Maui | Page 20 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

March 27, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Baldwin Packers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Pineapple-(IronRodArt)

March 24, 2020 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Rose Ranch

The ahupuaʻa of Honuaʻula is primarily on Maui, but it also includes the entire island of Kahoʻolawe. Located in the “rain shadow” of Maui’s Haleakalā, a “cloud bridge” connects Kahoʻolawe to the slopes of Haleakalā. Nineteenth century forestry reports mentioned a “dense forest” at the top of Kahoʻolawe.

On Maui, the upper areas were in Sandalwood and Koa forests. Prior to European contact, early Hawaiians farmed sweet potatoes, dry land taro and harvested wood, birds and pigs from these forested areas.

The areas below the west and south slopes of Haleakalā (Kula, Honua‘ula, Kahikinui and Kaupo) in old Hawaiian times were typically planted in sweet potato. The leeward flanks of Haleakalā were not as favorable for dry or upland taro. However, some upland taro was grown, up to an altitude of 3,000 feet.

Modern agriculture began on the slopes of Haleakalā in 1845 when Linton L. Torbert, an active member of the Royal Hawaiian Agricultural Society, farmed potatoes and corn, primarily to supply island merchant ships and California’s ’gold rush’ era. He later planted sugar. (The 2,300-acres had first been leased from King Kamehameha III in 1841.)

On January 23, 1856, “Kapena Ki” (Captain James Makee) purchased at auction Torbert’s plantation. He sold his Nuʻuanu residence. (He was active in Oʻahu business and, later, was the Kapiʻolani Park Association’s first president (they even named the large island in the Park’s waterways after him.))

But with the purchase, Makee moved to Maui and raised his family on what he called ‘Rose Ranch’ after his wife Catherine’s favorite flower.

For three decades (1856-1886), the former whaling captain farmed sugar, cattle and other crops. This early entrepreneur even planted cotton to take advantage of the Union blockade of southern ports during the Civil War.

Makee was one of the first to import, on a large scale, purebred stock. He also went in for dairying and his “sweet butter” found a fine market. In 1858 he began the rehabilitation of Torbert’s cane and the crop of 1861 was marketed in Honolulu.

He solved the area’s major problem – water. “Makee has built a wooden house and deep reservoir on the side of the house. The troubles of the men and women are now ended by this work, they are now truly well supplied with water. This land, in ancient times, was a barren open place, a rocky, scorched land, where water could not be gotten.”

“The water of this land in times before, was from the stumps of the banana trees (pūmaiʻa), and from the leaves of the kākonakona grass; but now there is water where moss can grow. The problem is resolved.” Nupepa Kuokoa, Iulai 7, 1866, [Maly, translator])

“Makee’s Plantation or Rose Ranch, as it is more generally termed by the proprietor and his friends, is situated on the south eastern part of the Island of Maui, in the district of Honuaula. … The estate contains about 6,500 acres, 1,200 of which are capable of producing cane.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, September 19, 1861 [Maly])

The estate grew to be famous for its beauty, hospitality, and agricultural productivity. Catherine Makee’s gardens were the pride of the household with their profusion of roses, flowers, rare plants and shrubs. Visitors today can still admire Catherine’s circular garden beds with their flowering bounty, tended year-round.

“For one arriving by the steamer and dumped on the beach or the rocks at the landing, it is a difficult task to comprehend that above the barren waste he looks upon, there is a beautiful and busy scene…awaiting him.”

“Not until he surmounts the last hill and the panorama of cultivated fields, busy works, and easy dwelling, lying before him, does he realize it; and not until he has viewed it from Prospect Hill [Pu‘u Ka‘eo], can he fully appreciate the value of the picture…” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, September 19, 1861 [Maly])

“The nature of this land is like that of a rose garden filled with blossoms. The beautiful home of J. Makee, Esq., has no equal. … The things grown there are like nothing else seen, there are beautiful flowers, and trees of all kinds.”

“The road passes through the gardens, and to the large reservoir within the arboretum, it looks like a pond. When he finished showing us around the gardens, he took us to meet his lady (his wife), the one about whom visitors say, ‘She is the queen of the rose garden.’” (Kuokoa, November 14th, 1868 [Maly])

Rose Ranch was also famous over the years for its hospitality. Newspaper accounts from that time period describe unforgettable parties at which guests danced until the wee hours, lauding the “generous hospitality of the worthy host and hostess” [Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 14, 1866].

