Kauai | Page 10 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

December 14, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Telling Time

Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care?

The answer to both is Yes … and Kekaha on Kauai has the distinction of being one of only two official Time broadcast points in the United States (the other is in Fort Collins, Colorado.)

At first, I thought “Time” was a pretty simple thing. Oh yeah, every now and then we need to mentally add or subtract an extra hour between points on the continent for time zone changes – and most folks there need to adjust for “Daylight” or not – but in looking into the Kauai operation, I quickly learned that there are many variables of “Time.”

OK, let’s fast forward past the daylight-darkness, sundial, wind-up and quartz watch timing eras … nowadays, transportation, communication, financial transactions, manufacturing, electric power and many other technologies have become dependent on accurate clocks; folks need to be more accurate than being “about” a certain time.

In addition, some folks need time referenced to the Earth’s rotation for applications such as celestial navigation, satellite observations of the Earth and some types of surveying. For those folks, Time relative to the motion of the Earth is more important than the accuracy of the atomic clock (even though Earth time fluctuates by a few thousandths of a second a day.)

For the rest of us, highly accurate atomic clocks and the agreement in 1967 on what a “second” is (the duration of 9,192,631,770 cycles of the radiation associated with a specified transition of the cesium atom) led to a compromise time scale of the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC.)

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST – an agency of the US Department of Commerce) laboratories in Boulder, Colorado does the computing for us and even broadcasts the UTC(NIST) via various means. (UTC(NIST) is the US national standard for measurements of time-of-day, time interval and frequency.

Here’s the official statement on what they do: “UTC(NIST) is the coordinated universal time scale maintained at NIST. The UTC(NIST) time scale comprises an ensemble of cesium beam and hydrogen maser atomic clocks, which are regularly calibrated by the NIST primary frequency standard. The number of clocks in the time scale varies, but is typically around ten.”

“The outputs of the clocks are combined into a single signal by using a weighted average. The most stable clocks are assigned the most weight. The clocks in the UTC(NIST) time scale also contribute to the International Atomic Time (TAI) and Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).”

“UTC(NIST) serves as a national standard for frequency time interval, and time-of-day. It is distributed through the NIST time and frequency services and continuously compared to the time and frequency standards located around the world.”

Whoa, that’s waaay more information than I needed; … and, I think you are confusing me with someone who cares. (Short answer, those guys “keep” the time.) OK, let’s move on.

If you really want to know what Time it is, go to http://nist.time.gov , select your desired time zone in the US and the time will be displayed for you.

Or, call to hear the “Time” broadcasts by dialing (303) 499-7111 for WWV (Colorado) and (808) 335-4363 for WWVH (Hawaiʻi).

These are not toll-free numbers; callers outside the local calling area are charged for the call at regular long-distance rates. The telephone time-of-day service is used to synchronize clocks and watches and for the calibration of stopwatches and timers. It receives about 2,000 calls per day.

OK, back to Kauai.

At Kokole Point at Mānā, Kauai, the NIST radio station WWVH broadcasts time and frequency information 24 hours per day, 7 days per week to listeners worldwide. (These are the guys who “tell” the time.)

The information broadcast by WWVH includes time announcements, standard time intervals, standard frequencies, UT1 time corrections (time derived by astronomers who monitor the speed of the Earth’s rotation,) a BCD time code (time data is coded binary coded decimal (BCD) digits in the form HH:MM:SS:FF,) geophysical alerts, marine storm warnings and Global Positioning System (GPS) status reports.

Voice announcements are made from WWVH once every minute. The announced time is “Coordinated Universal Time” (UTC). Coordination with the international UTC time scale keeps NIST time signals in close agreement with signals from other time and frequency stations throughout the world.

UTC differs from local time by the number of time zones between your location and the zero meridian (which passes through Greenwich, England.) (In Hawaiʻi, it’s UTC – 10 (the online and telephone time broadcasts are calibrated for Hawaiʻi.))

