Kapiolani Park | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

May 11, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Sport of Kings, the King of Sports

Most horse races last about two minutes.

An average racehorse’s stride length is 20-21 feet long, while an elite racehorse may have a stride length of 24 feet. Racehorses will take up to 150 strides per minute and their stride frequency is synchronized with breathing frequency. (Kansas State University)

The heart is one of the horse’s strengths in racing. The size of a volleyball, or basketball in elite horses, the average horse’s heart weighs approximately 10 pounds. An elite racehorse’s heart may weigh more than 20 pounds and pump more than 75 gallons of blood per minute during a race. (Kansas State University)

It’s not clear when the first horse race took place – some suggest racing dates back to 4500 BC. On the continent, following the lead from our friends in the UK, horse racing dates back to 1665, with the establishment of the Newmarket course in Salisbury Plains section of the Hempstead Plains of Long Island, New York.

By the turn of the last century, horse racing surpassed all other spectator sports in popularity. And it grew, as noted in the headline of the April 30, 1953 New York Times, “Racing Now Virtual King of Sports, Topping Baseball in Gate Appeal; Horse Racing Tops Baseball At Gate”.

Horse racing, which used to be called the sport of kings, was threatening to become the king of sports. (NY Times, 1953) It is suggested it is nicknamed the ‘Sport of Kings’ because the original patrons of the sport in Europe were members of monarchies, or were closely related to those who were.

So, what about horse racing in the Islands? It had a kingly start here, as well.

June 21, 1803 marked an important day in Hawaiʻi horse history when the Lelia Byrd, an American ship under Captain William Shaler, arrived at Kealakekua Bay with two mares and a stallion on board – they were gifts for King Kamehameha I.

The captain left one of the mares with John Young (a trusted advisor of the King, who begged for one of the animals) then left for Lāhainā, Maui to give the mare and stallion to Kamehameha.

It’s not clear when the first horse race occurred in Hawaiʻi. An early account of a race occurred in the Polynesian on March 6, 1858, “… a horse race came off on the Waikiki race ground between Mr. MM Webster’s bay horse “Eclipse” and Mr. Kaikainahaole’s sorrel horse name unknown, for $350 aside. The outside betting was very spirited … (t)he crowd of spectators of all degrees and classes could not have been short of a thousand”. (The judges declared a “no race” and all bets were off.)

Later, King Kamehameha V, held a celebration on his birthday, December 11, 1871, to honor Kamehameha I; “a public celebration was held with horse-riding and other sports.” The date later moved to June 11, because of the better weather, and celebrated chiefly by horse races in Kapiʻolani Park, but the races eventually gave way to today’s parades of floats and pāʻū riders (that date became Kamehameha Day.)

Later, King Kalākaua dedicated Kapiʻolani Park to allow “families, children, and quiet people” to find “refreshment and recreation” in the “kindly influences of nature,” and to be a “place of innocent refreshment.”

An important part of the initial park was its oval horse race track. King Kalākaua reportedly liked gambling on horse racing and in 1872 he helped form The Hawaiian Jockey Club (this organized the sport according to the rules that governed races elsewhere.) (Kapiʻolani Park’s racetrack closed in 1926.)

This wasn’t Hawaiʻi’s only horse race track.

In the late-1800s and early-1900s there was a horse racing track (Koko O Na Moku Horse Racing Track) at Kāʻanapali Beach that stretched from the present day Kāʻanapali Beach Hotel to the present day Westin Maui Resort. Races, there, ended in 1918.

The Maui County Fair & Horse Racing Association developed the old permanent Fairgrounds on Puʻunene Avenue in Kahului; the Fairgrounds included a horse-racing track. The first County Fair was held in 1918.

In 1939, the Oʻahu Jockey Club built the Kailua Race Track, on the Windward side. In a day and age when Seabiscuit and War Admiral were stealing Mainland sports headlines, more than 6,000 fans turned out for 10 races at the brand new Kailua Race Track. (Hogue, MidWeek) Races there reportedly continued to 1952.

Colonel Zephaniah Spalding built a race track at Waipouli on Kauaʻi in about 1880. His polo playing son, James Spalding, built the polo field inside the race track about 1915. A June 1920 The Garden Island noted: “HORSE PLAY – Saturday, July 3rd will be a big day at Waipouli race track. The morning will be devoted to horse races, of which a splendid program has been arranged. In the afternoon there will be a polo game between the Reds and the Blues.”

