Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Police

King Kamehameha III established the office of the Marshal of the Hawaiian Islands on April 27, 1846. By 1859, the Marshal was designated the Chief of Police of the Kingdom, and he remained as such through the Republic and Territorial periods. During the last period he was known as the High Sheriff.

The island sheriffs, whose offices also originated in 1846, were his subordinates until 1905, when their offices were incorporated into the newly-established county governments. The Marshal was responsible for nominating to the island governors persons to be appointed by the governors as island sheriffs. (HSA)

Among other things, the Marshal was responsible for instructing the island sheriffs in their duties, as executive officers of the courts of record, as conservators of the peace, as trustees of jails, prisons and places of public correction, as safekeepers of prisoners, as executors or criminal sentences …

…  as the executors of executive mandates issued by the King, island governors or executive department heads, as commanders of the civil posse, as the apprehenders of fugitives from justice, including deserters from ships, as the detectors of crimes and misdemeanors, and as coroners.

The sheriffs were subordinate to the island governors, were permitted to appoint deputies and were accountable for all escapes and unnecessarily harsh treatment of prisoners. (HSA)

With the Organic Act of 1900, Congress transferred Hawaii’s sovereignty to the United States, making it a US territory, and defined its territorial government. Hawaii would have an appointed governor, a judiciary, and a bicameral legislature with popularly elected senators and representatives. (US Capitol Visitor Center)

The Organic Act also renamed the Marshal as the High Sheriff and sustained the existing organization and functions of the police.

Act 39 of 1905 (the ‘County Act,’ effective July 1, 1905) established counties within the Territory of Hawaii. One result of this act was to place the island sheriffs within the county governments and subordinate to the respective boards of supervisors, rather than to the High Sheriff. (HSA)

The law was not without its critics, “To multiply offices and opportunities for politicians, and increase taxation in a diminutive territory that long ago was ridiculed by Mark Twain who likened the official machinery of Hawaii to that of the Great Eastern in a sardine box.” (Thrum, 1906)

At the same time, Act 41 of 1905 established boards of prison inspectors for each judicial circuit, and made the boards responsible for jails and prisons within their circuits.

The High Sheriff was made responsible to the Board of Prison Inspectors of the First Judicial Circuit for Oahu Prison, and he was potentially responsible to other boards for territorial-level prison facilities in other circuits.

The High Sheriff was de facto Warden of Oahu Prison, and he was indexed as such in the Revised Laws of Hawaii, 1925, although he was never designated as such by statute.

That situation was changed by Act 17, 1st Special Session, 1932, which created a separate office of Warden of Oahu Prison and removed from the High Sheriff the responsibility for territorial prisons and prisoners. (HSA)

Then, the legislature started authorizing county Police Commissions.  A police commission was set up in Honolulu in 1932; Maui was given a police commission in 1939.

Kauai was technically authorized next, before Hawaii County; on April 19, 1943 the legislature approved a Kauai police commission and on April 21, 1943 they  approved a Hawaii County Police Commission. (HTH, April 21, 1943)

C&C Honolulu

In the late 1920s and early 1930s crime was on the rise in Honolulu.  Due to increased pressure from a group of prominent women in the community Governor Lawrence M. Judd appointed a Governor’s Advisory Committee on Crime.

This committee recommended that “there should be a police commission appointed by the Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, with the approval of the Board of Supervisors …”

“… whose duty it would be to appoint a Chief of Police and to supervise the operating of the police department” and that “the office of the Sheriff be retained and that the Sheriff be charged with the duty of serving civil process, maintaining the Honolulu Jail, and to act as Coroner.”

Governor Judd convened a Special Session of the Legislature and on January 22, 1932, it passed Act 1, carrying out the recommendations by the Governor’s Advisory Committee on Crime.

