Images of Old Hawaiʻi

  • Home
  • About
  • Categories
    • Ali’i / Chiefs / Governance
    • American Protestant Mission
    • Buildings
    • Collections
    • Economy
    • Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings
    • General
    • Hawaiian Traditions
    • Other Summaries
    • Mayflower Summaries
    • Mayflower Full Summaries
    • Military
    • Place Names
    • Prominent People
    • Schools
    • Sailing, Shipping & Shipwrecks
    • Voyage of the Thaddeus
  • Collections
  • Contact
  • Follow

May 3, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

“Not A Planned Community”

At the time of Captain Cook’s contact with the Hawaiian Islands the land was divided into several independent Chiefdoms.  By succession and right of conquest, each High Chief was owner of all the lands within his jurisdiction.

Although the chiefs controlled the land and extracted food and labor from the makaʻāinana who farmed the soil, “everyone had rights of access and use to the resources of the land and the sea … The people were sustained by a tradition of sharing and common use.”

Kamehameha III divided the lands in a process known as the Great Māhele (1848.)  Ultimately, it transformed land tenure from feudal-like/communal trusteeship to private ownership.

Hui Kūʻai ʻĀina O Hāʻena (Hāʻena Cooperative to Purchase Land) was one of many groups formed by people after the Mānele and Kuleana Act.  Members held shares in the total land area, and the land was used collectively. That is, unlike the kuleana lands (individual homesteads,) Hui lands were not divided into individual parcels.

These cooperatives formed, in part, to retain traditional ways of life on the land, which were typically thwarted by the legal system shifting to Western ways.  A fundamental precept of the hui was sharing, collectively, on the land.  (Andrade)

Over the next century, changes that were affecting the rest of the Hawaiian Islands gradually reached Hāʻena. Among the most important of these were changes that eventually brought about the break-up of the Hui Kūʻai ‘Āina and resulted in the partitioning of the lands that had been held in common.

The path to this break-up was one whereby, over time, shares in the Hui were sold, transferred or auctioned off away from the original members and their families, and into the hands of newcomers from outside. (PacificWorlds)

Later, the Taylor family purchased a parcel of coastal land in the area.  “My family sailed over from O‘ahu in August of 1968. That first morning we came down here in an old Valiant station wagon. We looked around and ate our lunch on one of the flat rocks that are still over there by the stream.”

“My parents fell in love with this place, went back to our house on O‘ahu and sold that place. They sold the boat, sold the house, sold everything and moved to Kauaʻi.” (Tommy Taylor)

Howard Taylor (brother to actress Elizabeth Taylor) went to acquire building permits to construct his family home on the property. However, the State would not grant him such a permit, since they were planning to condemn the land.

At the same time, however, they insisted that he still pay full taxes on the land. In disgust, Taylor turned the land over to the “flower power people” – they called it Taylor Camp.

Started in the spring of 1969, “Taylor Camp was not a planned community.  The land … had been loaned … to a small group of people who had been squatting at several of the county parks on Kauaʻi during 1968 and 1969.”

“The county police had shooed the group from one park to another and the county was taking legal action against them when Mr Taylor offered them the use of a small parcel of land bordering the beach at Hāʻena point.”  (Riley)

By 1970, the original group of thirteen men, women and children of Taylor Camp were gone; soon, waves of hippies, surfers and troubled Vietnam vets found their way to Taylor Camp and built a clothing-optional, pot-friendly village at the end of the road on the island’s north shore.

“The campers wanted to escape the mainland, the political situation, the Vietnam War.  There were dropping out, trying to get away and these people found Kauaʻi.”  (Taylor; Wehrheim)

Abandoning the tent village, by 1972 there were 21-permanent houses at Taylor Camp. All of them were tree houses, since local authorities would not issue them permits for ground dwellings.

In addition to the houses in the camp there was a communal shower, an open air toilet, a small church and even a cooperative store which operated on and off until the camp’s closing. (Riley)

“We were a Kauaʻi community at the end of the road in the seventies living like some of our local neighbors were living.  No electricity, no one had anything.  … It was very, very simple, very, very slow.” (Rosenthal; Wehrheim)

“It wasn’t a free for all type of place.  A lot of people came through and wanted to build something and stay but they couldn’t.  There was sort of a council and general rules to keep the peace and the order. … So everybody had to be approved by the elders”.  (Baricchi; Wehrheim)

“The camp also became an informal pool of causal labor.  While some of the campers worked legitimate jobs and a few even owned their own businesses, many – living on welfare, food stamps, unemployment and growing marijuana – welcomed causal labor”.