Hilo had a track at the Hoʻolulu Park; it was started in 1900 as a horse track, with a circular half-mile loop, and used for other events such as baseball. A grandstand was built in 1925 and nighttime baseball games started in 1928. (Narimatsu) After the 1946 tsunami, it was used as an evacuation center where folks impacted by the tsunami who were tended by the Red Cross workers.

Later, the Honolulu Record noted (June 19, 1958,) “The first horse races in several years were held at the Hoolulu Park race track on Kamehameha Day. The Hawaii Paniola Club sponsored the program. A crowd of some 1,600 fans saw the 19 races run off. Proceeds from the show went to the Big Isle chapter of the Hawaii Cancer Fund.”

Finally, we cannot overlook the track and rodeo facility at Parker Ranch in Waimea on the Big Island. Parker was “importing horses from the finest Mainland and English racing lines to develop the thoroughbred breed in Hawaii … as a result, the thoroughbreds racing today in Hawaii are of the same top blood lines as the prize horses in the United States and England.”

The ranch opened its race track in about 1947; over the years, races consisted of a series of races (relays, quarter mile grade, three-eighths and three-quarter mile thoroughbred.)

Every 4th of July and Labor Day, Parker Ranch continues to host its races and rodeo for thousands of participants, as well as other events throughout the year.

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Kailua-Horse_Racing-(honolulumagazine)-Sept1945

Kahului-UH_Manoa-USGS-(4785)-1965-portion_noting-Kahului_Track

Wailua-UH-Manoa-USGS-(3148)-1950-area of Waipouli Track is noted

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Waikik-(USGS-UH-Manoa)-(2420)-1952-(portion-you_can_still_see_alignment_of_the_race_track)

Waipouli_Race_Track_and_Polo_Field-Program-1924

Parker Ranch-Walter Stevens (out front)grabs the baton from partner, Mark Yamaguchi-(WaimeaGazette)-1997

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Kapiolani-People in the stands at a horse race-(waikikivisitor-com)

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Kapiolani-Man riding a bike on the Kapi‘olani race track-(waikikivisitor-com)

Kapiolani-Horse races were a popular activity at Kapi‘olani Park-(waikikivisitor-com)

Kapiolani_Park_Association-Stock_Certificate-(kapiolani_park-a_history)

Kahului_Fairgrounds-Track-Akira Ishikawa-jockey-(star-bulletin)

Kahului_Fairgrounds-program-(wolfgangsvault)

Kaanapali's Koko O Na Moku Horse Racing Track (closed in 1918)

Hoolulu-Hilo-(USGS-UH_Manoa)-(1675)-1954-(portion_noting_Hoolulu_Track)

November 20, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kapiʻolani Park Fountain

In 1919, in commemoration of the coronation of Emperor Yoshihito (and a sign of good Japanese-Hawaiian relations,) Japanese in Hawaiʻi offered to construct a modified duplicate of the fountain in Hibiya Park Tokyo in Kapiʻolani Park.

The official presentation of the “Phoenix Fountain” was conducted by Consul General Moroi who announced the fountain was a “testimonial of friendship and equality of the Japanese residing in the Hawaiian Islands.”

One Japanese speaker noted, “We are assembled here to mark a spot of everlasting importance in the annals of the history of the Japanese people of Hawaii.”

Unfortunately, such friendship and trust did not prevail over the years, the victim of racial turmoil generated by World War II.

Reportedly, the Honolulu Advertiser noted on the 1st anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor that the “fountain which stood in Kapiʻolani Park for 25-years as a public symbol of Japanese imperialism may at last be removed.”

Following the racial animosity generated by World War II, in 1943, the Phoenix Fountain was destroyed and turned to scrap. A basic fountain was built.

Later, in the 1960s, the city constructed a fountain in honor of Louise Dillingham, who served many years as a member of the former City Parks Board (reportedly, the Walter and Louise Dillingham Foundation gave the fountain to the city in 1966.)

Her husband Walter Dillingham is known for the huge changes he made to Honolulu’s landscape – which included draining Waikīkī’s wetlands, dredging the Ala Wai Canal and filling in Waikīkī’s wetlands.