Act 1 established the Honolulu Police Commission and provided for an appointed Chief of Police. The Commission immediately appointed businessman Charles F Weeber to be the first Chief of Police. (Hnl PD)

Maui County

In 1939, several actions happened legislatively for Maui, “The laws making the island of Lanai a new district in Maui County and authorizing creation of new jobs for that district, as well as the act setting up a Maui police commission were … milestones in county legislation.” (SB, May 27, 1939)

In addition, legislation created a “Maui police commission of five members appointed by the governor; alteration of the whole Maui police system to conform with the new police commission law; creation of the office of police chief and abolition of the sheriff’s office.” (SB, May 27, 1939)

Then, “George F Larsen Jr, captain of detectives, Honolulu police department, was appointed as the new Maui chief of police by the Maui police commission”. (SB, June 27, 1939)

Kauai County

Following the authorization of a police commission on Kauai (and the Big Island), “Sheriffs and deputy sheriffs now serving in Hawaii and Kauai counties will be eliminated as soon as the new commission is appointed.” (SB, May 25, 1943)

“Members of the [Kauai] commission, appointed by the governor are: Caleb Burns Jr, for a term to expire June 30, 1947; former senator Charles A Rice, for a term to expire on June 30, 1948; Sinclair Robinson, for a term to expire June 30, 1949 and John F Ramsey, for a term to expire June 30, 1946.” (HTH, June 26, 1943)

Governor Stainback also appointed Joseph S Jerves for a term that ran to June 30, 1945.   Charles A Rice was elected chairman of the board.

“Edwin K Crowell, Kauai sheriff, was appointed the Garden Island’s first chief of police by the unanimous vote of the new Kauai police commission at its organization meeting in the county building.” (SB July 1, 1943)

Hawaii County

On June 11, 1943, Governor Ingram M Stainback announced the appointment of the Hawaii County Police Commission; this included Willis C Jenning, manager of Hakalau Plantation, who had been designated as chairman.

Other initial commissioners were Carl E Hanson, manager of the Hilo branch of Bishop National Bank; Nicholas Lycurgus, manager of the Volcano House; Thomas Strathairn, manager of the Hilo office of the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Co and the Hilo office of Hawaiian Airlines; and Robert L Hind, head of Puuwaawaa Ranch. (HnlAdv, June 11, 1943)

On June 24, 1943, it was reported that George F Larsen Jr, chief of police of Maui county (who had been Maui Chief since 1939, and prior to that was captain of detectives in Honolulu), had been appointed chief of police of Hawaii county by the recently appointed Big Island police commission. (SB, June 24, 1943)

The High Sheriff continued as the Chief of Police of the Territory, responsible for the public peace, the arrest of fugitives, etc., until 1959, when his office was abolished by Act 1, 2nd Special Session, 1959 (the “Reorganization Act”). (HSA)

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by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Kula Hospital

“Man vs. Tuberculosis, the strange, uncanny fight two thousand years of age, is, in Hawaii, in favor of Man. The tremendous exertion, the patience, the attention to incalculable minutae that this mere suggestion indicates is hard to realize unless one is in the fight, but success is on the banners of the Anti-Tuberculosis League of Hawaii at last.”  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 20, 1913)

Tuberculosis attacks the lungs and organs; in the second decade of the twentieth century it was the leading cause of death in Hawaiʻi, with 400 to 500 annual deaths.  (Nordyke)  (Even today, Hawai’i ranks No. 1 with the highest rate of tuberculosis (TB) in the United States.  (HealthTrends))

The campaign against tuberculosis was inaugurated in Hawaii in 1909 as a result of the interest of James A Rath and others at Pālama Settlement in Honolulu.  Stimulated by the Anti-Tuberculosis League of Hawaiʻi, interest steadily grew – the Territorial Government took over the program in 1920.

A number of years ago – though not so very many – when the present Governor Pinkham was president of the Board of health of Hawaii, it was found necessary to survey the ravages of tuberculosis, a disease which to that time had received little attention. A commission was appointed. In an unofficial way it investigated and made a report. The report was alarming.  (MacKaye, Thrum’s Annual 1917)

Tuberculosis was a graver danger than was believed, although since then it has been shown that even that estimate was short of the mark. Mr. Pinkham referred the report to the various counties and urged them to do something to remedy the situation.”

“There was no answer from Honolulu until several years later, from Kauai not until the present day, and from Hawaii not at all, so far as county government went. (MacKaye, Thrum’s Annual 1917)

But the Maui county supervisors had more vision. There was land available on the slopes of mighty Haleakala and some money that could be spent. The territorial government lent a little bit more. A doctor was employed, a nurse secured.”