UTC is a 24-hour clock system. When local time changes from Daylight Saving to Standard Time, or vice versa, UTC does not change. However, the difference between UTC and local time may change by 1-hour. UTC runs at an almost perfectly constant rate, since its rate is based on cesium atomic frequency standards.

In addition to the time-related data, NOAA uses WWVH to broadcast geophysical alert messages that provide information about solar terrestrial conditions. Marine storm warnings are broadcast for the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the Gulf of Mexico. The National Weather Service provides the storm warning information. (This information is broadcast at specific time intervals in each hour.)

Another critical function of the WWV system (especially for Hawaiʻi) is keeping the clocks on the GPS satellites in sync. GPS technology requires very accurate timekeeping as the difference in radio signal arrival is a big part of fixing your location. Without WWVH, the GPS system would drift off and lots of transportation and related functions would be affected (airplanes, ships, self-driving cars, etc.)

WWVH began operation on November 22, 1948 at Kihei on the island of Maui (the site now houses the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary offices.) In July 1971, the station moved to its current location, near Kekaha, Kauai.

For those wondering why these two facilities, that are west of the Mississippi River, have call signs that start with “W” (typically, station call signs west of the Mississippi start with “K” and those east start with “W,”) the time station’s early location was in Washington, DC (May 1920) – when it moved to Fort Collins (1966,) it kept the call sign. For consistency, Kauai followed the call sign pattern.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

QSL_Card_currently_sent_to_WWVH_listeners_who confirmed_reception

QSL_Card_sent_to_listeners_who confirmed_reception_of_first_Kauai_broadcast-1971

November 12, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Grove Farm Homestead – Kaua‘i

The decline of the whaling industry following the discovery of petroleum oil in Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1859 created a temporary economic vacuum in Hawai‘i.

Although sugar had a relatively slow start after the initial first successful sugar plantation at Kōloa, Kaua‘i (1835,) it soon started to prosper.

However, it wasn’t until the American Civil War, which virtually shut down Louisiana sugar production during the 1860s, that Hawai‘i was able to compete in a California market that paid elevated prices for sugar.

It was about this time (1864) that George Norton Wilcox (known as GN,) the second son of eight boys, born in Hilo August 15, 1839 to missionary parents, Abner and Lucy Wilcox, took over the lease for Grove Farm sugar operation on Kaua‘i and quickly became its sole owner.

The plantation had initially been chopped out of a large grove of kukui trees and was thereafter called the Grove Farm.

Initially schooled at Punahou, he then studied engineering on the mainland at the Sheffield Scientific School, now a part of Yale University; GN was an enterprising innovator of plantation sugar culture.

GN realized that his plantation lacked enough water, which is the key to successfully growing sugar. His first major innovation was the engineering and digging of an extensive irrigation ditch, in which water was brought from the mountains to his thirsty sugar fields.

Many modernizing changes occurred throughout the plantation, from the construction of the innovative water irrigation system to the creation of new cultivating machinery and planting methods to the use of the first sugar cane seed planter in the islands.

His Grove Farm Homestead was the center of operations for the developing sugar plantation and involved the relationship of family life, plantation activity, household work, gardening and farming which continue as a part of the experience of visiting Grove Farm today.

Today, the 100-acre Grove Farm Homestead preserves the earliest surviving set of domestic, agricultural and sugar plantation buildings, furnishings and collections, surrounding orchards and pasturelands in Hawaiʻi.

Grove Farm Homestead is the finest example in Hawaii of a complete plantation operation still in its original form. The estate was added to the National Register of Historic Places listings in Hawaii on June 25, 1974.

The original house (pre-dated 1854; exact date unknown) started as a single story, wood frame structure with a very high pitched hip roof with very wide eave overhand which is supported by square wood posts at the eave and covers a veranda which encircles the house on three sides.

