Lahaina | Page 5 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

January 13, 2022 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Dwight Baldwin

Dwight Baldwin was born on September 29, 1798 to Seth Baldwin (1775 –1832,) (a farmer) and Rhoda Hull Baldwin in Durham, Connecticut, and moved to Durham, New York, in 1804. His father, He was the second of 12 children. (Baldwin Genealogy)

He was employed with his father on the farm, enjoying the benefits of the common school, and generally in winter of a select school, till the age of sixteen. In the fall of 1814, he commenced the study of Latin, with a view to prepare for College.

The last of his teachers being a graduate of Williams College, he was induced to enter at Williams, where he spent two years; and then he left Williams and entered Yale College, where he graduated in September, 1821.

By the recommendation of President Day, the next two years he was employed as Principal of the Academy in Kingston, Ulster County, NY. A third year was spent in teaching a select school in Catskill, Greene county. He then devoted himself to the study of medicine, at the same time teaching a select school in Durham, NY.

Then, he got caught in the religious fervor; about the first of March, 1826, he found relief in believing in an Almighty Redeemer, a hope which has never forsaken him. Religion became the all-absorbing subject of his thought by day and by night. (Baldwin Genealogy)

He soon came to the decision to join a mission, and September 3, of that year, he united with the Congregational Church in Durham, NY, and soon after he entered the Theological Seminary at Auburn, where he spent three years, offering his services into the American Board of Boston for a Foreign Mission … and they were accepted.

He did not have time to await official recognition of his medical degree so at direction of the Prudential Committee he took his diploma as Master of Science. He was ordained at Utica, NY on October 6, 1830.

He was introduced by a friend to Charlotte Fowler, daughter of Deacon Solomon Fowler of North Branford, Connecticut, and a few weeks later was married to her on December 3, 1830. Twenty-five days later they set sail with the Fourth Company of missionaries to Hawaiʻi on the ship ‘New England;’ he arrived at Honolulu, June 7, 1831. (Baldwin)

Soon after their arrival, the Missionaries were assigned to different stations over the group, wherever there seemed to be the greatest opportunity of doing good. After a few months in Honolulu he was assigned to help Lorenzo Lyons in Waimea, Hawaiʻi Island. He remained there three years, from 1832 to 1835. (The Friend, December 1922)

In 1835, ill health caused Baldwin to leave Waimea and seek recovery in the Society Islands. “Such was the opinion of all I consulted at Honolulu, & though I could preach & attend to other duties, & it was trying to part with my dear family, yet I was afraid I might hereafter repent, should I not go; so I came to the conclusion to go.” (Baldwin, November 20, 1835)

“We sailed from Honolulu the 14th of July (1835) … We anchored at Papeete bay, on the NW side of Tahiti, in just one month from the time we sailed. … During the ten days we were at Tahiti, I did all I could, to visit the several stations”. (Baldwin)

“From Tahiti we sailed to Huahine, (then) we set sail for these islands. We were favored with good winds & in 20 days saw Hawaii … I landed Sept. 20th thankful at finding wife & little ones safe & well.” (While he was in Tahiti, his family had settled into their new home at Lāhainā.) (Baldwin, November 20, 1835)

The Lāhainā mission was started in 1823; William Richards had been pastor for 13-years. Lāhainā was then the favorite Royal Center of the King, and nearly all the high Chiefs of the Islands; it was the Kingdom’s capital (from the 1820s through the mid-1840s.)

It was also a thriving harbor in those days, being a port of call for the whale ships which sometimes filled the bay so full that one could jump from one deck to another.

Father and Mother Baldwin as they were often called, opened their home to all. Officers and masters of ships were the recipients of their wholehearted hospitality. Dr. Baldwin was physician for the mission families, and the government physician for Maui, Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi. (The Friend, December 1922)

“A barrel of whale oil furnished light for a year. The flour brought by the missionary steamer Morning Star came once a year and several times it had been so wetted in the storms off Cape Horn that it had hardened and it was necessary to chisel off the daily measure for cooking.”