“In the morning builders or farmers in need of strong backs could pull up in their trucks and find a few campers willing to work cheap.”  (Wehrheim)

Kauaʻi’s north shore boomed with surfers and hippies to a point where more than 350-people were in and around Taylor Camp.

“It was getting to be a mess.  It wasn’t a commune anymore.  The communal life just didn’t work.  There were too many freeloaders.  There were only two or three people that were gathering, buying and cooking the food … but the people eating were not even cleaning up … That’s what started the break-up.  (Harder: Wehrheim)

“(I)t was really kind of stressful, when we had so little and there were freeloaders mooching, not contributing anything.  Soon it evolved into, ‘We are not doing this communal thing anymore!’ “

“And people started building little shelters and then everybody said, ‘Okay, we will do our individual house and we will do our individual cooking,’ and so the commune ended”.(Harder; Wehrheim)

Folks on the outside added to the pressures.  “There was a lot of tension between the locals and the hippies … We were the devil – evil incarnate.… The locals who knew us didn’t think that, but the politicians, the elected officials, they needed a bad guy”.  (Rosenthal; Wehrheim)

“People did not like Taylor Camp, because it was different.  Like you have homeless in Honolulu living on the beach – that was Taylor Camp. … People just did not like hippies.  They weren’t wearing clothes and they were planting marijuana all over the place.”  (Malapit; Wehrheim)

Then, the headlines told the future, “Condemnation for Park;” “All the land on the North side of Kauaʻi between Limahuli Stream and the end of the road at Hāʻena is about to be taken over by the State through condemnation proceedings. A State Park is planned for the area.”  (Garden Island, May 17, 1971)

In 1974, after five years of bureaucratic government maneuvers, the State government finally formally condemned and acquired Howard Taylor’s land.  But some of the residents didn’t leave and they made claims back upon the State.

The dragged-out eviction proceedings and other legal challenges wore on the campers and they finally dropped all claims against the State and left voluntarily.   Many moved to the Big Island.

In 1977, government officials torched the camp – leaving little but ashes and memories of “the best days of our lives.”  (Wehrheim) (Much of the information and images here are from John Wehrheim’s Taylor Camp book – that was an unanticipated, but much appreciated arrival at my door one day.)

The original 13: Victor Schaub,  Sondra Schaub (with 4-year old daughter Heidi Schaub,) Webb Ford, Carol Ford, John Becker, George Berg, Jr, Thomas Carver, Teri Ann Rush, John Rush, Kirby Nunn, Wendy Nunn, Jackie Nixon and Gail Pickolz.  (Wehrheim)

© 2024 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Filed Under: Economy, General Tagged With: Limahuli, Haena, Hawaii, Kauai, Taylor Camp

November 21, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Limahuli Garden and Preserve

The National Tropical Botanical Garden (originally the Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden) is the only tropical botanical garden with a charter from the United States Congress as a not-for-profit institution, dedicated to tropical plant research, conservation and education.

Four of NTBG’s gardens are in the Hawaiian Islands; the fifth is on the US mainland in Florida. The Hawai‘i gardens include, McBryde and Allerton Gardens in Lāwa‘i, South Shore of Kauai; Limahuli Garden and Preserve on the North Shore of Kauai and Kahuna Garden on the Hāna Coast of Maui. The Kampong is located on Biscayne Bay in Coconut Grove, Florida.

Limahuli Garden and Preserve is set on the north shore of the Hawaiian Island of Kauai. The Garden is back-dropped by Makana Mountain and overlooks the Pacific Ocean.

The name “Limahuli,” which means “turning hands,” which describes the agricultural activities of early Hawaiians in the Valley. Lava-rock terraces for growing taro (lo‘i kalo) were built there 700-1,000 years ago.

These and other plants that were significant to the early inhabitants, as well as native species, make up the Garden’s collections. The property includes a plantation-era garden, as well as invasive species that were introduced by modern man. Limahuli Stream, one of the last pristine waterways left in the Islands, provides a habitat for indigenous aquatic life.

Behind the Garden is the Limahuli Preserve where conservationists and restoration biologists are working to preserve species native to this habitat.

The goal for Limahuli Garden and Preserve is the ecological and cultural restoration of Limahuli Valley, using the ahupua‘a system of resource management as a template for this work – a convergence of past and present, where native plants as well as ancient and contemporary Hawaiian culture are being actively preserved, nurtured and perpetuated.

