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March 3, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Nānākuli

There are lots of theories are out there about what Nānākuli means – several suggest it relates to looking at knees – others reference other body parts.

A common perception is that Nānākuli was a poor land with little agriculture, leading the few residents to instead rely on marine resources. One translation of the naming of the ahupua‘a, which seems to support this perception, is that Nānākuli means, “to look deaf”.

This is said to refer to the behavior of Nānākuli residents, who, embarrassed about not being able to offer food to passing strangers, pretended to be deaf.  (Cultural Surveys)

The ahupua‘a of Nānākuli encompasses a little over 1,000-acres and is bounded on the east by Honouliuli in the ‘Ewa District and on the west by Lualualei in the Waiʻanae District

This leeward area is especially noted for its susceptibility to drought and famine. In valleys such as Nānākuli, where perennial streams are lacking, agricultural resources would have been sparse due to poor water and land resources.

It is probable that there were small, scattered settlements here and there whose main subsistence was the ‘uala (sweet potato.)  (Cultural Surveys)

“The eastern slopes of the southern end of the Waiʻanae Mountains below Pu‘u Puna were famous for sweet potato growing. Although there was a little taro grown in the valleys of Wai‘anae-uka, sweet potatoes grown on the kula lands were the main food of the people here.”

“On the other side of the Waiʻanae Mountains sweet potatoes were planted on the dry slopes of Nānākuli, Lualualei, Waiʻanae-kai, and the other small valleys as far as Mākua. With the exception of Waiʻanae-kai, the sweet potato was the staple for the inhabitants of this dry section.”  (Handy, Cultural Surveys))

Pukui related a story told to her by Simeona Nawaʻa in 1945: “In the olden days, this place was sparsely inhabited because of the scarcity of water. The fishing was good but planting very poor. When it rained, some sweet potatoes would be put into the ground, but the crops were always poor and miserable.”

“There were a few brackish pools from which they obtained their drinking water and it is only when they went to the upland of Waiʻanae that they were able to get fresh water. They carried the water home in large calabashes hung on mamaka or carrying sticks and used their water very carefully after they got it home.”

“They spent most of their time fishing and most of the fish they caught were dried as gifts for friends and relatives in the upland. Sometimes they carried dried and fresh fish to these people in the upland and in exchange received poi and other vegetable foods. As often as not, it was the people of the upland who came with their products and went home with fish.”  (Cultural Surveys)

To make up for this agricultural deficit, the coastal areas were rich in marine resources and there was always an abundant supply of fish.

Accounts of early foreign observers give only a generalized picture of the late pre-contact/early historic patterns of population and activity within the Waiʻanae District and Nānākuli Ahupua‘a. Captain George Vancouver, sailing along the Waiʻanae Coast in 1793, noted:

“The face of the country did not…promise an abundant supply (of water;) the situation was exposed.” He described the coast as “one barren rocky waste nearly destitute of verdure, cultivation or inhabitants”.

The only village Vancouver observed was “at Waianae, located in a grove of coconut and other trees on the southern side of a small sandy bay”. It is probably this village that was visited in 1815 by John B. Whitman, who described the western coast of O‘ahu between Waiʻanae and Honolulu:

“After proceeding for some time over an uncultivated plain, we arrived at small village situated on the sea shore. It consisted of about twenty huts occupied by fishermen”.  (The “uncultivated plain” Whitman observed before reaching Waiʻanae likely encompassed Nānākuli.)

In 1816, Boki was made governor of O‘ahu (and chief of the Waiʻanae district) and served in that capacity until 1829, when he sailed in search of sandalwood.

In the mid-1800s, the back of Nānākuli Valley used primarily for ranching purposes and probably did not support permanent habitation. Tax records from the mid-1800s for coastal Nānākuli indicate that possibly as many as 50-people resided along the shore.

The population in the area dropped precipitously during the 1800s, and in 1888, the Hawaiian Island Directory referenced only four residents of Nānākuli.

O‘ahu Railway and Land Company’s Benjamin Dillingham, a prominent business man and developer, envisioned populating the western side of O‘ahu by introducing agriculture; however, the lack of water proved to be an obstacle until the discovery of artesian water solved the issue in the early 1880s.

Dillingham saw that reliable transportation was needed to move crops from the west side of the island into Honolulu; he formed the O‘ahu Railway and Land Company (OR&L) in February 1889 and the rail stretched around Kaʻena Point as far as Kahuku by 1899.

The families returned.  In 1895, the Republic of Hawai‘i decided to open up lands for homesteading.  The Dowsett-Galbraith ranch lease was set to expire in 1901, and the Hawaiian Government intended to auction off these lands to the highest bidder.

