Lanai | Page 2 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

July 17, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Pre- and Early-teen Pineapple Workers

Child employment is regulated by both federal and Hawaii state laws. When the laws overlap, employers are required to follow the one that provides more protection. It’s also essential to know that the regulations vary significantly depending on the youth’s age.

Children under 14 are generally prohibited from working in non-agriculture operations, with some exceptions. Fourteen- and 15-year-olds are subject to limited types of work and limited working hours.

Teens ages 16 and 17 can generally work any number of hours in any job unless it’s considered hazardous, which we’ll touch on later. Once someone turns 18, they’re no longer subject to child labor laws.

Hawaiʻi law requires anyone under 18 to have a child labor certificate, or work permit, before their first day on the job. This is a way for the state to ensure the work isn’t hazardous and won’t interfere with a teenager’s schooling. (ALTRES)

It used to be different … “I worked when I was eleven …. Of course, I was already cleaning haole houses, so this work was steady income. You work, you carry your canvas bag, and your lunch, and your bottle of water. Gloves, everything you need.”

“When we had to go picking, you would climb through all the plants to get to the center of the field. You pick the pineapple, you throw it to the next line.”

“[I]f you caught a field with a lot of ripe pineapples, boy, you work fast, you can earn a lot of money because you get a bonus for the number of crates you crate up.”

“I was only eleven, and the other people were twelve. But then, I’m in the same grade they are; we’re in the sixth grade. I remember I was paid ten cents less, because I wasn’t twelve years old yet”. (Jane Lee Gabriel, UH Oral History, Lānai: Reflecting on the Past)

Another pre-teen worked in the fields, “I remember working in the pineapple fields when I was eleven years old. So, at eleven I would be a sixth-grader [in 1944].”

“The war is still going on, yes. We had to wear canvas pants, a long-sleeved denim jacket because we would get pierced by those long, pointed pineapple leaves. We also had to wear wire goggles to protect our eyes. Then a hat, because we would be out in the sun.”

“We had to do weeding and putting fertilizer into the pineapple plant, and picking the ripe pineapples from the plant. … My classmates, because they were already twelve, were getting sixty-seven cents.”

“I remember grumbling about it. I went to the luna, and said, ‘You know, my pay is not fair. How come they’re getting more money than me?’”

“‘We’re in the same grade at school, and I’m going to be twelve in November. But then, this is the summer, so I’m only eleven.’” (Jane Nakamura, UH Oral History, Lānai: Reflecting on the Past)

Another preteen worked in the fields … [I was] ”Twelve years old. My pay I believe was something like thirty-five cents an hour. The war was still going on and I went to get my physical. I was so proud. I’m going to work and they gave me a number, aluminum tag with my work number [bango].”

“[We did] Everything from picking pineapples to cutting grass. Especially in the summertime, it was never cutting grass, it was always picking pineapple.”

“When you’re twelve years old, you don’t weigh even one hundred pounds. I didn’t. We had these big bags we put the pineapples in. The weight of it would weigh—if I wasn’t set and leaning a certain way, I couldn’t put any pineapples in there without [Tipping over].” (Takeo Yamato, UH Oral History, Lānai: Reflecting on the Past)

Another Lanai youth noted, “When I was twelve, pineapple field were picking up kids up to – well when I was eleven, they picked up kids up to twelve years old to work in the pineapple field.”

“So I said next year, I can work in the pineapple field cause all the kids look forward to going to work into pineapple field cause that’s about all you had on the island besides playing sports or whatever.”

“So I said, well, next year, I’ll be able to work in the pineapple field. That year, they picked (kids) up till thirteen and they stopped. And I said, well, I will have to wait the following – following year, they stopped at fourteen.”

“When I got to be fourteen, they had this law, something about you had to go to the labor board and everything, so it stopped at fifteen.”

“When I was fifteen, they said up to sixteen, and that’s it. So by the time I worked in the pineapple field, I was sixteen years old. I worked about two years (in the pineapple fields). I graduated from school when I was eighteen and I left (Lānai) and (joined) the army (in summer of 1956) and that’s it.”