In 1874, King Kalākaua brought Queen Kapiʻolani to the ranch, and was so enthralled that he became a frequent visitor.

“The main entrance to the grounds surrounding the mansion, was surmounted with an illumination bearing the words – “Welcome to the King,” in red letters, bordered with sprays of pine-leaves. …”

“A neat but roomy cottage was set apart for the use of their Majesties, and here the party remained in the enjoyment of the liveral hospitality of Capt. Makee. In the interim, a large feast in the native style was spread under the shade of the noble trees near the mansion”. (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, April 1874)

From Torbert, then the decades of ownership by Makee, then Dowsett, Raymond and Baldwin, in 1963, the property was acquired by the Erdman family.

The property is now known as ʻUlupalakua Ranch and it remains a cattle ranch with 5,000-head of cattle, as well as a winery, a country store and grill, and horseback riding and clay shooting.

Today, ʻUlupalakua Ranch operates approximately 18,000 acres, 16,000 acres of fee simple land and 2,000 acres leased from the State of Hawaiʻi and private individuals.

In 2009, two-thirds of ʻUlupalakua Ranch was placed under a conservation easement assuring that over 11,000-acres will forever remain as agricultural lands. The land extends from coastline property a mile south of Makena to the 6,000-foot elevation, up to the boundary of Polipoli State Park.

The easement allows flexibility to pursue a variety of agricultural options, such as growing lumber, exotic vegetables and fruits and pursuing more renewable energy sources. Maui’s Winery is on the property, too.

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Rose Ranch, Ulupalakua, On the Slopes of Haleakala, Maui-Enoch_Wood_Perry_Jr- 1865

Rose Ranch, Ulupalakua, On the Slopes of Haleakala, Maui, 1865

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The Old Tasting Room, Tedeschi Winery, Ulupalakua Ranch, Maui

February 19, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Number, Please

“Mr. Watson – come here – I want to see you.” Soon after that fateful day of March 10, 1876, with the message from Alexander Graham Bell to his assistant Thomas A. Watson, the telephone grew in popularity.

In July of 1877, the Bell Telephone Company was formed and by the end of 1877 there were three-thousand telephones in service.

Some suggest ʻIolani Palace had telephones before the White House. However, the White House had a phone in 1879 (President Rutherford B. Hayes telephone number was “1”.) “By the fall of 1881 telephone instruments and electric bells were in place in the Palace.” (The Pacific Commercial, September 24, 1881)

“The first telephone ever used in Honolulu belonged to King Kalākaua. Having been presented to him by the American Bell Telephone Company.” (Daily Bulletin, December 4, 1894)

The earliest telephone in Hawaiʻi followed the first commercial telegraph, and like the earlier device stemmed from the efforts of Charles H. Dickey on Maui.

In early-1878, Maui’s Charles H. Dickey installed Hawaiʻi’s first two telephones between his home and his store. The phones were rented from a Mainland firm and ran on wet cell batteries.

Years later, Dickey wrote: “In 1878 I received a letter from my brother, JJ Dickey, superintendent of the Western Union Telegraph at Omaha, describing the new invention. … Before the year was out … I sent for instruments and converted my telegraph line into a telephone line.” (Schmitt, HJH)

In a letter to the Hawaiian Gazette, CH Dickey noted, “Sir, the greatest discovery of the age is the Bell Telephone. By its use, persons many miles apart can converse with ease. Every sound is distinctly transmitted.”

“The tones of the voice, musical notes, articulation, in fact any and every sound that can be made is reproduced instantaneously in a miniature form, by all the telephones on the wire.” (CH Dickey, Hawaiian Gazette, March 13, 1878)

“I have made arrangements to have a few sent me, to be used by the Hawaiian Telephone Company, and hope soon to be prepared to furnish telephones to all who wish them in the Islands, as agent for the manufacturers. …”

“A number of instruments can be attached to the same wire, although but one person can talk at a time, as is usual in polite conversation.” (CH Dickey, Hawaiian Gazette, March 13, 1878)

“Let a good line be put up, beginning at the upper end of Nuuanu, running down the Valley, connecting with the residences and business houses; then out on King street, connecting with the Palace and Government Building; then up through the residences to Punahou, and ending say at Waikiki.” (CH Dickey, Hawaiian Gazette, March 13, 1878)

Shortly after this, the newspaper commented, “it is plain that this new invention is destined to come into general use at no distant date.” (Hawaiian Gazette, March 30, 1878)

On April 11, 1878, Dickey submitted his application for a caveat (a kind of provisional patent), asserting his “intention to introduce into the Hawaiian Islands the Invention known as The Bell Telephone,” but the Privy Council apparently failed to act on his request.