“The beginnings of the Kula Sanitarium were made at Waiakoa, on the side of the “House of the Sun,” an appropriate site, for medical science has yet to find a substitute for the sun and fair winds in its combat with consumption. (MacKaye, Thrum’s Annual 1917)

“The sanitarium is located at Keokea, Kula, Maui, at an elevation of some 3,000 feet, and is most singularly fortunate in being so situated that the regular trade winds coming between the Island of Lānaʻi and Molokini have a clear ocean sweep of thousands of miles, and reach this elevated area crisp and heavily laden with pure, unused oxygen.”

“It is free from dust, since it does not pass over one acre of cultivated land, and the view, which adds much to the cheer and content of the patients, is simply magnificent.” (McConkey, Report of the Maui County Farm and Sanitarium to the Board of Health, 1911)

The Kula Sanatorium began as a vision of Dr Wilbur Fiske Boggs McConkey, who was a practicing physician treating tuberculosis patients in the Keokea district. During his long drive across the rough roads of Kula in 1909, Dr. McConkey remarked on Kula’s suitable climate for tuberculosis patients and began his quest to start a tuberculosis facility.  (NPS)

This first attempt at a sanitarium was a modest endeavor, a little shack protected with canvas, alone in the midst of a rather desolate countryside.  (MacKaye, Thrum’s Annual 1917)

“Two tent houses were built, with canvas sides, wooden floors, and corrugated iron roofing.  A cook-house of rough one by twelve inch lumber was thrown together; this had no floor but had a corrugated iron roof and was luxuriously fitted with an open lean-to and a rough board table, which served as the sanitarium dining-room.”

“Canvas cots were used in the sleeping quarters; the lights were humble barn lanterns. The cook, a Korean, was a patient himself. Six patients from the plantations were accommodated, who took care of themselves.”  (Long)

The first patients were admitted into the then-named Maui County Farm and Sanitarium on September 14, 1910.   The June 1911 Official Patient Report reported 12-patients; over the years, the ethnicity of the patients reflected the Islands’ growing diversity, Americans, Australians, Hawaiians, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Filipinos, Porto Ricans, Portuguese and Norwegian.

“We do not encourage the admission of patients suffering from diseases or injuries of a non-tubercular nature, but owing, in the main, to the difficulty which is met with in arranging for the means of transportation of such patients down the mountain to a general hospital, as well as the emergency cases which have been present from time to time, we have found it necessary to admit and care for these in order to avoid what would have caused hardship and extra suffering.” (Report of the Maui County Farm and Sanitarium to the Board of Health, 1913)

“Early in its history Mr. V. Woodburn Herron, a man with some hospital training, took charge as steward, nurse and non-medical superintendent. The sanitarium was a county institution with Dr McConkey regularly constituted physician.”

“This regime lasted some months, when a change of administration brought Mr WE Foster up from Paia to act as superintendent. His wife, a trained nurse, accompanied him. Mr. Foster’s untimely demise – he was himself a victim of the disease – ended this arrangement, but not before he had lighted the way for future progress.”  (Long)

With public funds and by private subscription, the Sanitarium staff and its Board of Supervisors built and equipped a plant for the treatment of tuberculosis very favorably comparable to anything on the mainland.  A favorite method of fund-raising/facility building was the contribution of a cottage for an individual by the latter’s friends. After the patient has passed through the treatment the cottage became the property of the Sanitarium.  (Long)

In 1926, children were admitted into the Preventorium.  The overall facility was expanded into the Charles William Dickey-designed Kula Sanatorium (one of the largest designed by Dickey in his career,) with the first patients moving in on May 27, 1937.

The facility was designed to accommodate 166-patients in wards and 16-patients in private rooms and had facilities on the porches to accommodate 59-more patients in an emergency.  The primary consideration in treatment was rest, “rest to the body, mind, and lungs.”

The layout of the gardens at Kula Sanatorium was a combination of formal plantings and careful use of indigenous plantings. They were designed by the first registered landscape architect in Hawaii, Catherine Jones Thompson and her husband, Robert O Thompson.