“But my sister, I think she started (working in the pineapple fields) when she was twelve or eleven. Every time I wanted to be the age so I can go and work (in the) pineapple field, they stopped at the age before me.” (Charlotte Richardson Holsomback; UH Oral History, Lānai Ranch)

Maui Land & Pineapple used to have similar success in recruited youthful workers …“In years past, we had to turn kids away. There wasn’t anything else to do. Now going to work for a plantation is the last thing they want to do.” (Hnl Adv-Jun 14, 1973)

”We put on a big campaign on Kauai and Hawaii for local boys. From the Big Island we wanted 30 boys and got six. We anticipated 20 boys from Kauai and got four.” (Shuji Seki, recruiting and personnel supervisor for Maui Pine)

Hawai‘i youth were not filling the needs … “Until five years ago Maui Pine recruited 100 per cent of its labor from the island. With the rapid increase in hotels and the resulting decrease in local agricultural labor the company was forced into recruiting from the off islands and finally from the Mainland.” (Hnl Adv-Jun 14, 1973)

June 20, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Concrete No. 5

“Ship traps” describes a phenomenon where northern and southern swells, strong channel currents, strong consistent trade winds and fringing reefs force unsuspecting vessels into areas of harm – resulting in concentrated shipwrecks.

The north shore of the Island of Lānaʻi, locally referred to as “Shipwreck Beach,” is the best example of this phenomenon. Here, the channel acts as a funnel, depositing material directly onto Shipwreck Beach.

Any vessel that broke its moorings at Lāhainā would end up there; sometimes ship owners intentionally abandoned worn-out vessels there by simply casting them adrift upwind from the treacherous shore. (Naval Historical Center)

The first reported wreck occurred in 1824 when a British vessel named the Alderman Wood ran into the reef there. Two years later, an American ship, the London, sunk there with its cargo of gold and silver bullion. No one knows how much – if any – of the gold and silver was recovered. (Brost)

Known wrecks include: British ship Alderman Wood (lost 1824); American ship London (lost 1826;) Hawaiian schooner Onward (lost 1875;) Hawaiian schooner Mary Alice (lost 1884;) Hawaiian schooner Malolo (lost 1887;) Hawaiian schooner Golden Gate (lost 1901;) Hawaiian steamship Hornet (disposed 1927.)

In addition, other victims include, Hawaiian schooner Helene (disposed 1929;) Hawaiian vessel Manukiiwai (abandoned 1929;) private yawl Charlotte C (lost 1931;) private auxiliary Tradewind (lost 1934;) three US Navy steel LCM landing craft (lost 1940s;) Hawaiian barge Oregon Reefer (disposed 1954; US Navy oiler YO-21 (disposed 1957?) and US Navy barge YOGN-42 (disposed 1950s?.) (NOAA)

A constant reminder of Shipwreck Beach is the last one – from the US Navy, YOGN-42 – a number, not otherwise named. It is 375-feet long, with a beam of 56-feet and draft of 26-and-a-half feet.

Contrary to some of the reports on this vessel, it is neither a WWII Liberty ship nor was it even a motorized vessel. The ship sitting on the reef at Shipwreck Beach is actually a non-self-propelled Navy gasoline barge.

On September 28, 1942, Commander Service Force, Pacific Fleet requested that fuel carrying barges be acquired without delay to meet the serious fuel storage problem of the naval forces in the South Pacific.

The construction of these barges was such that they could be towed to the required locations and used for fuel storage, thus providing the needed fuel storage and expediting the turnaround of tankers serving those areas. (Roberts)

On October 24, 1942, the Auxiliary Vessels Board estimated that a minimum of six barges were needed and recommended that the Navy acquire the first six to be completed.

“Concrete No. 5” was put into service in June 1943 as “YOGN-42.”

On November 11, 1942 they asked for six more of these barges to meet the expanding fuel storage requirements in the South Pacific.