There were two waves of homesteading on the Waiʻanae Coast. The first had more of an impact on Lualualei, while the second resulted in development of Nānākuli as a residential area.

The early wave of homesteading passed by dry, barren Nānākuli; however, despite an insufficient water supply, Nānākuli was an attraction to some people:  Because of its water shortage, parched Nānākuli had never attracted many residents. It remained a kiawe wilderness.

Yet, the very fact that nobody wanted it turned the area into a kind of informal public park. Some came for the summer; others camped all year round.

In 1916, Benjamin Zablan was appointed as Waiʻanae District Manager. He moved his family to Nānākuli and made his home on a beach stretch, now the stretch adjacent and south of Nānākuli Avenue. The southeastern end of this stretch was a safe swimming spot and was soon known as “Zablan’s Beach”.

The beach was eventually named Nānākuli Beach, but local residents wished to give it a more specific name. In 1940, local residents petitioned the board of supervisors to name the park Kalanianaʻole, in honor of Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole, the “father of the Hawaiian Homestead Act.” In recent years, Kalanianaʻole was combined with nearby Piliokahe Park to the south to form the Nānākuli Beach Park.

In 1917, the US Government set aside land located where Nānāikapono Elementary School is presently located as ‘Camp Andrews.’  It was used as a rest and recreation (R&R) area for military personnel, both prior to and during World War II.

The retreat at Camp Andrews consisted of cabins, cook house, a canteen, septic systems, a barber shop, armory, etc.   The Navy acquired the property from the Army in 1952. All structures on the property were demolished. The Navy transferred the property to the State of Hawai‘i in 1962.

World War II greatly affected the Waiʻanae coast. Military troops were sent in to train and practice maneuvers. Concrete bunkers and gun emplacements were built on the beaches and ridges, and barbed wire was strung along the beaches.

After WWII ended, the lower portions of Nānākuli and Lualualei Valleys were further developed into residential lots after Chinn Ho bought the Waiʻanae Sugar Plantation.

© 2023 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Filed Under: Place Names Tagged With: Hawaii, Oahu Railway and Land Company, Boki, Prince Kuhio, Waianae, Camp Andrews, Lualualei, Nanakuli

March 28, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Lualualei

Hiʻiaka (Pele’s sister) passed along the kula (plain) of Māʻili, and then turned to look at the uplands. She saw the dazzling light of the sun on the uplands of Lualualei and chanted:

Wela ka la e! Wela ka la e!
Ua wela i ka la ke kula o Lualualei.
Ua nau ia e ka la a ‘oka‘oka.

The sun is hot! The sun is hot!
The heat of the sun is on the plain of Lualualei.
The sun chews it up entirely.” (Maly)

Two meanings are suggested for the place name Lualualei; one meaning “the valley of the flexible wreaths,” a kaona, and the other meaning “beloved one spared.” (Sinoto)

A reference to Lualualei ahupuaʻa is found in Kamakau where he recounts Kākuhihewa’s birth and upbringing. Taken to ʻEwa and raised on “the sweetness of the poi of Kamaile; the soft mullet of Lualualei…,” it is evident that the Waiʻanae coast was beloved, especially for its coastal resources and quality of kalo. (Sinoto)

Further evidence that Lualualei must have been a favored locality for settlement is indicated by the remnant agricultural terraces in the inland areas and the fact that Kamehameha III kept the ahupuaʻa for himself. For that reason, the number of Land Commission Awards is limited to only six mauka lands. (Sinoto)

In 1921, Congress designated 2,000-acres at Lualualei for Hawaiian Homelands. Then, in the early-1930s, Territorial Governor Judd, through Executive Orders, granted all but 475-acres to the US Navy. (This removed a chunk of land from Hawaiian Homelands.)

The transfers under the EOs were later disputed and in 1998 an agreement was reached between the State and Feds where DHHL gained control of lands at Barber’s Point Naval Air Station (at Kalaeloa) and the Navy had continued use of the Lualualei property.

The agreement was signed in a ceremony at Washington Place with Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and Governor Ben Cayetano signing the memorandum of agreement, with Deputy Assistant Navy Secretary William Cassidy in attendance.

The Navy has used Lualualei as an ammunition depot (initially Naval Ammunition Depot Oʻahu, now Naval Magazine Pearl Harbor) and a communications facility (Lualualei Naval Radio Transmitting Facility) since 1934.

Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Lualualei Annex’s primary tenant is Naval Magazines whose mission is to receive, renovate, maintain, store and issue ammunition, weapons and technical materials for the Navy, Air Force, Army and other activities and units as designated by the Chief of Naval Operations.

Kolekole Pass forms a low crossing point through the Waiʻanae Mountains. A prehistoric trail crossed Kolekole pass linking Waiʻanae Uka with Waiʻanae Kai.