In the 1950s when drugs were developed to control tuberculosis, Kula Sanatorium changed its focus to serving long-term care patients.  In 1960, psychiatric patients were admitted on an experimental basis.

In 1975, tuberculosis services were discontinued and on April 9, 1976, the complex was renamed Kula Hospital.  The Kula Hospital & Clinic is a five story Moderne style hospital (“traditionalism and modernism” popular from 1925 through the 1940s) that serves as a general hospital and clinic to residents within the Kula area.

The complex has acute care beds, 24-hour emergency room and outpatient clinic with lab and x-ray services.  Kula Hospital continues to provide long-term care for its residents.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

The Battle of Hōkūʻula

Prominent features rising above the town of Waimea on the Big Island are the puʻu (cinder cones) in the surrounding pasture.  The South Kohala community made special note of these physical features in the Community Development Plan noting, “the Puʻu define the special landscape ‘sense of place’ of Waimea.”

One of these, Hōkūʻula (red star,) played a prominent role in battles between warring leadership from the islands of Maui and Hawaiʻi.  This story dates back to about the mid-1600s.

To put this timeframe in global perspective, around this time: the Ming Dynasty in China ended and the Manchus came into power and established the Qing dynasty; the Taj Mahal was completed in India: British restored the monarchy and Charles II was crowned king of England; and the Massachusetts Bay colony was forming after the recent landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock.

In the islands, Lonoikamakahiki (Lono) was the Mōʻi (Chief) of Hawai‘i.  He was a descendant of Pili (a high chief from Tahiti from the 13th century.  Lono was grandson of ʻUmi (and great grandson of Līloa.))

“Lono-i-ka-makahiki was a son of Keawe-nui-a-Umi, and was chief of Ka-u and Puna. He was sole ruler over those two districts on Hawaii. He was married to a chiefess, named Ka-iki-lani-kohe-paniʻo, who was descended from Laea-nui-kau-manamana. To them were born sons, Keawe-Hanau-i-ka-walu and Ka-ʻihi-kapu-mahana.”   (Kamakau)

Through marriage and victories over other chiefs, Lonoikamakahiki became the ruler of the Island of Hawaiʻi.  “During Lono’s reign, when he tended to the affairs of his kingdom, the chiefs and commoners lived in peace.”  (Kamakau)

Lono visited the Mōʻi of the various islands, including Kamalālāwalu, ruling chief of Maui.  “Lono-i-ka-makahiki sought the good will of these chiefs when he came to meet and associate with them in a friendly manner. There were to be no wars between one chief and another.”  (Kamakau)

Kamalālāwalu (Kama) met him and welcomed him royally.  The chiefly host and guest spent much time in surfing, a sport that was enjoyed by all.  Lono was lavishly entertained by Kamalālāwalu.

Not long after Lono’s departure and return to Hawai‘i, however, Kamalālāwalu, driven by ambition, decided to invade and conquer the nation of Island of Hawai‘i.  He sent spies to survey the opposition; they reported there were few men in the Kohala region.

When Kamalālāwalu heard the report of his spies, he was eager to stir his warriors to make war on Hawaiʻi.  Most of the prophets and seers supported the chief’s desire and gave dogs as their omen of victory [said that clouds taking the form of dogs foretold victory]. The dogs were a sign of fierceness, and so would the chief fiercely attack the enemy and gain the victory with great slaughter of the foe.

Part of the prophets and seers came to the chief with prophecies denying his victory, and urging him not to go to fight against Hawaiʻi.  When Lanikāula, a high priest from Moloka‘i, warned Kamalālāwalu of the dangers of an assault, an irate Kamalālāwalu replied “when I return, I will burn you alive.” (Fornander)

Kamalālāwalu’s fleet landed in Puakō and met no opposition. Lono’s oldest brother, Kanaloakuaʻana, was in residence Waimea at the time, and, upon hearing of the invasion, marched toward Puakō with what forces he had at hand. A battle ensued at Kauna‘oa (near the present-day Mauna Kea Resort), and Kanaloakuaʻana’s forces were defeated, with Kanaloakuaʻana himself being taken prisoner and eventually killed.