Less than two weeks later, on April 24, 1878, a letter was sent to the Advertiser from Wailuku stating that “the East Maui Telegraph Company are about to introduce that new wonder of the age, the telephone.”

The Maui telephone system was apparently put into operation in May or June, 1878; a letter from Makawao, dated June 27, 1878, and printed in the Advertiser, boasted that “the telegraph and telephone are old here, ‘everybody has ’em’ ” and went on to tell how “comes the word by telephone that Mr. Spencer (E. Maui Plantation) has met with an accident.” (Schmitt, HJH)

In 1878, S. G. Wilder, Minister of the Interior, had a line installed between his government office and his lumber yard, and other private lines quickly followed. Organized service in Honolulu began during the late fall of 1880, and on December 30 the Hawaiian Bell Telephone Company was incorporated.

On December 23, 1880, a charter was granted to the Hawaiian Bell Telephone Company (Bell had nothing to do with the company; the name “Bell” was added to honor Alexander Graham Bell.)

There were 119 subscribers by the end of 1881; the next year there were 179. (On August 16, 1883, a competitive group was granted a charter, it was called the Mutual Telephone Company. Competition brought the rates down.)

The 1880-1881 directory, published in 1880, noted that the Hawaiian Telegraph Company “was established in 1877, and was the pioneer line of the Kingdom, and is up to the present time the only public line.”

“It was originally worked with what are known as Morse Sounders, but, the business of the line not being sufficient to pay for experienced operators, telephones have been substituted.” (Schmitt, HJH)

The first calls were operator assisted – the first operators were men.

They knew each subscriber by voice and did more than just connect calls – they made appointments, conveyed messages and even announced the current attraction at the Opera House. Throwing a master switch, they could inform all subscribers on matters of general concern, with a “Now hear this!”

On November 2, 1931, the Mutual Telephone Company inaugurated interisland radio telephone service. Mutual introduced radio telephone service with the Mainland a few weeks later. (Schmitt, HJH)

Annoyed by the growing numbers of free-loaders who used merchants’ phones for their private calls, the company (with the approval of the Public Utilities Commission) forbade free calls from stores and other public places, and in 1935 installed the first pay phones in Honolulu. (Schmitt, HJH)

Shortly after the turn of the century, women replaced men as telephone operators. On August 28, 1910, Honolulu telephones were converted to dial operation, but the last manual phones in Hawaiʻi (at Kamuela and Kapoho) were not phased out until 1957.

That same year (1957,) the first submarine telephone cable laid between Hawaiʻi and the mainland United States (actually two cables, (one transmitting in each direction.)) This provided the first direct dialing between Hawaiʻi and the mainland. It was replaced in 1989 with more advanced Fiber Optic cable technology.

Direct Distance Dialing was made available for calls from Oahu to the Neighbor Islands and Mainland beginning at 12:01 a.m., January 16, 1972. This permitted callers to bypass long-distance operators and reduce charges appreciably.

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Alexander Graham Bell at the opening of the long-distance line from New York to Chicago-(LOC)-1892

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Historic company document-A stock certificate from 1892

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Kalakaua, King of Hawaii, 1836-1891, in his library in Iolani Palace-telephone_on_wall-(HSA)-PP-96-15-007

February 18, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

McGregor Point

An ancient name for Maui is ʻIhikapalaumaēwa which is alluded to in the genealogical chant of “Mele a Pakuʻi”. The name infers sacred reverence and respect and the chant recounts how Wākea and Papa gave birth to the Hawaiian Islands.

Maui was the second child born to Wākea and Papa and is the second largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago. (Cultural Surveys)

In former times, Maui was also known as Kūlua, a probable reference to the East and West Maui districts, which were separate polities by A.D. 1400-1500. The name Maui itself is said to come from the chief Mauiloa. (Cultural Surveys)

Ukumehame Ahupua‘a, between the Lāhainā and Wailuku Districts was a fertile ahupua‘a that supported a large population with concentrations of people along the coastal area.