Today the fountain at Kapiʻolani Park has become a popular resting spot for joggers and a regular backdrop for photos (it has also served in scenes in prior Hawaii Five-O episodes.)

It’s located across the street from the Elks Club at Poni Moi Street.

The fountain is presently empty and idle, and has been this way for several months now. As for its current status, here’s an update from Nathan Serota, spokesman for the parks department: “Currently we are determining the best course of action to get the Dillingham Fountain operational.”

“Following an assessment of the fountain, city electricians believe the entire electrical system will likely need to be replaced. Simple repairs will not suffice. There is significant damage to the pump room, including within the electric vault. Because of these safety hazards, Hawaiian Electric has removed the two meters servicing the fountain.”

“An initial cost estimate to replace the electrical system is $300,000.” (Star Advertiser)

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Spouting Crane Fountain-Hibiya ParkTokyo-1905

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October 24, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

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.

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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.

October 22, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Sticky Wicket

Cricket has an unclear origin, but it probably was developed in medieval England before 1400 – by the end of the 18th century, it became the national sport in England.

Cricket has a long and illustrious history in Hawaiʻi dating back to the mid-nineteenth century. It is believed that the game was first played in Hawaii by Scottish engineers working at sugar companies in Oʻahu, the Big Island and Maui.

Cricket was sweeping the British Empire in the 19th century, and there were a number of Brits in the islands – and the Hawaiian royals had forged such a strong connection with the House of Windsor that Queen Lili‘uokalani even traveled to England to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. (Hana Hou)

Established in 1893, Honolulu Cricket Club is the oldest sporting club in the Pacific (according to Guinness World Records) and the second oldest cricket club West of the Appalachian Mountains.

One of the first enthusiast cricket supporters in Hawaiʻi was Alexander Liholiho (1834-1863), King Kamehameha IV. Reportedly, English cricket was one of the King’s favorite games.

The first cricket pitch in Honolulu is near where Makiki District Park is located and was known as the Makiki cricket grounds. There are several reports of teams travelling around the islands playing local teams, as well as crews from visiting ships.

Cricket is a bat-and-ball team sport for two teams of eleven players each. A formal game of cricket can last anywhere from an afternoon to several days.

Although the game play and rules are very different, the basic concept of cricket is similar to that of baseball. Teams bat in successive innings and attempt to score runs, while the opposing team fields and attempts to bring an end to the batting team’s innings.

A cricket field is a roughly elliptical field of flat grass, ranging in size from about 100-160 yards across, bounded by an obvious fence or other marker.

There is no fixed size or shape for the field, although large deviations from a low-eccentricity ellipse are discouraged. In the center of the field, and usually aligned along the long axis of the ellipse, is the ‘pitch,’ a carefully prepared rectangle of closely mown and rolled grass over hard packed earth.

Behind each batsman is a target called a wicket. One designated member of the fielding team, called the bowler, is given a ball, and attempts to bowl the ball from one end of the ‘pitch’ to the wicket behind the batsman on the other side of the pitch. The batsman tries to prevent the ball from hitting the wicket by striking the ball with a bat.

After each team has batted an equal number of innings (either one or two, depending on conditions chosen before the game,) the team with the most runs wins.

Gamers use terms like: Arm Ball, Asking Rate, Ball Red, Bat-Pad, Belter, Blob, Bosie, Bump Ball, Bunny, Bunsen, Chest-on, Chinaman Chin Music, Corridor of Uncertainty, Cow Corner and Cross Bat – and that’s only a few of the words from the A, B & Cs – there are tons more if you are really curious.

For additional Cricket information and rules, you can visit: http://www.cs.purdue.edu/homes/hosking/cricket/explanation.htm

Established ‘pitch’ cricket grounds are reportedly at Kapiʻolani Park and Baldwin Beach Park on the Hana Highway in Pāʻia, Maui.

The Honolulu Cricket Club notes on its website that it plays the Maui Cricket Club regularly for the Alexander Liholiho “Ipu Pilialoha O Hawaii” (Hawaiian Friendship Cup.)

Reportedly, today, cricket is second only to soccer as the most popular sport in the world.