“Vegetables, however, grew in their own garden and there was an abundance of fruit, such as bananas, grapes, and watermelons, and one does not hear that they suffered from their poverty.” (Baldwin)

Baldwin preached at the Waine‘e Church (“Moving Water;”) the cornerstone was laid on September 14, 1828, for this ‘first stone meeting-house built at the Islands,’ It was dedicated on March 4, 1832. The Hawaiian royalty attended services there.

(After fire destroyed the church in 1894, Baldwin’s son, Henry Perrine Baldwin, helped fund its restoration. Damaged and restored several times, the Church finally changed its name from Waine‘e Church, to Waiola Church (“Water of Life”) in 1954, and has safely-stood since.)

A series of epidemics swept through the Hawaiian Islands in the 1840s, whooping cough and measles, soon after followed by waves of dysentery and influenza; then, in 1853, a terrible smallpox epidemic. Although precise counts are not known, there were thousands of smallpox deaths on O‘ahu; Baldwin is credited with keeping the toll to only a few hundred on Maui.

“My journal has been long laid aside – not because I have not had thousands of things to record but mainly because press of cares has left little leisure to record what is passing in & what we are engaged. … 1853 was wonderfully taken up with our war with small pox on the islands.” (Baldwin, October 8, 1854)

“(Baldwin) was constant in his ministrations, taxing his strength almost to its limit. He was obliged to cross the channel to Molokai and Lanai often when the weather was very stormy, and too, very dangerous.”

“He never hesitated for a moment when the call came, night or day, but hurried on with his little bag, stepped into a double canoe and was off to Lanai and from there he took a whaleboat to Molokai. It was not unusual for Dr. Baldwin to take a trip of 80 or 90 miles on horseback to visit patients in Hana.” (The Friend, December 1922)

In 1856 the health of Father Baldwin, who had worked thirty-six years without a vacation, failed and the “American Board” granted him a year’s leave of absence. He and his wife left the Islands for a year’s visit in “the states.” (Baldwin)

In 1859 Baldwin belatedly received an honorary medical degree from Dartmouth College, New Hampshire. Without having this he had suffered much embarrassment at the hands of the medical society of Honolulu who, despite the fact that he had been combining an exhausting medical practice for 27-years with his ministry, would not recognize him with a medical license unless he could produce documentary evidence of his medical degree. (HMCS)

It was with regret that Baldwin resigned his pastorate at Lāhainā, in September, 1868. That year Father Baldwin became associated with Reverend Benjamin Parker in the conduct of the native Theological Seminary at Honolulu; the Baldwins moved to Honolulu in 1870.

Mother Baldwin died on October 2, 1873; the inscription on her tombstone reads, “A life of work, love and prayer;” Dwight Baldwin died on January 3, 1886.

The Baldwins had eight children: David Dwight (1831–1912), Abigail Charlotte (1833–1913), Charles Fowler (1837–1891), Henry Perrine (1842–1911), Emily Sophronia (1844–1891) and Harriet Melinda (1846–1932). A daughter, Mary Clark died at about 2½ years of age in 1838; a son, Douglas Hoapili, died at almost 3 in 1843.

The Baldwin’s coral and stone Lāhainā Home, Baldwin House, is the oldest house in Lāhainā (completed in 1835.) It is now home to Lāhainā Restoration Foundation; they oversee and maintain 11 major historic structures in Lāhainā and provide tours of the Baldwin House. (Lots of information here from Baldwin Journals, Baldwin Genealogy and Mission Houses.)

December 31, 2021 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Great Lāhainā Fire of 1919

Like any town with wooden buildings built side-by-side, folks in Lāhainā in the early-1900s were always wary of the possibility of fire getting out of control. Then, it happened.