Most the vessels built by the Concrete Ship Constructors at National City, California eventually ended up as floating oil barges; two were sunk as blockships during the Allied invasion of Normandy (scuttled to create sheltered water at the landing beaches.) (Naval Historical Center)

Some saw life following the war; one became a restaurant and later a fishing pier. One became a ten-room hotel. Nine were sunk as breakwaters for a ferry landing at Kiptopeke, Virginia. Two more are made into wharves in Yaquina Bay, Newport Oregon. Seven are part of a giant floating breakwater on the Powell River, Canada.

During the war, YOGN-42 was sent to Espiritu Santo, as part of a forward staging area for US forces in Vanuatu in Oceania. While there, its tug, Tug USS Navajo (AT-64,) was sunk by Japanese submarine I-39, 150-miles east of Espiritu Santo.

YOGN-42 survived the war, but was stricken from the active register in 1949 and abandoned on Shipwreck Beach sometime after that. (Maly)

Shiprwreck-Beach

YOGN-42-Shipwreck Beach-Lanai

YOGN-42-Shipwreck Beach-HTJ

YOGN-42-Shipwreck Beach_HTJ

YOGN-42-Shipwreck Beach

YOGN-42_Shipwreck Beach

Shipwrecks-map-NOAA

Shiprwreck-Beach-Sign

Concrete Floating Breakwater-Powell River in British Columbia, Canada-Campbell

Walkway_at_Kiptopeke_State_Park, Virginia

Powell_River_Aerial, BC Canada

Concrete Fuel Barges as Floating Breakwater on the Powell River, Canada

Nine-Concrete Fuel Barges as Breakwater-Kiptopeke, Virginia

Concrete Fuel Barges as Breakwater-Kiptopeke, Virginia

Concrete Fuel Barges as Breakwater-Kiptopeke, Virginia-Rooney

Concrete Fuel Barges as Breakwater-Kiptopeke Virginia

Concrete Fuel Barge as Wharf Yaquina Bay, Newport, Oregon-2005

Concrete Floating Breakwater-Powell River in British Columbia, Canada-YOGN-82

May 29, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Lānai Ranch

Lānai’s formal ranching period ran from approximately 1854 to 1951 – longer than the cultivation of pineapple on the island. The ranch headquarters, situated about one mile away from what is now the city was at a place known as Kō‘ele.

Prior to 1923 and the arrival of James Dole, the Kō‘ele headquarters of the Lānai Ranch was the closest thing to a town in the uplands of Lānai. The only other historic “city” or village was situated on the windward shore of Lānai, at Keomuku – which had originally been built as the center of operations for the Maunalei Sugar Company (1898 to 1901). (Kepa Maly)

Walter Murray Gibson and other followers of the Mormon Church started a settlement on land they had purchased. Shortly thereafter, Gibson was excommunicated for allegedly misusing church funds; the settlement failed and the Mormons left the island.

Gibson remained and consolidated the 26,000 acres of land he controlled to form Lānai Sheep Ranch, headquartered in Palawai. By 1867, Gibson’s ranch consisted of 10,000 sheep and 18,000 goats.

By 1875, despite protests by Lānai; residents, Gibson controlled 90 percent of Lānai; lands either in fee simple or long-term leases, for ranching and farming operations. After Gibson’s death in 1888, the ranch was turned over to his daughter and son-in-law, Talula and Frederick Hayselden.

The ranch, headquartered in Kō‘ele, had grown to number 40,000 sheep, 3,000 Angora goats, 600 horses and 200 head of cattle. Lands making up Lānai Ranch included the former Gibson lands, government-owned land, and some ahupua‘as owned by Honolulu financier WG Irwin.

Despite attempts to increase the ranch’s efficiency and profitability, the Hayseldens lost money. Therefore, in 1898, the Hayseldens established Maunalei Sugar Company. Plagued by financial problems, Hayselden closed the plantation in 1901.

The Gibson estate went into receivership, with financiers WH Pain and Paul Neuman assuming two-thirds of the debt and the remaining land and assets. Charles and Louisa Gay, of the wealthy Gay and Robinson family of Kauai and Ni‘ihau, purchased the properties held by Pain and Neuman in 1902.

By 1907, Gay owned virtually the entire island. The Gay family moved to Lānai in late 1902. The family business is primarily ranching, but with a transition from sheep to cattle.