To the rear of this building is a kitchen-food preparation building with access off the veranda.

During a 1915 renovation of the structure (under the direction of CW Dickey,) walls were removed and large openings placed adjoining each of the three rooms creating a feeling of openness and flow from one space to another.

The main estate house has two bedrooms, writing room, two bathrooms and a library on the first floor. A grand staircase leads up to the second floor which has more bedrooms. Behind the main house is a hexagonal gazebo styled after a Japanese teahouse, built in 1898.

To the south is a guest cottage divided into two living areas, built around 1890. Another single story cottage was built in 1877 for GN Wilcox, and an office building was built in 1884. A number of support buildings include a tool shed (dated 1870,) a garage and a number of small, single-story, wood-frame plantation workers’ houses.

The plantation buildings reflect a style adaptive to climatic conditions in the area (wide veranda, high pitched roofs), while the main house is a unique reminder of the 1850s renovated into the 20th Century.

Historically, Grove Farm Homestead is of great importance to Hawai‘i. It was developed under the direction of George N. Wilcox, one of the most important men in Hawaiʻi from the 1860s to 1933, when he died at the age of 93.

GN Wilcox was not only a plantation owner; he was also an engineer, statesman, businessman and a world traveler. More importantly, he was also a philanthropist and humanist, who left an extensive legacy of endowments and public donations behind him.

The main house is now a private museum with tours by appointment. Advance reservations are required for an unhurried two-hour guided tour of the buildings, gardens and grounds at Grove Farm.

Tours are given in small groups and are led by Kaua‘i residents familiar with life on the island, and are offered on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, beginning promptly at 10 am and 1 pm. There is a $20 requested donation for adults and $10 for children 5-12 years old.

A few decades ago, I had the opportunity to have a private tour of the Grove Farm Homestead with Barnes Risnik, then manager of the Grove Farm Homestead Museum. That was an awesome and memorable experience.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

BEDROOM, LOWER LEVEL, LOOKING NORTHEAST-LOC

19991001 – George N. Wilcox. 1880? Press release photo.

BEDROOM, SECOND FLOOR, NORTHEAST CORNER0LOC

BEDROOM, UPSTAIRS, NORTHWEST CORNER LOOKING SOUTHWEST-LOC

DINING ROOM, LOOKING SOUTHEAST, DOOR IN CENTER GOES TO LANAI AND COOK HOUSE-LOC

DRAWING ROOM, LIBRARY ON LEFT, LOOKING SOUTHWEST-LOC

LANAI AND ORIGINAL STRUCTURE, LOOKING SOUTHEAST-LOC

LIBRARY LOOKING NORTH TOWARD DRAWING ROOM (NOTE-THREE ENTRIES TO LIBRARY FROM OUTSIDE; LEFT, RIGHT, AND BEHIND PHOTOGRAPHER-LOC

LIVING ROOM, HIP ROOF BUILDING, LOOKING SOUTH THROUGH DINING, DRAWING ROOM-LOC

SEWING ROOM, SECOND FLOOR, SOUTHWEST CORNER-LOC

UPSTAIRS BEDROOM, SOUTHEAST CORNER, LOOKING NORTHEAST, ROOF OF LAUNDRY HOUSE CAN BE SEEN OUT WINDOW-LOC

WILCOX'S OFFICE, LOOKING NORTHWEST FROM DOOR TO LIVING ROOM-LOC

Grove_Farm-Plans-W_Elevation-Section-LOC

November 3, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Nu‘alolo Kai

Located on the northwest coast of Kauai, the Nā Pali contains some of the Pacific Islands most spectacular wilderness area.

There was a string of former Hawaiian fishing villages in the seven main valleys on the Nā Pali Coast of Kauai. These remote communities relied on harvesting the fish from the sea, and growing taro in the fertile soil of the valley floors.

One of these is Nu‘alolo Kai, it’s located in a protected inlet along the Nā Pali Coast. You can’t get there by land, you must arrive by boat.