New Years 1919, a fire (which broke out earlier New Year’s Eve) started in the Sing Lung Co. fruit store, “two doors from the corner of Front and Church streets, on the mauka side” and grew to engulf a large part of the business center of the town.

More than 30 separate buildings were destroyed before the fire was stopped by the townspeople who turned out in the middle of the night to try to battle the blaze after a mounted police officer gave the alarm by riding around town frantically blowing his whistle.

The fire appeared to be intentionally set.

“The fact that the back door to the Sing Lung store, in which the fire originated, was found to be open when the first fire fighters arrived on the scene, first gave rise to this impression.”

“Later, on Monday morning, Sheriff Clem Crowell, after a careful search of the ruins, found the padlock and hasp with which the door in question had been fastened, and both show unmistakable evidence of having been forced open.” (Maui News – January 10, 1919)

The community helped control the spread and the Maui News specifically praised the heroics of a Japanese boy named Aoki who saved the historic Baldwin House.

“This youth, with great grit and good judgment, mounted to the roof of the building with a garden hose, and, protecting himself from the terrific heat with a small table which he held in front of him as a screen, kept the roof and cornices of the building wet …”

“… and watched for sparks and embers which rained about him as he worked. The building was not damaged except for a badly charred cornice on the side next the fire.” (Maui News – January 10, 1919)

The big fire of 1919 destroyed all of the wooden buildings along Front Street from Dickenson Street to the Lāhainā Store, which was spared. Starting at Dickenson, those stores were: Yee Lip General Store, Sing Lung Fruit Store, Wa Sing Barber Shop, the Lāhainā Branch of Bank of Hawaii and Len Wai Store.

The buildings in what was called Library Park were also destroyed; the Japanese Hotel owned by M. Shimura, Yet Lung General Store, the Goo Lip Building, several small businesses, shacks and the fish market.

The Pioneer Hotel was seriously threatened, although some distance from the fire, by the shower of sparks carried upon it by the wind. By keeping the roof wet with water carried up in buckets, it was possible to prevent its catching fire.

“By the time fire fighters arrived on the scene the store was a mass of flames, and the heat was so great that no one could approach very near.” (Maui News – January 10, 1919)

“Fire hose from the court house was carried to the scene within a reasonable time, but a reducing coupling was missing It could not be attached to the fire hydrant. It developed that this coupling had been left at the scene of the fire which destroyed cottage at the Lahaina hospital at the time of the big wing storm, several weeks ago.”

“By the time it was found and brought to the scene the blaze had communicated to buildings on either side and the heat was so great that it was impossible to pass In front of them along the street.” (Maui News – January 10, 1919)

“By far the disastrous conflagration in the history of Maui, was that which started about 11:30 o’clock last Saturday night in the business center of Lahaina, and before it was finally checked had destroyed more than 30 separate buildings and had caused a loss aggregating between $125,000 and $150,000.” (Maui News – January 10, 1919)

The Lāhainā fire was not only started by burglars, who broke into the Sing Lung fruit store, stole a number of watches and about $8 in coin, but that the crime was committed by members of the gang of young bandits who robbed the Len Wai Co., store and planned to rob the Lāhainā bank.

“Partial confession has been secured from a number of boys more or less directly implicated, and the circumstantial evidence is all but conclusive against two of the gang.” (Maui News, January 17, 1919)

The fire, considered one of the worse in the history of Maui to that date, was the catalyst for important improvements to Maui urban life.

The following month, the County Board of Supervisors approved and funded the start of a fire department for Lāhainā. BO Wist was elected as the first fire chief and given the job of organizing a volunteer fire company. The Board went on to approve the purchase of two fire trucks – one for Lāhainā and one for Wailuku.

Because of the fire, the Lāhainā townspeople asked that the County install a large water main for fire purposes in the center of town as well as proper fire hydrants.”

“The Board instructed the county attorney and the county engineer to “collaborate in drawing up of fire ordinances for both Lahaina and Wailuku, fixing fire limits, and prescribing the class of buildings and equipment that may be maintained in the thickly built parts of town.”