Between 1902 and 1910, the years of his tenure as landowner and manager, Gay brought up plantation homes for ranch hands from Keomuku to Kō‘ele, laid pipelines, dug reservoirs and wells, erected windmills and fences, installed a water-pumping system in Maunalei Gulch, and began experimental farming.

Gay, who lived in the ranch manager’s home in Ko’ele, also maintained a residence near the beach at Keomuku. He used some of the defunct sugar company’s facilities at Keomuku – such as the brackish-water wells, windmills, and the Kahalepalaoa Landing – to maintain some ranch operations manned by a few employees.

Gay also built a school in Palawai for his own children and that of ranch employees, and a church in Keomuku for use by his family and nearby residents. Although Gay achieved some measure of success after his improvements, he had difficulty turning a profit. He subsequently sold all but 600 acres of his lands in 1910 to a hui of businessmen.

William G Irwin (and his wife), Robert W Shingle and Cecil Brown formed the “Lānai Ranch Company,” which later became the “Lānai Company.” At the time of this sale, the ranch consisted of 22,500 sheep, 250 head of cattle, and 150 horses.

Gay remained on Lānai and, on his 600 acres, farmed corn, watermelons, pineapples and other crops, raised pigs, and built a home in Lalakoa, an area adjacent to present-day Lānai City. He also continued to use his Keomuku home.

In 1911, Lānai Ranch Company hired New Zealander George Munro as ranch manager. Munro, who previously worked at Molokai Ranch, found that because there had been little subdividing of pastureland, the sheep were roaming the island almost at will and the goats had become wild.

Munro, who had a knowledge of and interest in botany, planted hundreds of Norfolk Island pine trees throughout the island to catch fog drip to increase the ground water supply. Also during this time, Lānai Ranch Company began shifting its emphasis from sheep to cattle in order to supply a growing market for beef.

In 1917, Lānai Ranch Company sold the island to Frank and Harry Baldwin of Maui, who continue the cattle ranching operation under the title of “Lānai Ranch.”

Munro, who was to stay on as ranch manager until 1935, continued the shift from sheep to cattle, and reduced the goat population. With the improved water supply, the emphasis on cattle, and the decimation of goats which destroyed grazing lands, Lānai Ranch began making a profit.

In 1922, despite this relative prosperity, the Baldwins sold the island to James D Dole of the Hawaiian Pineapple Company. This began the large-scale pineapple cultivation on Lānai which was to permanently alter the island’s landscape and social fabric while at the same time signaling the decline of Lānai Ranch as the island’s dominant commercial activity.

James Dole and associates planned and started the construction of Lānai City, Kaumālapa‘u Harbor (to ship pineapples and supplies), the plantation fields, and infrastructure needed for development of the plantation.

Dole engaged David Root, James Munro, Tokumatsu Murayama, Hawaiian Dredging and others to develop the plantation. Former pasturelands were cleared and rows upon rows of pineapple were planted. The first buildings in Lānai City were under construction in 1923.

During the decade following its purchase, Hawaiian Pine carefully implemented plans to transform Lānai into a pineapple plantation and ultimately made Lānai the world’s largest pineapple plantation.

As pineapple growing and harvesting began in earnest, the first crop was harvested and shipped in 1926 – Munro reduced the cattle herd and turned over ranch acreage to Hawaiian Pineapple Company. By 1927, of Lānai’s 89,600 acres, pineapple operations accounted for 40,000 acres, Lānai Ranch occupied 44,000 acres, and 5,000 acres were taken up by forest reserve.

In 1935, George Munro, Lānai Ranch manager since 1911, retired. He advised that pineapple, not cattle, be given primary consideration on Lānai, and that the ranch be continued only as long as pineapple-growing was not jeopardized.

The ranch continued to decline in the 1940s. By 1950, there were only a few cowboys to herd up the remaining cattle on the island. The ranch officially closed in 1951.

Castle & Cooke, Inc., which in 1961 acquired 100 percent direct ownership of Hawaiian Pineapple Company (in 1985, David H Murdock purchased Castle & Cooke – which includes much of the island of Lānai). In 1987. construction of the two luxury hotels on Lānai started.