The fisheries and the ocean surrounding the area Ukumehame were so important that it also became a prominent canoe landing. Ukumehame and Olowalu were the favored residencies of royalty (Nūpepa Kūʻokoʻa, 1865 – Rechtman)

Kealaloloa “long pathway” Ridge, as it name suggests, may have been the main travel route used during the prehistoric and early historic times to cross to the West Maui Mountain, with auxiliary trails once serving to connect the main travel route.

This prominent landform ascends above the point below, which apparently represents the western extent of the coastal settlement. (Rechtman)

“A new road had been made around the foot of the mountain, the crookedest, rockiest, ever traveled by mortals. Our party consisted of five adults and five children. We had but two horses. One of these was in a decline on starting; it gave out in a few miles. …”

“The wind from the other shore swept across it and was cooling us a little too rapidly after the intense heat of the day. To go farther without rest or aid was impossible.” (Laura Fish Judd, 1841)

The trail was hand-built before 1825 for horseback and foot travel between Wailuku and Lāhainā; it served as the most direct route across the steep southern slopes of West Maui Mountain.

(By 1900, the Lāhainā Pali Trail fell out of use when prison laborers built a one-way dirt road along the base of the pali. In 1911, a three-ton truck was the first vehicle to negotiate this road, having a difficult time making some of the sharp, narrow turns.)

Ukumehame is noted for the strong winds that come from the uplands and blow to the sea. One kamaʻāina of Olowalu wrote this of the winds of Ukumehame and the surrounding wahi pana …

Hoomanu‘a i ke one o Awalua, konohikilua ka lā iā Olowalu, i ka lā‘i ka makani kahi ‘ao‘ao, Na Ukumehame ka nau o ka makani.
Pile the sands of Awalua, the sun is measured in Olowalu, during the day the wind is on one side, but to Ukumehame the wind escapes. (Rectman)

The wind was so strong at times, that it would shred the sails of vessels trying to traverse the coastline by sea (as noted in Nūpepa Kūʻokoʻa, 1868:) Ke holo nei ka moku a kūpono i Ukumehame, nānā aku i ka makani wili ko‘okai i ka moana, kahea mai ‘ia ke Kāpena i nā sela a pū‘ā i nā pe‘a, e hao mai ana ka makani pau nā pe‘a i ka nahaehae.

The ship sailed on until reaching just outside of Ukumehame, watching the strong whirling winds whipping the seas, the captain called out to the sailors to furl the sails, the wind was gusting and the sails were torn. (Rechtman)

It is in this setting in the 1870s that Daniel McGregor, an interisland trader delivering supplies and bound for Māʻalaea on a stormy night, was determined to find an alternative landing for the night.

McGregor sent sailors forward with lead lines to sound the water, while he scanned the shoreline for an adequate anchorage. In the wee hours of the morning, when the winds diminished and the water became significantly shallower, McGregor ordered the anchor dropped for the night.

With the light of the morning, McGregor awoke to find that he had discovered an excellent cove with a protecting point. The point, just over a mile southwest of Māʻalaea Bay, continues to bear his name.

In 1877, Wilder Steamship Company initiated passenger and freight service between the Hawaiian Islands. At that time, there were few navigational aids, so the steamship company was forced to erect lighted beacons for the safety of its own vessels.

One of these private aids was placed at Māʻalaea Bay in the 1880s and was an ordinary lantern, fitted with red glass and displayed from a post. In 1903, land was acquired on McGregor Point and a light was placed on the point to replace the one at Māʻalaea. This was later upgraded in 1915.

The area is known for another famous landing … on February 18, 1881, the “Beta” arrived under the command of Captain Christian L’Orange, an early plantation owner who was commissioned by King Kalākaua to bring 600-Scandinavian immigrants who had signed on to work in the booming sugar plantations.

McGregor Point Lookout is a popular vantage point for seeing humpback whales from land. From here, you have a sweeping view of the ocean. Humpback whales arrive in Hawaiʻi over a six-month period, with the best viewing months from mid-December through mid-April.

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February 9, 2020 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kanahā Pond

According to archaeologists Tomonari-Tuggle and Welch, changes shown on various maps suggest that the entire coastal area mauka of Kahului Bay was once marsh land, and could have been a natural formation that was only slightly modified by Hawaiians for fish cultivation.

Though their early history and even the actual boundaries of the wetlands to which they belonged are uncertain, we know that the swampy Kahului of old came to an end with the harbor dredging. A network of canals still drains groundwater from beneath the town’s coral-fill foundation.