After this initial success, Kamalālāwalu and his Maui warriors marched boldly inland and took up a position above Waimea on top of the puʻu called Hōkūʻula and awaited Lono’s forces.

During the night, Lono’s warriors from Kona arrived and occupied a position near Puʻupā (the large cinder cone makai of the Waimea-Kohala Airport.) His warriors from Kaʻū (led by its high chief and Lono’s half-brother, Pupuakea) and Puna were stationed from the pu‘u called Holoholoku (the large cinder cone out in the plains below Mauna Kea,) those from Hilo and Hāmākua were stationed near Mahiki, and those from Kohala were stationed on the slopes of Momoualoa.

That morning, from his position atop Hōkūʻula, Kamalālāwalu could see that the lowlands were literally covered with the countless warriors of Lono, and realized that he was outnumbered. For three days the armies skirmished, with the actions of the Maui warriors being dominated by Kamalālāwalu’s nephew and chief, Makakuikalani.

“Short and long spears were flung, and death took its toll on both sides. The Maui men who were used to slinging shiny, water-worn stones grabbed up the stones of Puʻoaʻoaka. A cloud of dust rose to the sky and twisted about like smoke, but the lava rocks were light, and few of the Hawaii men were killed by them.”  (Kamakau)

“The warriors of Maui were put to flight, and the retreat to Kawaihae was long. [Yet] there were many who did reach Kawaihae, but because of a lack of canoes, only a few escaped with their lives. Most of the chiefs and warriors from Maui were destroyed.”  (Kamakau)

While Kamakau notes Kamalālāwalu died on the grassy plain of Puakō, other tradition suggests that after Lonoikamakahiki defeated Kamalālāwalu at Hōkūʻula, he brought the vanquished king of Maui to Keʻekū Heiau in Kahaluʻu and offered him as a sacrifice.

The spirits of Kamalālāwalu’s grieving dogs, Kauakahiʻokaʻoka (a white dog) and Kapapako (a black dog,) are said to continue to guard this site.  Outside the entrance to the heiau and towards the southwest are a number of petroglyphs on the pāhoehoe.  One of them is said to represent Kamalālāwalu.

So ended the first of the major wars between the nations of Maui and Hawai‘i, and a turning point in the history of Hawai‘i.

(Puʻu Hōkūʻula is sometimes referred as “”Buster Brown.”  Apparently, while training at Camp Tarawa in Waimea, Marines named it Buster Brown Hill after the former section manager for Parker Ranch, who lived just below the hill.)

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Waipiʻo Kimopo

At the time of Captain Cook’s arrival (1778,) the Hawaiian Islands were divided into four kingdoms: (1) the island of Hawaiʻi under the rule of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who also had possession of the Hāna district of east Maui; (2) Maui (except the Hāna district,) Molokai, Lanai and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and (4) Kauai and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

Kahahana was high-born and royally-connected. His father was Elani, one of the highest nobles in the ʻEwa district on Oʻahu, a descendant of the ancient chiefs of Līhuʻe.  While still a child, Kahahana was sent to Maui to live in the court of his relative, Kahekili.  (Fornander)

Then Oʻahu chiefs selected Kahahana to be their leader (this was the second king to be elected to succeed to the throne of Oʻahu, the first being Māʻilikūkahi, who was his ancestor.)

Kahahana left Maui and ruled Oʻahu.  When war broke out between Kalaniʻōpuʻu of Hawaiʻi Island and Kahekili in 1779, Kahahana had come to the aid of Kahekili.

Later, things soured.

“At that time Kahekili was plotting for the downfall of Kahahana and the seizure of Oʻahu and Molokaʻi, and the queen of Kauaʻi was disposed to assist him in these enterprises.” (Kalākaua)

In the beginning of 1783, King Kahekili from Maui sought to add Oʻahu under his control.   Kahekili invaded Oʻahu and Kahahana, landing at Waikīkī and dividing his forces in three columns (Kahekili’s forces marched from Waikīkī by Pūowaina (Punchbowl,) Pauoa and Kapena to battle Kahahana and his warriors.)

Kahahana’s army was routed, and he and his wife fled to the mountains. For nearly two years or more they wandered over the mountains, secretly aided, fed and clothed by his supporters, who commiserated the misfortunes of their former king.