In 1992, the final harvest of pineapple on Lānai took place in October. On November 14. 1992, a “Pau Hana” (“end of work”) gathering was held in Dole Park to commemorate the close of the pineapple era on Lānai.

In 2012, Larry Ellison purchased the island of Lānai – approximately 97 percent of the land on island – and engaged in building a sustainable community through the holding company, Pūlama Lānai. (Lots of information here is from UH Center for Oral History and Lānai Culture & Heritage Center.)

May 24, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Club Lanai

Allan Dale Starr Sr was born July 10, 1924 in Carlinville, Illinois, graduated from Northwestern University, was a naval aviator, and came to Hawai‘i in 1949 and joined the Lund-Heitman agency. (Adv, Apr 4, 1991)

In 1965 he founded the AD Starr Co. Over the years, through growth/mergers the company grew to Hawai‘i’s largest marketing communications firm for nearly two decades.

He acquired a property at Kahalepalaoa on the north east shore of Lānai and used it as a weekend beach cottage. Kahalepalaoa was the former landing area with a long wooden pier built in about 1899 that several motor-driven boats were engaged in providing transportation of people and goods between Lānai and Lāhaina. (Lānai Culture and Heritage Center)

“The Lanai Landing site (formerly known as Halepalaoa Landing, Kahalepalaoa Landing, or Maunalei Sugar Co. Landing) has long been used as a boat harbor.” (BLNR, D-7, 11-10-22)

The pier had deteriorated, and in 1985 Starr received permission and built a new pier “to re-activate the only harbor on the windward coast of Lanai for small craft. The main purpose of restoring the Landing is to provide access to the shoreline and [Starr’s] property for small craft carrying tour groups from Kaanapali and Lahaina, Maui.” (BLNR, LA-1705, 03-08-85)

At that time, four companies operate cruise boats between Lahaina and Mānele Harbor on Lanai’s south coast. The companies offer the boat trip to Lanai and, upon arrival, picnic, swim, and snorkel at Hulopoe Bay. Hulopoe Beach Park is a private park and all facilities are located on property owned by Castle and Cooke.”

“[A]dditional boats from Lahaina would like to operate trips to Manele, but the space is not available to expand this activity.” (BLNR, LA-1705, 03-08-85)

“Passengers on the cruise boats would disembark at Halepalaoa Landing to enjoy a picnic lunch, snorkeling, swimming, and other such activities currently offered at Hulopoe Beach Park. These activities would take place [on Starr’s] private property and the public beach area.” (BLNR, LA-1705, 03-08-85)

Shortly thereafter, Charles Forman, Trustee, and City Cathedral Investments, Inc. took control of the property for use of the Landing and the adjoining beach retreat … Club Lanai was started. “The concept of this place came from the previous owner, a man named [Allan Starr.]”

Club Lanai was a ‘day use facility’ that would bring in guests from the Island of Maui via two catamarans (65‐foot Ehukai and 70‐feet Kaulana), going over in the mornings and returning midafternoon 7 days a week, 365 days a year

Under the prior Club Lanaʻi operation, each of the boats used had a capacity of 149‐passengers. A stated “capacity” at the facility was apparently 250‐people. On some days, over 200‐guests were brought in for the day use activities, including food (typically lunch) and beverages (there were occasional nighttime activities, as well).

“Club Lanai was an 8-acre beach estate that was a cross between Gilligan’s Island and Club Med. Our guest book was signed by people returning 2 & 3 times during their week stay on Maui because they had so much fun there.”

“What made it that fun was that it was like going to your own private beach estate that was an 8-mile boat crossing from Maui to the seclude side of Lanai.”

“When you arrived there, there was a variety of activities you could do from snorkeling, kayaking, bike riding, volleyball, horseshoes, a history tour, a themed Hawaiian village where … Lanai residents shared the Aloha and history of Hawaii, and other activities that came and went though the years.”

“There was an open bar with all you could drink and an all you can eat lunch buffet that served steak, Mahi Mahi, and chicken. There were hammocks, lounge chairs, and palapas spread throughout the property.”