And, you need a permit from DLNR to do so.

“The mountains along the shore, for eight or ten miles, are very bold, some rising abruptly from the ocean, exhibiting the obvious effects of volcanic fires; some, a little back, appear like towering pyramids”. (Hiram Bingham, 1822)

“Here, about mid-way of what the natives call the Parre, we landed, where is an acre or two of sterile ground, bounded on one side by the ocean, and environed on the other by a stupendous rock, nearly perpendicular …”

“… forming at its base a semicircular curve, which meets the ocean at each end. In the middle of the curve, a stupendous rock rises to the height, I should say, of about 1500 feet.” (Bingham)

“Like Kalalau they had a trail from the table land above over the top of Kamaile and zigzagging down through the cliffs some 3000 feet to the valley below but even this trail was difficult. At one place you have to jump a crevice only three feet wide …”

“… but it goes down straight like a chimney and if you slipped you would only fall 800 feet to the rocks below. They call it the Puhi.” (Knudsen, late-19th-century)

“Here, the natives sometimes exhibit their fire works (ʻŌahi) in the night (from “the fire Parre”,) as they did a few nights since, when the kings lodged there.”

“Along a winding, difficult ascent, which commences by a rude ladder hanging over the sea, they climb to the very summit, and throw off firebrands, or torches, ingeniously constructed, which sail off a great distance, and fall in the ocean below.” (Bingham)

“The two most famous ʻōahi places on Kauai were Kamaile peak, rising 2500 feet over Nuuololo [Nu‘alolo] landing on the Na Pali Coast, and the high cliffs that tower over the wet caves at Haena.” (Knudsen)

“Here in Nuʻalolo Kai the fishermen built and kept their canoes and the beach must have been lined with them for the landing is most always safe as the channel is narrow and a big reef to the north protecting it.” (Knudsen)

Bishop Museum archaeological investigations, starting in 1958, noted buried structure floors and artifacts, including fishhooks and coral files, were found as deep as 6 feet below the surface.

Radiocarbon dates later showed that people first began to live at the site between AD 1300 and 1500. The presence of historic artifacts, such as glass beads and metal jewelry, told archaeologists that the site was still inhabited even after Europeans arrived in the Hawaiian Islands.

About 100 people, mostly commoners, lived in Nuʻalolo Kai. They farmed terraced taro fields, collected shellfish, and gathered coral from the fringing reef to shape their bone and shell fishhooks. Reef fish included rudderfish, unicorn tang and parrotfish.

Raw and cooked urchins were popular, and urchin gonads were used as a condiment with fish, poi (cooked taro), and sweet potato. (National Geographic)

“Their method of taking the fish from the sea is remarkable. Diving down, they place a vegetable poison among the stones at the bottom, which being greedily eaten by the fish, immediately produces on them an intoxicating effect.”

“The natives then dive or swim after them, and catch them in their hands, or, sitting in canoes, or standing near the shore, take them easily in scoop nets.” (Bingham)

Ceremonies were celebrated with ʻawa, a ritual drink also known as kava, while hula dancers chanted and pulsed to the beat of the drums. Young men hurled firebrands from the cliff of Kamaile.

Even King Kamehameha II made a trip to the island to witness the ceremonies. It’s still unclear why the site was abandoned, but Hawaiians permanently left Nuʻalolo Kai in 1919 for more populated parts of the island, including Hanalei and Waimea. (National Geographic)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Photo taken from the Pali above the western end of Nu’alolo Kai, circa 1900-(Carpenter)

Nualolo_Kai-Bishop Museum Excavations within K-2, Site 196-(Carpenter)-1958

Nualolo_Kai-Bishop Museum Excavations within K-3 & K-4, Site 196-(Carpenter)-1958