Weary of a life in hiding, Kahahana sent his wife, Kekuapoʻiʻula, to negotiate with Kekuamanohā (her brother, and chief under Kahekili) for their safety.  Kekuamanohā sent messengers to Kahekili at Waikīkī informing him of the fact.

Kahekili immediately ordered the death of Kahahana, and he sent a double canoe down to ʻEwa to bring the corpse to Waikiki.  This order was faithfully executed by Kekuamanohā.  Kahahana and Alapaʻi were killed in Waikele.

Some of the remaining Oʻahu chiefs sought revenge and devised a wide-spread conspiracy against Kahekili and the Maui chiefs.  The conspiracy was led by Elani, father of Kahahana and included a number of Oʻahu chiefs.

At the time, Kahekili and his chiefs were quartered in various areas around the island.  Kahekili was in Kailua, while others were in Kāneʻohe and Heʻeia, and the remainder in ʻEwa and Waialua.

The plan was to kill the Maui chiefs on the same night in the different districts.

The conspiracy and revolt against Kahekili on Oʻahu was called Waipio Kimopo, (the “Waipiʻo Assassination” – named such, having originated in Waipiʻo, ʻEwa.)

However, before they could carry out their plan, Kalanikūpule found out their intentions and informed his father, Kahekili.  Messengers were sent to warn the other chiefs, who overcame the conspirators and killed them.  (Apparently the messenger to warn the chiefs in Waialua was too late and the Maui chiefs there were killed.)

It was found to be the best policy for a newly conquered people to give prompt and zealous allegiance to Kahekili, lest his piercing eyes should detect a want of aloha in his newly acquired subjects. For such delinquency he had given the people of a whole town to midnight slaughter.  (Newell)

Gathering his forces together, Kahekili overran the districts of Kona and ʻEwa, and a war of extermination ensued. Men, women and children were killed without discrimination and without mercy.  This event was called Kapoluku – “the night of slaughter.”  (Newell)

The streams of Makaho and Niuhelewai in Kona (Oʻahu,) and that of Hōʻaeʻae in ʻEwa, were said to have been literally choked with the corpses of the slain. The Oʻahu aristocracy had almost been entirely killed off.

Kalaikoa, one of the Maui chiefs, scraped and cleaned the bones of the slain and built a house for himself entirely from the skeletons of the slaughtered situated at Lapakea in Moanalua.  The skulls of Elani and other slain Oʻahu chiefs adorned the doorways of the house. The house was called “Kauwalua.” (Lots of information from Fornander and Bishop Museum.)

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by Peter T Young 1 Comment

A Haven for Whalers and World Travelers

In the Lāhainā region, the kula kahakai (near-shore lands) were thickly populated, chiefly residences and places of worship dominated the landscape. There were also found across this landscape, fishponds, taro pond fields and groves of selected trees of importance in various facets of Hawaiian life.  (Maly)

On the kula (gentle sloping flat lands) that extend behind the coastal region and reach to the valleys and mountain slopes, were found extensive agricultural fields planted in both wet land and dry land methods. (Maly)

The primary valleys behind Lele (original name for area now known as Lāhainā) included Kahoma, Kanahā and Kaua‘ula. The natural stream alignments from these valleys were modified and extended in ancient times, with large and small ʻauwai (irrigation channels) constructed to feed thousands of lo‘i kalo (taro pond fields) in which the primary food crop of the Lāhainā region residents was grown.    (Maly)

Over the centuries, a sophisticated system of ʻauwai, lo‘i kalo and loko i‘a kalo (fish and taro ponds) was engineered, and extended across the otherwise arid kula lands, down to the near-shore settlements.     (Maly)

Near the central area of the present Lāhainā Town is an area that was once a taro patch – it was King Kamehameha III’s personal taro patch, which he tended to regularly.  Reportedly, he felt “that common work has dignity.”

The natural waterways supplying these taro patches were eventually re-routed to provide fresh water for the community as Lāhainā grew.