Within a short time after the fire started the leading Japanese of Lāhainā had formed a relief organization for the benefit of those who had suffered loss from the fire.

The first work of this organization was supply food and drink to the hundreds who were engaged in fighting the fire. Later, it took up the matter of helping those sufferers of the fire.

Lahaina_Town-Map-Bishop-Reg1262 (1884)-(portion)-noting_general_location_of_Fire-Baldwin_House

Lahaina_Fire-general_location-Google_Earth

October 15, 2021 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Sinking of the Two Carthaginians

The Wandia was built in Denmark in 1921 as a three-masted schooner. Captain Peterson used her to haul general cargo in the Baltic for some 30 years. She then had a few years of service as a commercial fishing boat in Iceland, and later hauled cargo in Central America.

In 1964, Robert Tucker Thompson (‘Tucker’) flew to Costa Rica to deliver a yacht back to Newport Beach. Sailing up the coast of Central America, there were stories of a Baltic trading schooner that was just ahead.

“Wandia” was anchored in Acapulco; when Tucker arrived, he was interested in the boat and the owner was considering selling. … Several months later, the ship arrived in San Diego and the deal was done. (Tucker’s father worked as a film processor in the movie industry.)

Then the ship needed to go to work. Tucker sent letters and photos to all the film studios. A film of James Michener’s 1959 book “Hawaii” was about to be made by Mirisch. The studio had one ship, but also needed a whaling ship. Tucker and the production entered into a purchase/re-purchase agreement.

Re-rigging took place in San Pedro harbor (LA) in a rushed ‘Hollywood‘ manner – dismantling and building taking place almost simultaneously. The “Wandia” was then named the “Carthaginian” (the name James Michener gave the whaling boat in his novel). (Tucker)

“In addition to changed rigging, the Carthaginian also had the special equipment necessary to a whaling career installed. Such things as the small boats used to harpoon whales …”

“… as well as lookout hoops for sighting their quarry, equipment for removing blubber, and many other items, were added. At the same time, the entire hull was completely checked and repairs or replacements effected.” (McConkey)

The original script eliminated the arrival of the New England missionaries in Hawaii, a key element of the original story, but include Rev. Abner Hale and his wife, Jerusha (Max Von Sydow and Julie Andrews), a missionary couple.

An October 24, 1964 news conference in Honolulu announced the production would be filmed in Hawaii. Filming for the movie began February 22, 1965, about as far from the islands as one can be: 150 miles above the Arctic Circle, off Bodo, Norway. In the spring, filming moved to New England. (McWhorter, Star Advertiser)

On June 9, 1965, filming began on Oahu at an Army facility at Makua. Most of the production crew stayed at the brand-new Ilikai Hotel; the lead actors rented homes on Diamond Head Road and Kahala Avenue.

The Mirisch Corp. brought 168 people from Hollywood to Hawaii for filming and hired 200 local technicians and 700 local residents as extras. Ten locals were cast to portray missionaries, among them Bette Midler, a 1963 Radford High School graduate.

The theme song of “Hawaii” eventually was altered to become the longtime KGMB jingle, “One of the good things about Hawaii … is wonderful … KGMB.”

A combination of wind, rain, sun, sand, dirt and military helicopters buzzing above delayed production an extra month at Makua.

Filming concluded on Oahu on November 10, 1965. (McWhorter, Star Advertiser)

When filming finished and the movie company no longer needed the ship, the re-purchase option was executed. Tucker and family moved aboard and took on crew for a trip around the Islands and to California, with plans for a South Pacific cruise.

While anchored off Lahaina, Larry Windley, director of the Lahaina Restoration Foundation, urged the members to consider purchasing the ship for a museum; by the time the ship reached Hilo, representatives had arrived there with a proposal ready for signing, to take effect when the South Pacific cruise had finished.