Nualolo_Kai-Bishop Museum Excavations within K-3, Site 196-(Carpenter)-1958

Nualolo_Kai-Bishop_Museum-archaeological_investigation-1958-k3-ii-008_ppt

Nualolo_Kai-Bishop_Museum-archaeological_investigation-1958-k3-i-012_ppt

Nualolo_Kai-Bishop_Museum-archaeological_investigation-1958-k3-i-013_ppt

Nualolo_Kai-Bishop_Museum-archaeological_investigation-1958-k3-iii-009_ppt

Na_Pali_Coast_Ohana-Native Hawaiian plant restoration nursery-(Wichman)

Nu'alolo Kai cliff house platforms-(Wichman)

Nualolo_Kai_restored hālau wa‘a (canoe shed)

Nualolo_Kai-Bishop_Museum-archaeological_investigation-View of the inlet at Nu'alolo Kai-1958

Nualolo_Kai-Cliff_house_Sites-(Carpenter-BishopMuseum)-1930

'Oahi'-Fireworks from 'the fire Parre'-(Carpenter)

Nualolo_Kai-Archaeological_Maps-(Carpenter)

October 16, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Mānā

Mānā is a coastal plain with an ancient sea cliff at its inner edge, which extends from Waimea in the south to the north on the western shores of Kauaʻi.

Throughout prehistory, large areas of the Mānā Plain were covered by the great Mānā wetlands, allowing native Hawaiians to canoe as far south as Waimea.

The Legend of Barking Sands suggests there was an old Hawaiian fisherman who lived in a hut near the beach with his nine dogs. During his fishing trips he would tie his dogs to stakes in the sand, three to each of three stakes. He would then get into his canoe and go fishing.

One day while he was at sea and the dogs were tied as usual, he was caught in a very bad storm. For hours he battled the heavy seas until he was finally able to return to land. He was so exhausted that he crawled to his hut, forgetting to untie his dogs.

When he awoke the next morning and went outside, the dogs were nowhere in sight. All he saw were three small mounds of sand where the dogs had been tied. As he stepped on one of the mounds, he heard a low bark. Another step brought another bark; he still couldn’t find the dogs.

Believing the dogs had been buried in the sand because of the storm the day before, the fisherman began to dig. As each shovel full was removed, more sand took its place. He finally gave up, and every day after that when he crossed the beach he could hear the low barking.

The dogs were never found, and to this day the sands of Mānā have been known as Barking Sands.

The scientific explanation of these sounds from the sands is that the grains of Mānā sand are tiny, hollow spheres. When rubbed together, the give off a popping sound similar to the barking of dogs. This only occurs when the sand is very dry. Wet sand gives off almost no sound.

Up until the mid-1880s, the great Mānā wetlands, east of the plain, covered large areas of the lowlands. Approximately 1,700-acres of permanent, semi-permanent and seasonal wetlands were present on the Mānā Plain.

After the arrival of Europeans to the island, aquaculture transitioned to agriculture through the eventual draining of the wetlands and the cultivation of sugar cane and rice.

One of the first European settlers, Valdemar Knudsen, drained a portion of the Mānā wetlands be excavating a ditch through to the ocean a Waiele. The first sugarcane was planted in Kekaha in 1878.

The area is now home to farmers and a military facility that is known as the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF.)

PMRF is a test and evaluation facility for Ballistic Missile Defense programs. It is the world’s largest instrumented multi-environment range capable of supporting surface, subsurface, air and space operations simultaneously.

There are over 1,100-square miles of instrumented underwater range and over 42,000-square miles of controlled airspace.

In 1921, the land area known as the Barking Sands was acquired by the Kekaha Sugar Company. This area became a runway for private planes. In 1932, Australian pilot Kingsford Smith completed a historic flight from Barking Sands to Australia in his Ford Trimotor.

In 1940, the US Army acquired the land, naming the installation Mana Airport and paving the runway. In 1941, the Army acquired additional acreage, giving Mana Airport a total of 2,058-acres. Private airlines frequently utilized the airport and during World War II there were a great deal of military flight operations there.