“We found Lahaina very much like all that we had ever heard of—Lahaina.  Its citizens hospitable, its streets magazines of red dust, its taro patches green, its trees ambrosial, and its breezes refreshing.”  (The Polynesian, July 18, 1846)

Lāhainā’s Pioneer Hotel (as it was initially known) was built by George Alan Freeland on a portion of what has been referred to as ”Āpuakēhau,” the King’s Taro Patch (a remaining part can be seen near the water’s edge and is part of the Ala Hele Moʻolelo O Lāhainā (Lāhainā Historic Trail.))

Born in Cobham, England, Freeland was a miner, a provincial police officer and in the livery and grocery business in Canada.  He married Amabel Kahuhu of Lānaʻi and settled in Lāhainā to raise three sons and four daughters.  (star-bulletin)

Starting as a modest 10-room hotel with a common bathroom down the hall when it was initially completed in late-1901, it remains open today with 34-modern guest rooms.

New construction in 1965, that matches the 1901 waterfront wing and removal of the theater behind the hotel, added two sides and two wings to the block. Of the two new wings, the lower floors are businesses and the upper are hotel rooms.  The original wing retains offices, restaurant and bar.

Several suggest that later-renamed Pioneer Inn was the first Lāhainā and West Maui hotel; however, a 1901 Maui News report notes that the Lāhainā Hotel was open before the Pioneer.  While not the oldest, it is one of the oldest hotels in the islands still in operation (Volcano House started in the mid-1800s.)

A notice in the Hawaiian Star, October 9, 1901, noted “New Hotel For Lahaina. Articles of association were filed yesterday by the Pioneer Hotel Company, with the principal place of business at Lahaina, Island of Maui.”

“The object of the association Is to conduct a general hotel and restaurant business, and billiard tables. … The officers and principal stockholders are J. J. Newcomb, president, twenty-five shares; A Aalberg, secretary, twenty-five shares; P. Nicklas, treasurer, two shares; George Freeland, thirty-five shares.”

Three weeks later, the newspaper reported “George Freeland, manager of the Pioneer hotel at Lahaina, is in town for the purpose of purchasing supplies and furniture for the establishment. He will return to Lahaina nest Tuesday.  (Honolulu Republican, October 31, 1901)

“Lahaina now boasts two new and up-to-date hotels. Matt. McCann has just finished and moved into his new hosterie (Lahaina Hotel,) and is not able to handle all the travel at present, consequently he is compelled to turn away guests this week.”

“The Pioneer Hotel is practically completed and under the management of Mr. Freeland, will be thrown open for the reception of guests about December 1.”  (Maui News, November 23, 1901)

While short on hotels, “there is a plethora of saloons in Lahaina and now that a man can get a drink whenever and almost wherever he wants it …”

“… the people seem to care less about getting drunk, judging from the fact that there have been fewer arrests for drunkenness in Lahaina during the past month than for any previous month this year.”  (Maui News, November 23, 1901)  (McCann and Freeland each had a liquor license for their hotels.)

Almost immediately following the completion of his hotel, Freeland began forming subsidiaries of the Pioneer Hotel Company; the Pioneer Saloon, the Pioneer Theatre, the Pioneer garage and the Pioneer Wholesale Liquor Company.

Later, prohibition on the continent meant that George was forced to shut down his liquor company. The saloon became the hotel’s business office.

Before Lahaina Harbor was built in the 1950s, the ocean channel fronting Pioneer Inn was barely navigable during high surf; passengers who rode on dinghies to board ships faced the possibility of being swamped. “You took your chances through the surf.” (star-bulletin)

In the attached image album note the old Pioneer Inn menu and the tag line at the bottom, “A Haven for Whalers and World Travelers.”

Over the past 100 years, Pioneer Inn has hosted scores of famous names, such as Hawaiʻi’s last queen (Liliʻuokalani,) Mark Twain, Jack London, Sun Yat-sen, Jackie Kennedy and author Tom Robbins.  (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

The Pioneer Inn was later joined by resort development at Kāʻanapali Beach Resort (Royal Lāhainā 1961, then the Sheraton, 1962) and the Kapalua Resort (Kapalua Bay Hotel, 1978) – and a lot of other development along the West Maui Coast.

Here is a related story on the Lahaina – Lanai connection of the Pioneer Inn:

https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/pioneer-inn-maunalei-sugar-connection/

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