“It was his personal property and after some time of owning it he wanted to make it into a simple getaway place where people could come for the day. He ran out of money during the building process and put it up for sale as that concept.”

“When my father Charles Forman heard about it, he fell in love with the idea. He and the people that worked for him turned it into the above-mentioned place.” (Steven Forman, YouTube)

“The building sitting back from the coconut encrusted water was the first bar built. … It had 2 bridges going to it. The building that housed the kitchen was built by the previous owner. It was his personal home.”

“The Club used the front half of this building for an employee kitchen and living room/lounge. The back half was built into a commercial kitchen to prepare the meals that were served for the day.”

“The upstairs was used for sleeping quarters. There was always a caretaker living there with other employees and their guest staying from time to time.”

“The barn like building was used for several purposes. The back side housed all the property maintenance equipment and the front side was used as a storage room for products for the store.”

“Other building not mentioned were a serving kitchen, a 2nd bar, a commercial bathroom, and a mock Hawaiian Village designed by the Bishop museum.” (Steven Forman, YouTube)

“In basic terms the cost of operation would end up always out weighing the income. Insurance was at the same rate as amusement parks, maintenance and dry docks on large boats are costly as well as the maintenance for all the property equipment.”

“State and County taxes as well as State Harbor taxes added a fair share of burden as well. In the end this spread of costs was a hard ship to keep afloat. …”

“[The Property] was sold to some speculators who hung on to it for several years. It sat empty at that time with just caretakers keeping the property up.”

“They eventually sold it Dole Pineapple who wanted to make back into a place where their resort guests could go for the day but the County told them they would have to pave the road if they wanted to put it into operation and that would of been too costly being that that road washes out every year from winter storms.” (Steven Forman, YouTube)

It then ended up with Pūlama Lanai (of Lanai Resorts (Larry Ellison)), who recently (2022) stated that it is interested in using the former Club Lānai site for day activities for guests staying at Sensei Lānai or the Four Seasons Lānai resorts. The intent of Pūlama Lānai is to bring in guests via boats from Mānele Boat Harbor to the Club site. (BLNR, D-7, 11-10-22)

May 12, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Lanai City Schools

The schools in Pālāwai, Kō‘ele, and Lānai City underwent changes in name and location. The schools had their start around 1904 when Charles Gay started Pālāwai School, a one-room schoolhouse for his own children and children of ranch employees. (UHM Center for Oral History)

The Pālāwai School was built near the lower end of Keaaku Gulch where it opens into Pālāwai basin, about two miles south of Kō‘ele. The school was built like a house and had one classroom. (The Pālāwai School building had been moved three times.)

Pālāwai was chosen for the location of the school because of its central location; students came from Kō‘ele, Malauea, and Waiapa‘a. (Pālāwai School, HABS HI-612)

Violet Gay was the eighth of eleven children born to Charles Gay and Louisa Kala Gay; some of her sibling went to school on O‘ahu. As she notes, “there were five of us that stayed on Lanai and went to [Pālāwai] School.”

“My oldest sister, Amelia, is Mrs. Dickson. And they all came to Punahou, you know. My grandmother put them all in Punahou, see. And they were boarders up at Punahou.”

“Then when she [Amelia] left, she came back to Lanai, that’s when they started the school. Down Palawai, started a school. And I was six years old when I went to the school.”

“About twelve or fifteen children, I think, went to that school. And we walked all the way from Ko’ele, you know, where Kahonu is, past Kahonu down there to Palawai.” (Violet Keahikoe Gay, UHM Center for Oral History)

“It was a one-room schoolhouse, a short walk from our home. And they put me in school so that we could have fifteen children in order to get a schoolteacher. The schoolteacher lived with us because there was no other place for her to stay.”

“Well, it was a little white house with several windows around it and inside we had these desks and blackboards on the walls, the back wall with no windows. … We were put in rows of desks by age, and the teacher would go row by row teaching. Each row, just a different subject.”