Archaeological evidence substantiates that the Limahuli Valley on Kauai was one of the earliest settlements in what is now Hawai‘i.

Over time families and communities grew, new settlements were created, and natural boundaries – which extended along streams from the mountains into the ocean – developed between villages.

Limahuli Valley was part of the ahupua`a of Hā‘ena. The name “Limahuli,” which means “turning hands,” aptly describes the agricultural activities of early Hawaiians in the Valley. Lava-rock terraces for growing taro (lo‘i kalo) were built here 700-1,000 years ago.

The arrival of Captain Cook in the Hawaiian Islands in 1778 initiated an influx of human, animal, and plant immigrants from all over the world. After the Great Mahele (land division act) in 1848, Limahuli Valley became the property of an absentee landlord.

The Valley was used to graze cattle, greatly accelerating the destruction of native plants. Subsequent reforestation of cleared lands was accomplished by introducing faster growing non-native trees, which overwhelmed the less aggressive native species.

In 1955, at the request of the Hui Ku‘ai ‘Āina O Hā‘ena, an association that had acquired the entire ahupua`a in 1875, the Fifth Circuit Court began proceedings to partition the land and create fee simple ownership of the ahupua‘a.

This process took 12 years to complete, during which time Hawai‘i became a state and the new government designated the ahupua‘a of Hā‘ena as a new State Conservation District.

At the end of the partition process in 1967, Limahuli Valley was assigned to Juliet Rice Wichman, a member of the Hui who had long recognized the need to preserve and protect Limahuli. She immediately removed the cattle and began developing a garden.

Land was cleared, gravel roads were installed, and restoration work to the taro terraces started. In 1976, she gifted the lower part of the Valley, now known as Limahuli Garden, to the National Tropical Botanical Garden, and upon her death left the nearly 1,000 remaining acres to one of her grandsons, Chipper Wichman.

After receiving formal training in tropical horticulture, both at NTBG and the University of Hawai‘i, Wichman continued his grandmother’s legacy by adding plantings in the Garden portion and conducting a botanical survey of the area known today as Limahuli Preserve. Subsequently, in 1994, Wichman gave his acreage to the NTBG as well, forming Limahuli Garden and Preserve.

The area’s unique resources prompted Wichman to seek new zoning regulations from the State. A master plan was developed, followed by the preparation of an environmental assessment.

New legislation resulted in the creation of the Limahuli Valley Special Subzone. Implementation of the master plan began. Tours had been offered on a minimal basis to NTBG members; in 1995, a full-fledged public tour program was initiated and the construction of visitor facilities followed.

In 1997, the American Horticultural Society awarded Limahuli Garden its “Best Natural Botanical Garden” designation for demonstrating “best sound environmental practices of water, soil, and rare native plant conservation in an overall garden design.”

The goal for Limahuli Garden and Preserve is the ecological and cultural restoration of Limahuli Valley, using the ahupua`a system of resource management as a template for this work. The result is that past and present converge in this lovely valley, where native plants as well as ancient and contemporary Hawaiian culture are being actively preserved, nurtured, and perpetuated.

Limahuli Preserve (acquired in 1994)
Limahuli Preserve is located on the northern coast of Kauai in a lush tropical valley that contains an almost pristine Hawaiian stream with a waterfall that plummets nearly 800 feet into the lower valley. This isolated area is surrounded on three sides by precipitous ridges 2,000 feet high.

Within this spectacular setting are three separate ecological zones and many ancient Hawaiian archaeological sites. Botanical surveys have indicated that although much of the lower valley has been modified in the past, it remains an invaluable resource for native plant and animal species.

The unique topography in Limahuli Valley has resulted in two distinct management areas. These are: 1) The Upper Preserve, which is a “hanging” upper valley that extends to an elevation of over 3,000 feet at its highest point near the Alaka’i Swamp, and 2) the Lower Preserve, which is the part of the valley that is located below the waterfall.

Lower Limahuli Preserve
The Lower Limahuli Preserve contains approximately 600 acres of land. It is not open to the public and access is rugged and only by foot.

The unspoiled Limahuli Stream has never been highly degraded by human impact, although the ancient Hawaiians did use its waters to irrigate their lo`i kalo (taro patches), which were located throughout the Lower Preserve as well as on the plain in front of the valley. Today, the stream has a full complement of native fauna, including fish and crustaceans that are found only in Hawai‘i.