Kolekole Pass Road is located on the federal lands connecting these military facilities on Waiʻanae coast of Oʻahu to Schofield Barracks Army Installation in Central Oahu. The Army’s 3rd Engineers corps constructed vehicular passage in 1937.

The Magazine facility, a terminus for the Kolekole Pass road, contains 255 aboveground storage structures capable of housing 78,000 tons of ammunition and explosives. (hawaii.gov) The shipping and receiving center is located at West Loch, Pearl Harbor.

The Lualualei Naval Radio Transmitting Facility is used to transmit state-of-the-art radio signals for the navigation of Navy vessels throughout the Pacific. It is the primary Department of Defense long-range transmitter installation in Hawai‘i. The Navy and Coast Guard jointly use the facility. (hawaii-gov)

The very low frequency (VLF) transmitters communicate with submerged submarines in the Pacific and Arctic regions. VLF signal can travel to extreme depths enabling submarines to receive messages without surfacing and are used 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week.

The most notable features related to this are two 1,500-foot cable-stayed steel truss mast antennas of the Navy’s communication systems at Lualualei (built in 1972) which are the state’s highest structure.

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From Pohakea Pass. Puu Paheehee at right.
From Pohakea Pass. Puu Paheehee at right.
From Pohakea Pass. Cone at left is Puu o Hulu. Cone at right is Puu Mailiili.
From Pohakea Pass. Cone at left is Puu o Hulu. Cone at right is Puu Mailiili.
Lualualei Radio Transmitter-048252pv-LOC
Lualualei Radio Transmitter-048253pv-LOC
Lualualei Radio Transmitter-048255pv-LOC
Lualualei Radio Transmitter-048258pv-LOC
Lualualei-(Kessler)-1958
KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA
KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA
Lualualei_Land_Use-map
Lualualei-Admin_Building-(Kessler)-1958
Lualualei-Barracks-(Kessler)-1958
KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA
KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA
Lualualei-Low_Frequency_Power_Input_Station-(Kessler)-1958
Lualualei-Low_Frequency_Transmitter-(Kessler)-1958
On duty inside lo Freq F. O'Neill 1946.
On duty inside lo Freq F. O’Neill 1946.
Gate to Radio Station
Gate to Radio Station
Lualualei-Naval_Magazine-sign
Lualualei-Officer In Charge's Home 1968
Lualualei-Railroad Tracks-(Walker-Moody)
Lualualei-Sick_Bay-Barracks-(Kessler)-1958
Low Freq 1946
Low Freq 1946
Lualualei-Very_Low_Frequency_Transmitter-console
VIEW OF ANTENNA TOWER S-109 FACING NORTH. - U.S. Naval Base, Pearl Harbor, Lualualei Radio Transmitter-048253pv-LOC
VIEW OF ANTENNA TOWER S-111 FACING NORTHWEST. COMMUNICATIONS CONTROL LINK BUILDING (BLDG NO. 205)-048257pv-LOC

Filed Under: Place Names, Military Tagged With: Hawaii, Oahu, Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, Schofield Barracks, Joint-Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Kolekole Pass, Waianae, Lualualei, Naval Ammunition Depot

May 2, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ammo Tunnels

In ancient times, the central plateau, particularly the area called Lihue on the southwestern part of the plateau, was a center of island political power.

Even after the royal center had shifted to Waikiki during the time of chief Maʻilikukahi, this central area continued to play a role in chiefly activities, especially related to Kukaniloko, the site where chiefs came for the birth of their royal children. (Army)

As late as 1797, Kamehameha is said to have “made every arrangement to have the accouchement (birth of his successor) take place at Kūkaniloko; but the illness of Queen Keōpūolani frustrated the design”. (Fornander)

The central plateau was also a sanctuary for refugee chiefs. In 1783, the Maui chief Kahekili invaded and conquered Oahu, chasing the Oahu chief Kahahana and his wife into hiding in “the thickets of Wahiawa”.

The larger gulches of the central plateau and the gulches on the higher slopes of the Waiʻanae and Koʻolau Ranges were probably cultivated with irrigated taro. Handy writes “there are terraced areas watered by Kioea and Waikoloa (the north boundary of the Schofield Barracks cantonment) Streams. Kalena Gulch (in the Schofield West Range) had some terraces”. (army-mil)

A network of trails connected the central plateau with other parts of the island. The northern leg of the Waialua trail extended to the north shore; the southern leg reached to the rich estuaries of Puʻuloa (Pearl Harbor) on the south shore. The Kolekole trail pointed west to the crest of the Waianae Range and across to the leeward coast.