A pair of fishponds, Kanahā and Mauoni, were located near the coastal area of Kahului Bay (between the present harbor and the airport.) Both Mauoni and Kanahā were naturally occurring, inland freshwater ponds whose shapes were altered by early Hawaiian fishpond builders.

The ponds were used for storing and fattening fish, because Hawaiian kapu prohibited catching or eating fish from the sea during the yearly spawning season. It was permissible, however, to eat fish taken from freshwater ponds.

Mauoni extended to the old County Fairgrounds area, near the present Safeway. Just east of the current harbor facilities is the Kanahā Fishpond, which is said to have been built by Chief Kihapiʻilani, brother-in-law of ‘Umi.

Kihapi‘ilani, a ruling chief of Maui in the early 1700s, was living at Kahului where he “began the transporting of the stones for the walls of the ponds Manoni [Mau‘oni] and Kanahā. He is the one who separated the water of the pond, giving it two names” (Dye).

“The kuapā is still there to this day, but a large portion of it has been lost, covered under the sands flying in the winds.” (Manu in Nupepa Ku Okoa, August 23, 1884, Maly)

According to another tradition, Kapiiohookalani, King of O‘ahu and half of Moloka‘i, “built the banks of kuapa of Kanahā and Mauoni, known as the twin ponds of Kapiioho—for the purpose he used men from Oʻahu and Molokaʻi, as well as those of Maui under his aunt Papaikaniau. “ (Dye)

“Tradition relates that the laborers stood so closely together that they passed the stones from hand to hand … Before the ponds were finished, Kapiioho had been killed by Alapainui of Hawaii at the battle of Kawela, Molokai. He was survived by a daughter Kahamaluihiikeaoihilani and son Kanahāokalani.” (Dye)

During King Kamehameha’s campaign to unify the Hawaiian Islands, the principal military encounter on Maui took place within Kahului Bay, in the area around the pond. For two days, there was constant fighting between the two sides until Kamehameha conquered them with the help of the military expertise and cannons of his western advisors, John Young and Isaac Davis.

It was a bloody battle and by the time it was over, the beach between Kahului and Pāʻia was covered with the canoes and bodies of fallen warriors.

When Kahului Bay was dredged in the early 1900s to deepen the harbor, the material that was removed was dumped on low-lying ground along the shore. In the process, the remains of an ancient fishpond disappeared (like most of the large ponds in the Hawaiian Islands that have been degraded or filled for development.)

Over the years, the Fairgrounds, the Kahului Industrial Area, parts of Dream City and much of commercial Kahului were filled in or dried out – or both – leaving Kanahā Pond just a small patch of a extensive wetland that extended to where Queen Ka’ahumanu Center was built.

Since the turn of the twentieth century, the pond has functioned primarily as a waterfowl and shorebird sanctuary.

Before the Second World War, Kanahā Pond was owned by the Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company. During the War, the HC&S donated the land, which included Kanahā Pond, to the US Navy.

In 1951 the Hawaiian government formally designated the pond as a bird refuge. The pond is home to two endangered species – the Hawaiian Stilt and the Hawaiian Coot, as well as providing sanctuary to many migrant shorebirds and waterfowl.

In 1959 the state legislature appropriated funds to improve the habitat and the Maui County government appointed a Citizens Advisory Committee.

More funding was obtained, and in 1961 the state legislature made long-term plans which included bird-feeding stations, observation areas and a picnic area, as well as an experimental dredging to try to eliminate the offensive odor, which manifested itself during the summer months.

Due to the continued destruction of many of Hawai’i’s wetland areas Kanahā Pond was designated a registered natural landmark in late 1971 by the Department of the Interior, one of only two such sites registered at the time.

Kanahā Pond provides one of the most important waterbird habitat in Hawaiʻi. It is one of the few remaining brackish-water ecosystems, providing refuge for both resident and migratory bird populations.

The pond and surrounding area are within the Kahului Airport jurisdiction. DOT has set the land aside for public recreation and wildlife purposes. Even though it is habitat for local and migratory birds (not the best of neighbors of airports,) since 1973, DOT and FAA have allowed construction of protective moats and nesting places, improvement of observation shelters and occasional dredging.

Today, the pond provides opportunities to see Hawaiian Stilts and Hawaiian Coots and other waterbirds from a small concrete observation area, which is located just off from the parking lot. The refuge is open all year and there are no entrance fees.

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Kahului Naval Air Station - 1945-(Kanaha_pond-circled)

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