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RestorerTeam-(honolulucricketclub-org)-1904

Working Members of the Honolulu Cricket Club-(honolulucricketclub-org)-1907

Cricketer-Yes, I cocked one off the splice in the gully and the blighter gathered it-Father-Yes, but how did you get out-Were you caught, stumped or bowled or what

HCC_Shirt_1982-(honolulucricketclub-org)

Batsman James Le Marchant Lawrence positions a wooden bail atop the stumps to form the wicket-(honolulucricketclub-org)

Batter Bishnu Ramsarran and wicketkeeper Owen O'Callaghan keep their eyes on the ball during play at Kapiolani Park-(honolulucricketclub-org)

HCC_at_wicket_in_early_1980s-(honolulucricketclub-org)

Raghu Srinivasan, left, and James Le Marchant Lawrence of the Spitting Cobras, pass each other en route to scoring a run-(honolulucricketclub-org)

Allen Greenridge (HCC) facing David Withers (EP)-(mauicricketclub-org)

Maui's cricket ground with Mt Haleakala in the background-(mauicricketclub-org)

Souths_bowling_to_Scots-(honolulucricketclub-org)

September 29, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kapiʻolani Park Bandstand

In the late-1800s and early-1900s the central area, and the dominant feature, of Kapiʻolani Park was an oval race track. The western end of Kapiʻolani Park was a swamp fed by runoff and sediment carried by streams from the Koʻolau Mountains.

A duck pond and kalo loʻi were in what is now the site of the Honolulu Zoo.

At that time, there was the desire to create a watery landscape and areas of dry parkland; this resulted in the “construction of a system of canals and ditches from which water was drained to create a collection of small islands and ponds.”

The largest of these ponds was located at the site of the current Honolulu Zoo. An island stood in the middle of the pond and was named Makee Island, after James Makee (a Scottish whaling ship captain, one of the founders of the Kapiʻolani Park Association that established Kapiʻolani Park and friend to King Kalākaua.)

The ponds created a watery landscape in an otherwise dry and flat park; the ponds were used for boating and the tree lined islands, which were accessible by footbridges, were popular spots for picnicking.

A small, covered bandstand (the first of several subsequent Kapiʻolani Park Bandstands) was located on Makee Island.

To get to there you either rowed across the waterway or crossed over on one of several narrow wooden plank bridges.

The Bandstand, originally built in the late-1890s, served as Kapiʻolani Park’s stage for community entertainment and concerts, including regular performances by the Royal Hawaiian Band.

Founded in 1836 by order of King Kamehameha III, the Royal Hawaiian Band is one of the last living links to Hawaiʻi’s monarchy. The “King’s Band,” as it was once known, became a staple of daily life with performances at state occasions, funerals and marching in parades.

The band accompanied reigning monarchs of the time on frequent trips to the neighbor islands and brought their music to remote destinations of the kingdom. Today, the Royal Hawaiian Band continues the legacy and performs and marches in over 300 concerts and parades each year.

By late-1920s the Ala Wai Canal project drained and filled Waikīkī’s waterways to create Kapiʻolani Park as we generally know it today. In 1926 a replacement bandstand in the drained Park was built.

A double row of ironwood trees flanked a path comprised of crushed coral was planted to the east of this second bandstand. The trees were planted as an “allee,” a term borrowed from French landscape architecture of the seventeenth century to describe a long, avenue lined by a double row of trees.

The allee is about 500 feet long and is a remnant of a former carriage road or system or paths and roads that were constructed to provide access to scenic areas within the park.

Bandstand number three replaced this facility in 1968. The pretty much concrete, utilitarian bandstand was designed by Wilson, Okamoto and Associates and was sited at the ʻEwa end of the Park (near the prior.)

Then, in 2000, the 4th and existing Kapiʻolani Park Bandstand was constructed in this location. Designed in the “Contemporary Hawaiian Victoriana” style.

Kapiʻolani Park has hosted four different bandstands over the years, and it appears each served a useful life of about forty-years before being replaced with another in differing design and functionality.

While the design and scale of each bandstand has changed each time, a constant has been its role as a focal point for island entertainment and festivals.

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Kapiolani_Bandstand-Royal_Hawaiian_Band_Playing_in_Original_Bandstand_on_McKee_Island-(kapiolani_park-a_history)

20000629 – The original grandstand that stood on Makee island, Kapiolani Park. From the book, the View from Diamond Head. Hibbard and Franzen. Press release photo.