“Carthaginian” continued on to the west coast. Then, arrangements were made for the voyage of the “Carthaginian” to the Marquesas, Society Islands and Hawaii. (Tucker)

“The first Carthaginian owned and operated by the restoration foundation as a floating museum since 1966 when it was purchased for $75,000, had been rigged out to represent a three-masted bark, similar to the type that brought the early missionaries to the Hawaiian Islands.”

A few years later, tragedy struck; the Carthaginian “sank in April 1972 after it was caught on a reef in the Lahaina channel while being sailed to Honolulu for an annual dry-dock checkup.” (Star Bulletin, April 9, 1977)

“Efforts to save her were given up when it was discovered that the ship had a 12-foot hole in its hull and a broken keel. … the 51-year-old- ship will be towed out to sea where it will be sunk.” Star Bulletin, April 4, 1972)

“Efforts to find a replacement for the vessel were begun immediately. The search lasted several months and involved a hunt in shipyards around the world until the discovery of what was considered the perfect replacement.”

“The new Carthaginian, a 52-year old cargo ship named the Komet was found in Trollhatten, Sweden and purchased by the foundation for $25,000.” (Star Bulletin, April 9, 1977)

Carthaginian II was a 97-foot steel-hulled sailing boat that was converted into a replica whaling ship and floating museum to replace the popular Carthaginian tourist attraction.

A big point was made that she was exactly the same size as the ‘Thaddeus,’ the brig that brought the first missionaries to Hawaii from Boston. Visitors were invited to imagine what it must have been like for the missionaries, tossing across the waves for many months crammed inside her.

The boat was built in 1920 in Kiel, Germany at the Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft shipyard and was once run as a two-master. Later the boat was converted to diesel power and in the Baltic Sea used as a freighter for cement.

She was renamed Carthaginian II and restored over several years. Masts made of spruce, a deck of eucalyptus, and other details for a whaling supply ship of the 19th century were installed.

Upon completion of the renovations, the Carthaginian II served as a floating museum in Lahaina Harbor from 1978 to 2001. (Atlantis Artificial Reef FEA)

But age caught up with her, finally. It was decided that refurbishing the old ship was cost-prohibitive and, anyway, she would probably not survive being towed to Oahu for the repairs. Meanwhile, she was becoming a potential safety hazard sitting in the harbor. (Maui 24/7)

In 2003, the Lahaina Restoration Society asked Atlantis Submarine Maui, a tour company featuring underwater ocean tours, for help in exploring whether she could be used as an artificial reef off the Lahaina coast. The company, which had been offering submarine tours off Lahaina since 1991, agreed. (Maui 24/7)

After permitting, then came the sinking of Carthaginian II … In 2005, the boat was towed half a mile away from the coast and sunk to create an artificial reef, and now stands at a water depth of about 100-feet and also serves as a destination for diving expeditions.

March 27, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Baldwin Packers

The history of Baldwin Packers dates back to 1836 when Dwight Baldwin, a doctor with the fourth company of American missionaries to Hawaii, settled on Maui.

After seventeen years of service, Doctor Baldwin was granted 2,675-acres, the lands of the Mahinahina and Kahana ahupua’a, for farming and grazing. From that base, new lands were acquired until the holdings, known as Honolua Ranch, reached 24,500 acres in 1902.

The business of Honolua Ranch included fishing, raising cattle and farming crops of taro, mango, aloe and coffee bean. It’s ranch manager, David Fleming, was from Scotland.

First, after careful study of resources, water was directed from streams and gulches, providing water and electricity to the new headquarters of Honolua Ranch which was moved from Honolua Bay to Kapalua, an area more suitable for agriculture. Likewise, Fleming reforested watershed land with sandalwood and koa.

West Maui’s roots in the historic pineapple industry began in 1912, when Fleming began growing pineapple there; almost overnight the pineapple industry boomed. Honolua Ranch was soon renamed Baldwin Packers; at one time they were the largest producer of private label pineapple and pineapple juice in the nation.