In 1954 the base was officially designated Bonham Air Force Base.

The US Navy’s first began operations at Bonham in 1956, testing its Regulus I missile. Soon after, in 1958, the Pacific Missile Range Facility was established in order to support the growing demand of the Navy at Bonham.

In 1964, the Pacific Missile Range Facility and Bonham were transferred to the Navy, becoming Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands.

In 2004, when I was at DLNR, an Agricultural Preservation Initiative (API) was approved by the State of Hawai‘i Board of Land and Natural Resources.

The API provides a buffer to PMRF and ensures that land on the Mānā Plain owned by the State of Hawai‘i and leased to the Agribusiness Development Corporation remains as agricultural lands (the agreement runs to 2030.)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

1950

1959

Mana_USGS_Quadrangle-Mana-1910_(portion)

071106-N-0000X-003 KAUAI, Hawaii (Nov. 6, 2007) – A threat representative target is launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) to be intercepted as part of a Missile Defense Agency test of the sea-based capability under development. This was part of a multiple simultaneous engagement involving two ballistic missile targets that were intercepted about 250 miles from Kauai and approximately 100 miles above the Pacific Ocean. The Standard Missile-3 was one of two interceptors launched from Pearl Harbor-based guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70) that collided with two ballistic missile targets launched from the Pacific Missile Range Test Facility in Kauai, Hawaii, within minutes of one another. U.S. Navy photo (RELEASED)

180-degree-panorama-Barking_Sands_beach_in_Kauai

B-24 aircraft at Barking Sands, Kauai, refueling or regrouping prior to Southwest Pacific deployment c1944-45

Barking Sands Air Base, Kauai, with B-24, C-47 and C-45 aircraft. 1942

Barking Sands Field, Kauai, TH 9-4-1941

Barking Sands Field, Kauai, T. H. 9-4-1941

Constructing Barking Sands Air Base, c1944-1945 with B-24 aircraft.

Missile_launch_from_Pacific_Missile_Range

081101-N-0000X-002 PACIFIC OCEAN (Nov. 1, 2008) A ballistic threat target missile is launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii, enroute to an intercept over an open ocean area northwest of Kauai as part of Pacific Blitz 08. The target was successfully intercepted by a Standard Missile – 3 (SM-3) launched from the Pearl Harbor-based guided-missile destroyer USS Paul Hamilton (DDG 60).(U.S. Navy photo/Released)

September 15, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Hanalei Bay Pier

Hanalei … Taro … Pier –> you’d expect these are all associated and the reason for the picturesque pier in Hanalei Bay. … Kinda.

The Hanalei Bay Pier was originally built to serve the region’s thriving rice industry (recall that as taro production declined in the mid- to late-1800s, many of the loʻi were converted to rice cultivation.)

The Chinese were growing rice at Hanalei at least by 1882, and by 1892, Hanalei and Waioli, with 750 acres of land devoted to rice farming, were the largest rice producing areas in Hawaii.

At this time, rice was the number two agricultural product of the Hawaiian kingdom (behind sugar,) having developed as a major crop in the 1860s when numerous Chinese farmers left the sugar cane plantations following the expiration of their five-year contracts.

Occupying taro patches vacated by a declining Hawaiian population, these rice farmers found a ready market for their product in Honolulu and California, as more and more Chinese immigrated to these areas.

At the time of annexation (1898,) Hawaii was third in rice production in the United States, behind Louisiana and South Carolina.

Annexation, with the removal of all tariffs boomed the sugar industry, however spelled the downfall of Hawaiian rice production. This caused agricultural land costs to rise from $10-20/acre to $30-35/acre, forcing rice land to be converted to cane use.

