1792 – eventually covering much of France via 556 stations. In France, this was the primary source of communication for military and national applications, until it became more widely used in the 1850s.

In Hawaiʻi, Kaimukī Hill had been used as a semaphore signal station ever since Fair Haven (Honolulu Harbor) became prominent in Hawaiian commerce. This semaphore station reported all incoming ships from Koko Head to Barber’s Point.

“Before the telephone was invented, and long before the system was in use in Honolulu, we had the lookout station on Telegraph Hill, which by means of a semaphore arrangement communicated with a station on the building (downtown.) Every merchant was supplied with the code, and whenever a schooner, a steamer, a mail packet, or a man of war, was sighted, the heart of the town knew it immediately.” (Hawaiian Star, February 10, 1899)

“From Telegraph Hill and the slopes toward Waiʻalae may be seen Koko Head, the beautiful expanse of ocean and on clear days the distant islands of Molokai, Lanai, and Maui. On the town side, the residents look over the town, across the cane fields to the Waianae range.” (Evening Bulletin, September 26, 1898)

“Mauka of Diamond Head, for a distance of three or four miles is a high ridge that vernacular geologists call a “hog back.” At the most elevated point on this ridge is the debris of Telegraph Hill (Kaimuki). In the olden days vessels coming from the north were signalled to the city from Kaimuki by a semaphore system, clear and effective. The town end of the line was a building on Kaahumanu street, then occupied as a sail loft.” (Hawaiian Gazette, January 13, 1899)

Reportedly, in 1857, a semaphore mechanism on Puʻu O Kaimukī, with large moveable arms, was attached to the top of a sixty-foot pole and used to signal to Honolulu.

The official receiving station from Kaimukī was on Merchant Street, but some have suggested other receiving stations at Kaʻahumanu Street and the foot of Nuʻuanu.

Upon receiving the message, a signal was broadcast to the town noting the names and ports of origin of each ship coming into view. This information was announced in Honolulu by loud proclamation and bell ringing, and preparation made to tow the vessel in by hand or bullock power.

In 1866, the roof of Honolulu Hale on Merchant Street was fitted with a new marine lookout with a taller semaphore, making its signals accessible to a larger segment of the population.

This optical telegraph system was an important tool for residents of Honolulu. The signals were unique and people became familiar with them, so most could decode the signal and know which ships were coming.

Likewise, besides alerting the postmaster to the imminent arrival of the mail, it was helpful to merchants expecting new goods and people awaiting friends and relatives.

Semaphore was then called “marine telegraph”, and it seems logical that the early map-makers of Hawaiʻi would name the hill “Telegraph Hill.”

Puʻu O Kaimukī had several colloquial names; one was Christmas Tree Park. There’s a bare metal Christmas-Tree-looking pole. It’s not a remnant of the prior semaphore communications, it’s just a Christmas tree, built by the City and County soon after the park’s christening in 1991. Every year since then the big metal tree gets hung with Christmas lights.

It’s also referred to as Reservoir Park, a reminder of the days in the early 1900s when the top of the hill housed a water storage tank for the Honolulu Water Works. Another name is Bunker Hill, from the World War II era when the spot became a handy surveillance bunker for the military.

It’s known today as Puʻu o Kaimukī Park and is just behind (makai) the Kaimukī Fire Station.

On November 13, 1900, the first Marconi wireless telegraph system was set up and messages were sent and received between Oʻahu and Molokaʻi across a twenty-eight mile channel. Military semaphore flag signals are still used, today

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