Baldwin Packers started pineapple canning in 1914 and at first its cannery was located close to its pineapple fields in the Honolua section. Difficulty in securing labor in the busiest seasons of packing and the distance of the haul from the cannery to Kaʻānapali, which was then its shipping point, made it advisable to secure a location nearer town.

Baldwin Packers Pineapple cannery was eventually located at Lāhainā, this addressed transportation (proximity to Mala Wharf) and labor concerns. At Mala, the cannery was eight or ten miles from the fields and the fruit is transported to the plant by rail and truck.

In 1922, Mala Wharf was built and it was hoped that this new pier would facilitate transporting the pineapple, however, it was discovered that the ocean currents at Mala Wharf were too treacherous for the ships to navigate safely. Produce had to be taken by barge to awaiting ships.

By 1924, the Baldwin Packers Ltd. Cannery was producing 4,500 cases of canned pineapple per day. The pineapples were transported from the fields to the cannery by the Pioneer Mill Co. Railroad Line. By 1932, the roads have been improved enough to transport the fruit by truck to Kahului Harbor.

The Baldwins became one of the Big Five families who dominated Hawaiʻi’s business community in the century before World War II, establishing a far-reaching business empire with holdings in agriculture, ranching, coffee, canning and other activities.

The Baldwins’ growing and canning operations in Lāhainā continued for many decades. However, in 1962 the Baldwins’ east and west Maui holdings and pineapple operations were united when Baldwin Packers merged with Maui Pineapple Company. It was around that time that the Baldwin Packers pineapple cannery in west Maui was closed.

One of the businesses spawned from the varied interests of the Baldwins was Maui Pine’s earliest direct predecessor, the Keahua Ranch Co., which was incorporated in December 1909 to control a portion of the family’s pineapple operations.

In 1929 the Keahua Ranch Co. was renamed the Haleakala Pineapple Co., Ltd., three years before the pineapple operations of Haleakalā and Maui Agricultural Company were consolidated to create Maui Pineapple Company, Ltd.

J. Walter Cameron, a descendant of the Baldwin family, was appointed manager of the new company, presiding over its development for the next 30 years until a flurry of corporate maneuvers created the Maui Pine that existed during the 1990s.

In August 1962, Alexander & Baldwin, a principal Baldwin family concern, merged three of its pineapple operations, Baldwin Packers, Ltd., Maui Pineapple Company, Ltd., and the old Haleakala Pineapple Company, to create what four months later became the Maui Pineapple Company, Ltd.

In 1969, it became Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc. (ML&P), the largest employer on the island of Maui. The company’s president was Colin C. Cameron, a fifth-generation descendant of the Baldwin family.

All operations were moved to the Kahului plant and the Lāhainā cannery plant was closed soon after. The idea of utilizing the old cannery site as a mall was first conceived in 1972.

However, by 1985, the original cannery building had fallen to such disrepair that any hopes of renovation had to be abandoned, along with the original structure.

In 1987, the Lāhainā Cannery Mall was built on the same site where the original plant once stood; it was designed to look like a pineapple cannery with the corrugated style and factory-like open conduits inside were adopted for the design.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Baldwin_Packers-(Lozoff)

Baldwin_Packers_Cannery-(MauiNews)-1922

A David T. Fleming invention ... pineapple planter towed by a tractor

pickers-group-(kapalua-com)

Pineapple-(IronRodArt)

February 2, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Lahainaluna High School

The missionaries who arrived in Lāhainā in 1823 explained to the Hawaiian Royalty the importance of an educational institution.

In 1823, Kalākua Kaheiheimālie (ke Aliʻi Hoapili wahine, wife of Governor Hoapili) offered the American missionaries a tract of land on the slopes surrounding Puʻu Paʻupaʻu for the creation of a high school.

Betsey Stockton from the 2nd Company of Protestant missionaries initially started a school for makaʻāinana (common people) and their wives and children on the site.