Over the past 100 years the Lower Preserve has seen a major decline in the population of native plants, primarily due to the introduction of feral cattle in the late 1800s. The consequence has been not only the loss of native species, but also the establishment of many alien species of plants that are aggressive and able to out compete most of the native plant species.

In an effort to restore this unique area to a more natural state, the Limahuli Garden staff began an aggressive plant-community restoration program. Efforts have been directed at three important plant communities – the mesic lowland forest, wet forest, and riparian plant communities.

The results of these innovative restoration projects have garnered national recognition, demonstrated the importance of restoration projects in Hawai‘i, and proven our ability to turn the tide of retreating plant communities. They serve as models for newer projects.

Upper Limahuli Preserve
The Upper Limahuli Preserve encompasses approximately 400 acres of land above Limahuli Falls and extends from about 1,600 feet at the top of the falls to 3,330 feet at the summit of Hono O Napali. At upper elevations, the vegetation is characteristic of montane rain forest, while at lower elevations it is characteristic of lowland rain forest.

The Upper Preserve is remote, requiring the use of a helicopter to gain access. Historically, this area has suffered from different environmental pressures than those exerted on the Lower Preserve.

Surveys have indicated that it was never intensely cultivated or modified by the ancient Hawaiians and it was isolated from the impacts of the cattle that did so much damage in the Lower Preserve. As a result, the Upper Preserve was still considered to be a pristine ecosystem with very few non-native species until the early 1980s.

In 1982, and again in 1992, this unspoiled area was severely damaged by two powerful hurricanes. These devastating storms not only denuded the vegetation, but also spread aerial-borne alien weed seeds through much of the area. In the past 20 years the area has also been subject to increased pressure from expanding populations of feral pigs.

Since 1992, staff has increased management activities in this remote area in an effort to mitigate the decline of this once pristine ecosystem. Restoration and management programs today are focusing on control of the worst of the invasive plant species and control of the feral pigs. Given time and adequate resources we hope to begin returning this area to its original condition.

© 2022 Ho‘okuleana LLC

Filed Under: General, Hawaiian Traditions Tagged With: Kauai, Limahuli, National Tropical Botanical Garden, Limahuli Garden and Preserve

June 26, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

National Tropical Botanical Garden

The National Tropical Botanical Garden (originally the Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden) is the only tropical botanical garden with a charter from the United States Congress as a not-for-profit institution, dedicated to tropical plant research, conservation and education.

National Tropical Botanical Garden and its gardens are located in the only tropical climate zones in the United States. While other major gardens can grow tropical plants in greenhouses “under glass,” NTBG’s nearly 2,000 acres of gardens and preserves afford a natural open-air environment in which these species flourish.

Four of NTBG’s gardens are in the Hawaiian Islands; the fifth is on the US mainland in Florida.  The Hawai‘i gardens include, McBryde and Allerton Gardens in Lāwa‘i, South Shore of Kaua‘i; Limahuli Garden and Preserve on the North Shore of Kaua‘i and Kahanu Garden on the Hāna Coast of Maui.  The Kampong is located on Biscayne Bay in Coconut Grove, Florida.

McBryde Garden has become a veritable botanical ark of tropical flora; it is situated in the upper valley of Lāwa‘i.   In 1970, the original 171-acres in the upper Lāwa‘i Valley was purchased, forming the NTBG’s first garden.

Originally called Lāwa‘i Garden, in 2000 it was renamed the McBryde Garden (named after Duncan McBryde and his McBryde Sugar Co, prior owners of the site.)

It is home to the largest ex situ collection of native Hawaiian flora in existence, extensive plantings of palms, flowering trees, rubiaceae, heliconias, orchids and many other plants that have been wild-collected from the tropical regions of the world.

NTBG’s Conservation Program is based at this site and the Garden contains a state-of-the-art horticulture and micro-propagation facility.

The Allerton Garden was a summer home for Queen Emma, now known as the historic Allerton Estate located near Poʻipū just past Spouting Horn – it’s situated between the Pacific Ocean and the McBryde Garden in the Lāwa‘i Valley (Lāwa‘i Kai.)

A naturally stunning location, the Lāwaʻi Valley’s tropical splendor was nurtured by its famous owners.  Queen Emma added her personal touch with the purple bougainvillea along the cliff walls.  In 1937, the Allerton’s purchased the property and continued the vision of a stately garden paradise.

The NTBG is headquartered at Lāwaʻi Kai.  NTBG’s gardens and preserves are safe havens for at-risk plant species that might otherwise disappear forever. There are two gardens at Lāwaʻi Kai, McBryde and Allerton Gardens.  NTBG has the largest collection of endangered plant species in the world.