“And we had two little outhouses (laughs) away from the school. One for boys and one for girls. … There was a flagpole out in front. … We put the flag up every morning and learned the Pledge of Allegiance. And then we’d march into class . And that’s about all I remember of that.” (Jean Forbes Adams, UHM Center for Oral History)

Sometime about 1920-22, the Pālāwai School was moved to Kō‘ele, and set up at a site near where the 7^th green of the Cavendish Golf Course is today. (Pālāwai School, HABS HI-612) It then became generally known as Kō‘ele School.

In 1922 the school became part of the public school system of the Territory of Hawaii. The Kō‘ele School ceased functioning as a classroom in 1927, when the two-room Kō‘ele Grammar School was built a short distance away. (Pālāwai School, HABS HI-612)

Around 1927, with the construction of the new Kō‘ele Grammar School, the Pālāwai/Kō‘ele) School was moved to the Kō‘ele Ranch Camp and became a residence. The building underwent numerous alterations since the time it was a one room school house, including a kitchen addition, bathroom, and the partitioning of the original single class room. (Pālāwai School, HABS HI-612)

The Kō‘ele Grammar School was a single-story, gable roof, wood building with an 8′ wide lanai along the front long side of the building. The interior of the main portion of the Kō‘ele Grammar School is divided into two 24’ x 26’ classrooms by a partition wall with a doorway (no door).

“When I was ready for the sixth grade [in 1927] we went over to the [Ko’ele Grammar] School [located near the present Cavendish Golf Course clubhouse], which was about another half mile away.”

The building was financed by the County of Maui. It was built about a half mile from the Kō‘ele Ranch Camp, to the south, across Iwiole Gulch on the site of what would become the Cavendish Golf Course. Students from Kō‘ele Ranch and from Lānai City attended. Eighth grade graduation ceremonies from Kō‘ele Grammar School were held at the Lanai Theater in Lānai City.

“I think there were six of us [in 1928]. And it was the first class to graduate from [Ko‘ele Grammar] School, so we had a big ceremony down at the one and only theater. We had chairs set up on the platform … we had these lovely leis, leis you don’t often see anymore.” (Jean Forbes Adams, UHM Center for Oral History)

In September 1928, the people of Lanai City petitioned the Maui County board of supervisors to have the school’s name changed to Lanai City School.

By the mid-1930s, school children of Hawaiian Pineapple Co. (HAPCo) employees had expanded public school enrollment on Lanai to such a degree that additional classes were held in the Lanai Japanese School and in the HAPCo plantation gymnasium.

By about 1937, “There were two buildings and the smaller building had two classes and the other building must have had four classes. … And new teachers were brought in, they had to build a cottage for these new teachers. Because prior to that, the teacher at [the old] Ko‘ele School stayed with us.”

“At the Ko‘ele [Grammar] School, by the golf course. When we’d go to school, we had to make a garden. We had a project. We’d go out and make our garden and plant vegetables.” (Jean Forbes Adams, UHM Center for Oral History)

“[W]hen we used to be naughty, we had to go pull weeds. And during our Ko‘ele [Grammar] School days – not the old cottage, maybe we were too young, but the other school – if you were naughty or were to be punished, we had to go pull weeds, you know. And then we always took turns to clean the rooms. Young as we were, we used to mop.” (Warren Nishimoto, UHM Center for Oral History)

“[M]ost of the kids, from sixth grade into seventh grade, most of the kids would leave. The ones that (the family) could afford it, their parents either send them to Lahainaluna (in Maui), Punahou (or) Kamehameha School in Honolulu. That’s about it. We might lose maybe five or six (children per school year).” (Charlotte Richardson Holsomback, UHM Center for Oral History)

“I was pau with school after the sixth grade. … most of them [the girls] quit after the sixth grade. However, if there were older sisters who could take care of the house, sometimes a girl could go on to intermediate school.” (Tama Teramoto Nishimura, UHM Center for Oral History)

In January 1938, the Lānai High and Elementary School was opened at its present location on Fraser Avenue. The buildings of the Kō‘ele Grammar School complex were moved, in sections, to this new high school site.

During the 1970s the Kō‘ele Grammar School, on its second site at the high school campus near 7th and Fraser Avenues, was used as a meeting hall for the Lanai City chapter of the Boy Scouts of America.