Annexation also brought with it Chinese exclusion policies which led to a decreased market for rice. In a matter of five years Hawaii’s Chinese population dropped by 6,000, which was a significant factor in the Honolulu market (the Japanese did not purchase the local rice, preferring to use rice imported from their homeland.)

Other difficulties confronting the rice farmer included an increased need to fertilize (the well-used lands began to show signs of exhaustion;) in addition, a labor shortage caused by many Chinese leaving their farms in hopes of earning more elsewhere.

The decline in the Chinese population, the requirements for fertilizer, competition from California rice growers and the introduction of a rice-borer insect all served as contributing factors to the decline of rice farming.

Since the islands of Hawaiʻi are separated from one another and the rest of the world by the Pacific Ocean, ships and boats have been the major means of transporting goods between the islands and frequently to different areas of the same island.

On Kauaʻi, in the early twentieth century, Port Alien was the major port with Nawiliwili and Hanalei serving as local shipping centers.

Large-scale development of Nawiliwili harbor commenced in 1926 and, with its completion in 1930, Nawiliwili became Kauaʻi’s primary harbor.

As a result of its expansion, the tonnage handled by Nawiliwili jumped from 3,766 tons in 1929 to 56,439 tons in 1931. Much of this increased tonnage reflected an improved highway system which led to a decreased use of smaller ports on the island.

As a result of little use, Hanalei pier was abandoned in 1933, marking the end of an era of inter-island transportation.

Originally, a pier there was constructed out of timber, prior to 1882. The pier was reconstructed with reinforced concrete piles and beams and a wooden deck in 1912.

The structure was used seasonally, primarily to transport rice from Hanalei to Honolulu.

The Hanalei River is adjacent to Hanalei Pier, much of the valley’s rice “arrived at the pier area on the black barges of the rice plantations up the river.” At the foot of Hanalei Pier was a freight storage warehouse connected to the pier by railroad tracks.

From the mauka landing, the rice was shuttled to the end of the pier on a set of iron railroad tracks and then loaded onto boats. Small whale boats known as “lighters” carried rice to steamers anchored out in Hanalei Bay.

Interisland steamers docked in the deeper waters of Hanalei Bay while cargo was rowed to and from the pier.

Due to the difficulty in maintaining the wooden deck, the Territorial Legislature in 1921 appropriated funds for the construction of a concrete deck. The wooden decking was subsequently replaced with reinforced concrete in 1922.

The Hanalei Pier is a steel reinforced concrete finger pier which extends from the beach out into Hanalei Bay. It is 340-feet long and has a 32 x 72 terminus with a shed on it. (The shed at the end of the pier was originally built in 1940.)

From the 1940s until the present, the pier has been primarily a recreational resource for fishing, picnicking, etc. Located adjacent to a beach park, it is a highly scenic attraction to visitor and resident alike.

The pier was featured in the 1957 classic film “South Pacific”. Kauaʻi may not be in the South Pacific, but the 1958 movie musical “South Pacific” put it on the map as a premiere film location.

On the east side of Hanalei Pier is Black Pot Beach Park, named after a big iron pot that was used to cook fish caught during a hukilau, a traditional fishing practice in which everyone cooperates to spot, net, and gather fish.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

AERIAL VIEW OF PIER Photographer-unknown. Date-June 20, 1978-(LOC)-058525pv

AERIAL VIEW OF PIER, LOOKING SOUTHWEST Photographer-unknown. Date-unknown-(LOC)-058522pv

DISTANT VIEW OF PIER, LOOKING SOUTHWEST Photographer-Augie Salbosa. Date-February 22, 1991-(LOC)-058526pv

Hanalei_Pier,_Hanalei_Bay_off_Weke_Road,_Hanalei_(Kauai_County,_Hawaii)-(WC)-1978

VIEW OF PIER, LOOKING NORTHWEST Photographer-Augie Salbosa. Date-February 22, 1991-(LOC)-058528pv

« Previous Page
1
…
8
9
10
11
12
…
19
Next Page »