Research and education programs have been expanded over time; NTBG’s Breadfruit Institute was formed. In more recent years the institution has strengthened its commitment to native plant conservation and habitat restoration. While NTBG had long been conducting ethno-botanical research, new emphasis was placed on perpetuating traditional knowledge.

Limahuli Garden and Preserve is set in a verdant tropical valley on the north shore of the Hawaiian Island of Kaua‘i. The Garden is back-dropped by the majestic Makana Mountain and overlooks the Pacific Ocean.

The name “Limahuli,” which means “turning hands,” which describes the agricultural activities of early Hawaiians in the Valley.  Lava-rock terraces for growing taro (lo‘i kalo) were built there 700-1,000 years ago.

The goal for Limahuli Garden and Preserve is the ecological and cultural restoration of Limahuli Valley, using the ahupua‘a system of resource management as a template for this work – a convergence of past and present, where native plants as well as ancient and contemporary Hawaiian culture are being actively preserved, nurtured and perpetuated.

Kahanu Garden is situated on the Hāna coast at Honomā‘ele.  For many generations the ahupua‘a of Honomā‘ele was an important agricultural area, a thriving community that prospered under the guidance of their ali‘i (chiefs).

Oral legends and chants recall that by the latter part of the 16th century the renowned ali‘i Pi‘ilani united the entire island of Maui under one rule with Hāna Bay as one of the royal centers of the kingdom.

Kahanu Garden today honors the past – cultivating and preserving both Hawaiian native plants and special varieties or cultivars of the ethnobotanic plants of Hawai‘i and the greater Pacific.

The Kampong, in Florida, contains an array of tropical fruit cultivars and flowering trees.  The garden is named for the Malay or Javanese word for a village or cluster of houses.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook 

Follow Peter T Young on Google+ 

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn  

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

© 2019 Hoʻokuleana LLC

NTBG_Entrance-Sign
NTBG_logo
NTBG-Logo
Visitor_Center_Kauai
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Allerton-Garden
Kahanu-Garden-Aerial
Maui-Kahanu_Garden
Limahuli_Garden_Kauai
Limahuli Loi
Limahuli Loi
Limahuli Loi
Limahuli Loi
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Path_in_McBryde_Garden_Kauai
The_Kampong, Florida
The_Kampong
The_Kampong_Coconut_Grove,_Florida

Filed Under: General Tagged With: McBryde Garden, Allerton Garden, Hawaii, Limahuli, NTBG, National Tropical Botanical Garden, Kahanu, Lawai, Kampong

Images of Old Hawaiʻi

People, places, and events in Hawaiʻi’s past come alive through text and media in “Images of Old Hawaiʻi.” These posts are informal historic summaries presented for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes.

Info@Hookuleana.com

Connect with Us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

  • Concrete No. 5
  • Slavery
  • Queen Kapiʻolani’s Canoe
  • 250 Years Ago … Battle of Bunker Hill
  • 250 Years Ago – George Washington
  • Happy Father’s Day!
  • 250 Years Ago … Continental Army

Categories

  • Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance
  • Buildings
  • Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings
  • Hawaiian Traditions
  • Military
  • Place Names
  • Prominent People
  • Schools
  • Sailing, Shipping & Shipwrecks
  • Economy
  • Voyage of the Thaddeus
  • Mayflower Summaries
  • American Revolution
  • General

Tags

Albatross Al Capone Ane Keohokalole Archibald Campbell Bernice Pauahi Bishop Charles Reed Bishop Downtown Honolulu Eruption Founder's Day George Patton Great Wall of Kuakini Green Sea Turtle Hawaii Hawaii Island Hermes Hilo Holoikauaua Honolulu Isaac Davis James Robinson Kamae Kamaeokalani Kamanawa Kameeiamoku Kamehameha Schools Lalani Village Lava Flow Lelia Byrd Liliuokalani Mao Math Mauna Loa Midway Monk Seal Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Oahu Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument Pearl Pualani Mossman Queen Liliuokalani Thomas Jaggar Volcano Waikiki Wake Wisdom

Hoʻokuleana LLC

Hoʻokuleana LLC is a Planning and Consulting firm assisting property owners with Land Use Planning efforts, including Environmental Review, Entitlement Process, Permitting, Community Outreach, etc. We are uniquely positioned to assist you in a variety of needs.

Info@Hookuleana.com

Copyright © 2012-2024 Peter T Young, Hoʻokuleana LLC

 

Loading Comments...