Fast forward to modern times, the first naval ammunition depot in the Islands consisted of seven above-ground magazines located on Kuahua Island, Pearl Harbor, in the vicinity of the Naval Shipyard.

Kuahua was used from 1916 until April of 1934, when it was decommissioned because of its unsafe location and limited area available for expansion. In 1929, the Navy purchased 8,184 acres of the McCandless estate at Lualualei; on May 1, 1934 the US Naval Ammunition Depot was commissioned. (Oahu Detonator)

As WW II approached, portable storage units were replaced with extensive underground rooms and tunnels for ammunition storage at many locations on Oahu. One worker commented that the Engineers had built so many tunnels, if placed end to end– the entrance would be at Koko Head, the exit at Moanalua. (ACE)

A major defense project of the mid-1930s was the construction of ammunition tunnels into the sides of Aliamanu Crater, called Aliamanu Ammunition Storage Depot (now Aliamanu Military Reservation.)

Intended for centralized storage of Army ammunition, eight tunnels were dug in 1934 and additional 35 magazines were completed in 1937. (Army)

At the onset of World War II, the Army was importing ammunition in huge quantities, requiring construction of ammunition storage facilities. Small facilities were built above ground, but the bulk of the ammunition was stored in massive underground storage facilities.

The first to be developed was in Waikakalaua Gulch just south of Wheeler Field, as well as at Kipapa Gulch.

“Tunnels driven into the almost vertical walls of the two gorges would have entrances invisible from the air. To keep out bomb fragments, passageways to the storage chambers would be dog-legged or provided with baffles.”

“The only drawbacks to these sites were lava formations and cinder pockets which would necessitate timbering or concreting considerable portions of the chambers.” (DOD; army-mil)

Waikakalaua consisted of 52 tunnels built into the hillside and used for ammunition storage. The mission of Waikakalaua was to provide ammunition storage for the Army during and after World War II. Ordnance storage tunnels and underground fuel storage tanks are reported to have been constructed between 1942 and 1945, and the installation was active until the 1950s.

This system of tunnels was the location of the primary storage for ordinance for B-17s and other bombers stationed just above at the Kipapa Army Airfield. The site was also used to store anti-tank and rifle fragmentation grenades. (army-mil)

According to Army-Navy Explosives Safety Board Abstract Number 28, tunnel #24A exploded in 1946 blowing large pieces of the concrete baffle out of the tunnel and across the gulch with such force that it destroyed a railroad track 300 feet away and caused a 20-foot depression to form above the tunnel.

Kipapa Ammunition Storage Site, located in Kipapa Gulch, was comprised of three sections. The lower unit is accessed from the south side of the Kamehameha Highway Bridge and extends south to the Kipapa Navy Ammunition Storage Area. The other two units are in the gulch to the east of Mililani Town.

Army construction during this period also included “The Hole” (now the Kunia Field Station,) a facility originally intended for airplane assembly (with a runway connection to Wheeler Field to the east.)

“The entrance appeared to lead only to a small dugout in a rolling hill, but at the end of a quarter-mile tunnel two elevators – one big enough for 20 passengers and the other able to carry four ½-ton trucks – gave access to a three-floor structure, self-sufficient even to a cafeteria that could serve 6,000 meals a day.”

“’The Hole’ was intended for plane assembly, but since it was not needed for such use, it proved ideal for the reproduction of maps and charts. Its huge air conditioning and ventilating systems provided easy control of temperature and humidity, and its fluorescent lighting furnished a flood of shadowless illumination.” (Allen; army-mil)

In October 1941, work was started to convert the storage facility in the rim of Aliamanu Crater into a joint Army-Navy command post; although not completed at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the post was shortly after put into service by the island command.

To alleviate continued housing shortages in the early-1970s, the Army, Navy, and Marines developed a joint project at Āliamanu Military Reservation, once a World War II era Navy-Army command post and important ammunition storage facility.

The ammunition was moved to the Lualualei storage depot and the crater was transformed into a 2,600-unit housing development.

Other tunnel complexes were built, including Schofield Barracks, Wheeler Field, Fort Shafter and Fort Ruger. The tunnels at Wheeler Field and Fort Ruger were for ammunition storage. The tunnels at Fort Shafter included a bombproof radio station, an underground cold storage facility, an anti-aircraft command radio transmitter tunnel, and the Air Defense Command Post. (army-mil)

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Munitions_train-heading_out_of_Lualualei-1966
Munitions_train-heading_out_of_Lualualei-1966

Filed Under: Military Tagged With: Aliamanu, Hawaii, Ammunition, Schofield Barracks, Waikakalaua, Fort Ruger, Wheeler Army Airfield, Lualualei, Kunia, Kunia Tunnel, Kipapa, Fort Shafter, Naval Ammunition Depot

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