Later, on September 5, 1831, classes at the Mission Seminary at Lahainaluna (later known as Lahainaluna (Upper Lāhainā)) began in thatched huts with 25 Hawaiian young men (including David Malo, who went on to hold important positions in the kingdom, including the first Superintendent of Schools.)

When Lahainaluna High School first opened, Lāhainā was the capital of the kingdom of Hawaiʻi, and it was a bustling seaport for the Pacific whaling fleet.

Under the leadership of Reverend Lorrin Andrews, the school was established by the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions “to instruct young men of piety and promising talents”. It is the oldest high school west of the Mississippi River.

In September 1836, thirty-two boys between the ages of 10 and 20 were admitted as the first boarding students, from the neighbor islands, as well as from the “other side of the island”; thus, the beginning of the boarding school at Lahainaluna.

The boarding program became coed in 1980. The two dorms are David Malo Dormitory for the boys and Hoapili Dormitory for the girls. Previously, Hoapili housed both genders. Lahainaluna is one of only a few public boarding schools in the nation.

The missionaries soon saw that the future of the Congregational Mission in Hawaii would be largely dependent upon the success of its schools. The Mission then established “feeder schools” that would transmit to their students’ fundamental reading, writing, and arithmetic skills, and religious training, before admission to the Lahainaluna.

Initially, Hawaiian was the language used in instruction; in 1877, there was a shift to English. The students engaged in a variety of studies including geography, mathematics and history to prepare them for leadership roles in the Hawaiian community.

Lahainaluna was transferred from being operated by the American missionaries to the control of the Hawaiian Monarchy in 1849. By 1864, only Lahainaluna graduates were considered qualified to hold government positions such as lawyers, teachers, district magistrates and other important posts.

A notable structure on the campus is Hale Paʻi (the house of printing,) a small coral and timber building. Starting in 1834, it served as the home of Hawaiʻi’s first printing press. Hale Paʻi is associated with a number of “firsts” in Hawaii.

The first actual publishing in Hawaiʻi was done in Honolulu in 1822. It was at Lahainaluna, however, that the first newspaper ever printed in the Hawaiian Islands was published on February 14, 1834. This paper, called Ka Lama Hawaii (The Hawaiian, Luminary) was also the first newspaper published anywhere in the United States or its territories west of the Rocky Mountains.

Also published at Hale Paʻi for the first time were many portions of the first Hawaiian translation of the Bible, the first English translation of the first Hawaiian Declaration of Rights, the first Hawaiian Constitution, the first set of Hawaiian laws on property and taxation, the first Hawaiian school laws, the first paper money engraved and printed in Hawaiʻi, the first history of Hawaiʻi printed in Hawaiian and the first history of Hawaiʻi printed in English appearing in the Islands.

In 1834, Lahainaluna students first began engraving on copper plates. The initial purpose of this engraving was to provide maps for study, not only at the Seminary, but at schools throughout the Islands.

In the 1840s commercial development in Hawaiʻi – both trade and agriculture – began to take off. As business grew, so did the need for money.

At this time, the nation had no official currency of its own, relying instead on a variety of foreign coins and bills which circulated at an agreed rate of exchange based on the U.S. dollar. As early as 1836, private Hawaiian firms began to issue paper scrip of their own redeemable by the issuing company in coins or goods.

In early 1843, apparently, Lahainaluna first printed and issued its own paper money. Its primary purpose was evidently to pay the students for their work on the campus (up to 25 cents per week,) which was then used for payment of their rent and tuition.

Later, counterfeiting of the school’s currency was discovered. Then, the faculty, in accordance with their vote of January 8, 1844, called in and destroyed all the paper money they could find. Then, authorized the addition of secret marks to all the new currency and re-issued it.

In 1903, Lahainaluna became a vocational trade school and, in 1923, a technical high school, admitting both girls and boys as day students. It continues today as Lāhainā’s public high school.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger