Maui | Page 22 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

November 22, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Maui Airport

Puʻunēnē is a place name on Maui (pu’u means hill and nēnē is the native Hawaiian goose – “goose hill”.) It is the site of an early sugar mill built in 1901 and associated camp, as well as one of Hawaiʻi’s early airports.

On June 15, 1938, Governor’s Executive Order No. 804 set aside 300.71 acres of land at Pulehunui for the new Maui Airport to be under the control and management of the Superintendent of Public Works.

The Department of Public Works started construction on the new airport shortly after July 1, 1938. The airport was opened on June 30, 1939 (the new Maui Airport replaced a smaller airfield at Māʻalaea.)

Inter-Island Airways, Ltd (to be later known as Hawaiian Air) constructed a depot; a taxiway and turn-around were completed and graveled to serve the depot and in 1940 Inter-Island Airways funded airport station improvements.

During the time between June 30, 1939 and December 7, 1941, the civil air field was gradually enlarged and improved with some areas being paved. A small Naval Air Facility was established at the airport by the US Navy.

Maui Airport became one of the three most important airports to the Territorial Airport System.

Immediately after December 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor attack, the military took control of all air fields in the Territory and began the expansion of Maui Airport at Puʻunēnē.

Army forces eventually concentrated on Oʻahu, leaving the Navy as the primary user of the field. An expansion lengthened and widened the runways.

The northeast-southwest runway at Puʻunēnē was extended northerly to 6,000-feet and the northwest-southeast runway was extended southerly to 7,000-feet.

A taxiway, 7,000-feet long, connecting the two runways on the east side had been built. Water, sewer, electricity and telephone lines had been installed. Certain related structures had also been erected.

Under Navy control, the facility was renamed Naval Air Station Puʻunēnē, the airport served as a principal carrier plane training base.

By the end of the war, Puʻunēnē had a total complement of over 3,300-personnel and 271-aircraft. A total of 106-squadrons and carrier air groups passed through during WW II.

The demands of the war were such that the Navy found Puʻunēnē inadequate for the aircraft carrier training requirement and it was necessary to establish another large air station on Maui.

Accordingly, a site was chosen near the town of Kahului and, after the purchase of 1,341-acres of cane land, construction was started in 1942 on what was to become Naval Air Station, Kahului (NASKA.)

NASKA became operational in late 1943. Air crews were trained at both Puʻunēnē and NASKA. The NASKA facility later became known as Kahului Airport, under the jurisdiction of the Hawaii Aeronautics Commission.

Following the war, the Territory took back various airfields and converted them back into full-scale commercial operation of airports. In December 1948, the Navy declared the Puʻunēnē Airport land surplus to their needs and the airport reverted to the Territory under Quitclaim Deed from the US Government.

No major improvements were made to Puʻunēne ̄Airport, as the plan was to move commercial operations to the former Naval Air Station at Kahului, which was considered much more desirable for commercial airline operation.

In 1947, the Superintendent of the Territorial Public Works Department proposed readapting Maui Airport to the requirements of commercial aviation. Hawaiian Airlines Ltd., the only scheduled operator, had 496 schedules a month and flew a considerable number of special flights in addition. Non-scheduled operators averaged approximately 100 round trips from Honolulu per month.

However, as Joint Resolution 18, of the State legislature in 1947 notes, “As the US Navy will abandon use of its Kahului Airport on Maui, and this airport may be more economically operated and provide safer airplane operations than the territorially owned airport at Puʻunēn̄e …”

“… the Superintendent of Public Works is directed to make a survey with CAA officials and the US Navy to determine whether or not the Kahului Airport can be made available for civilian flying in lieu of Puʻunēnē Airport; and determine whether airplane operations at Kahului Airport can be carried on more safely than at Puʻunēnē; and whether or not the Kahului Airport can be operated more economically than Puʻunēnē.”

In December 1947, the Navy turned over jurisdiction of Kahului Airport to the Territory.

By June 1950, Maui Airport was still the principal airport on the Island of Maui and was served by all scheduled and non-scheduled operators.

Later in 1950, it was decided that certain parcels of land of the Puʻunēnē Airport be utilized to develop farm lots for the unemployed under lease arrangements with the Territory. Lots were laid out at the southeast end of Puʻunēnē Airport for use as piggeries.

The decision to move interisland air operations from Puʻunēnē to Kahului was made on May 25, 1951. On June 24, 1952 all airport operations and facilities were transferred from Puʻunēnē Airport to Kahului Airport.

The Maui Airport at Puʻunēnē was placed in caretaker status on June 30, 1953 and was closed to aeronautical activity on December 31, 1955.

It was decided to use an old runway for drag races and time trials in May 1956; it remains in use as Maui Raceway Park as an automobile “drag strip” and park for such activities as go-kart racing and model airplane flying.

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Puunene Airport, Maui, September 13, 1951.

Maalaea Bay Field, Maui, August 26, 1941

Maui_Airport-Puunene-USGS-UH_Manoa-(4807)-1965

NAS Pu`unēnē looking westward, Maalaea Bay-(Maui Historical Society-NOAA)

Puunee-Concrete_Bunkers-Ammunition_Magazines

CAA Region IX, 1947 National Airport Plan, Maui Airport at Puunene, Maui Master Plan, February 26, 1947-(hawaii-gov)

Maui_Raceway_Park-former_site_of_Maui_Airport_(Pu'unene)

October 31, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Nā Hono A Pi‘ilani

In northwest Maui, the district the ancients called Kaʻānapali, there are six hono bays (uniting of the bays,) which are legendary: from South to North, Honokōwai (bay drawing fresh water), Honokeana (cave bay), Honokahua (sites bay,) Honolua (two bays), Honokōhau (bay drawing dew) and Hononana (animated bay).

All were extensively terraced for wet taro (loʻi) in early historic and later times. Honokahua Valley has been described as having loʻi lands. Sweet potatoes were reportedly grown between the Honokohau and Kahakuloa Ahupuaʻa.

Collectively, these picturesque and productive bays are called Nā Hono A Piʻilani, The Bays of Piʻilani (aka Honoapiʻilani.)

In the 1500s, Chief Piʻilani (“stairway to heaven”) unified West Maui and ruled in peace and prosperity. His territory included the six West Maui bays, a place he frequented.

He ruled from the Royal Center in Lāhaina, where he was born (and died.) His residence was at Moku‘ula.

During his reign, Piʻilani gained political prominence for Maui by unifying the East and West of the island, elevating the political status of Maui.

Piʻilani’s power eventually extended from Hāna on one end of the island to the West at Nā Hono A Piʻilani, in addition to the islands visible from Honoapiʻilani – Kahoʻolawe, Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi.

Piʻilani’s prosperity was exemplified by a boom in agriculture and construction of heiau, fishponds, trails and irrigation systems.

Famed for his energy and intelligence, Piʻilani constructed the West Maui phase of the noted Alaloa, or long trail (also known as the King’s Highway.)

His son, Kihapiʻilani laid the East Maui section and connected the island. This trail was the only ancient pathway to encircle any Hawaiian island (not only along the coast, but also up the Kaupo Gap and through the summit area and crater of Haleakalā.)

Four to six feet wide and 138 miles long, this rock-paved path facilitated both peace and war. It simplified local and regional travel and communication, and allowed the chief’s messengers to quickly get from one part of the island to another.

The trail was used for the annual harvest festival of Makahiki and to collect taxes, promote production, enforce order and move armies.

Missionaries Richards, Andrews and Green noted in 1828, “a pavement said to have been built by Kihapiilani, a king … afforded us no inconsiderable assistance in traveling as we ascended and descended a great number of steep and difficult paries (pali.)” (Missionary Herald)

Today, Lower Honoapiʻilani Road and parts of Route 30 (Honoapiʻilani Highway) near the beach approximately trace the route of the ancient Alaloa (parts of the Alaloa were destroyed by development and sugar plantation uses.)

On the East side, portions of the Road to Hāna are a remnant of this 16th century coastal footpath, also known in this area as the King’s Highway, King Kiha-a-pi‘ilani Trail or even Kipapa o Kiha-a-pi’ilani (the pavement of Kiha-a-pi’ilani.)

Some beaches on the east side of the Alaloa along Route 360 were often used to cross gulches, since there were no bridges. It has also been reported that travelers would swing across the streams on ropes or vines, or climbed across the cliffs.

Around 1759, Kalaniʻōpuʻu (King of the Big Island) captured Hāna and held it for a couple decades; the footpath fell into disrepair. In 1780, Kahekili, the King of North Maui, retook Hāna, made improvements and reopened the trail.

It was accessible only by foot until around 1900; likewise, travel by canoe, and later other vessels, provided access from Hāna to other parts of Maui.

The ancient trails have typically been covered by modern highways and other development and only a few remnants of the King’s Highway remain.

Honoapiʻilani Highway, around the western edge of West Maui, and the Pi‘ilani Highway, along the Kihei coast, remain the namesakes for Piʻilani.

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Kekaa Pt. to Kahakuloa Pt.-NOAA-UH-Manoa-3269-1912

Hoapili_Trail-Honuaula-(Project_Kaeo)-(Horse-Cart-1824-1834)

Hoapili_Trail-Kula_Honuaula_Kahikinui_Kaupo-(Project_Kaeo)-(Horse-Cart-1824-1834)

Kings Highway footpath between Wainopoli State Park and Town of Hana-Hana Belt Road-(LOC)-219754pv

Kings Highway footpath from O Hale Hei au - Hana Belt Road-(LOC)-219756pv

Kings Highway footpath showing rounded rocks laid into lava bed - Hana Belt Road-(LOC)-219755pv

Piilani Highway low along the cliffs, just southwest of the highway's end at the Kalepa Bridge

October 14, 2019 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Wānanalua Church

Wānanalua (“double prophecy”) is an ahupuaʻa in Hāna (“work” or “profession”) and birthplace of Kaʻahumanu. (The birthplace is in a cave on Kaʻuiki Hill on the right side of Hāna Bay.)

There is a trail that leads along Kaʻuiki Hill to a red sand beach pocket. Along this trail is a plaque marking the site where Queen Kaʻahumanu was born in a nearby cave. She was the favorite wife of King Kamehameha I.

In 1790, Kamehameha invaded Maui, landing and winning a battle in Hāna.

He worked his way north from Hāna and engaged Kalanikūpule’s armies at Hāmākualoa in the battle of Pu‘ukoa‘e – and then at ‘Īao Valley in the famous battle of Kepaniwai.

It was following this battle that Kamehameha negotiated with Kalola to marry Keōpūolani (another of his wives, and the mother of Liholiho and Kauikeaouli.)

In 1838, missionary Daniel Conde organized a mission in Hāna and established the Wānanalua Church. (It’s across the street from the present day Hotel Hana-Maui, which was originally called the Kaʻuiki Inn.)

The church started with a thatched structure and by 1842 work commenced on the present building.

Wānanalua Church is a large stone building, the walls of which have been plastered over. Stone for the church was gathered from the ruins of a heiau, and the original roof was thatch.

The framing timbers came from the mountains and coral was gathered from the ocean and burned for lime and used to make mortar.

It is typical of the churches of this period in that it was constructed of local materials by Hawaiians under the supervision of a missionary, and was built to serve the Hawaiian community. Services were held in the Hawaiian language until the 1930s.

The church sits conspicuously on a large lot surrounded by a lawn with scattered plantings. A lava rock wall separates the church lot from the street.

The roof was reframed in 1856, which allowed for a shingle roof to be installed in 1862, replacing the thatch.

In 1897, the building was reroofed, refloored and replastered. It is assumed the bell tower was also constructed at that time. The church has remained in continuous operation and is one of the better maintained nineteenth century stone churches on Maui.

Daniel Conde and his family were the first missionaries to permanently settle in Hāna, which remains a somewhat remote part of Maui, even today.

At that time there were approximately 6,000 Hawaiians living in the area (the population was 1,235 in the 2010 census.)

The Condes remained in Hāna until 1849, when they moved to Wailuku. After the death of Mrs. Conde in 1855, Daniel and his children returned to New York.

The Wānanalua Church and the Hāna Courthouse are the only two surviving structures from the nineteenth century left in Hāna.

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October 13, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Claus Spreckels

Claus Spreckels (1828–1908) was perhaps the most successful German-American immigrant entrepreneur of the late-nineteenth century; he was one of the ten richest Americans of his time.

The career of the “sugar king” of California, Hawaiʻi and the American West consisted of building and breaking monopolies in sugar, transport, gas, electricity, real estate, newspapers, banks and breweries.

The first industry in which Spreckels succeeded was quite typical for German immigrants: beer brewing. In the spring of 1857, together with his brother Peter Spreckels and Claus Mangels, among others, he founded the Albany Brewery, the first large-scale producer of beer in San Francisco.

Though profitable, he sold his beer operation in 1863 and switched to a new field that would make him rich: sugar. That year, he started the Bay Sugar Refining Company, but sold it three years later.

He then constructed the California Sugar Refinery in 1867 to process sugar. While grocers, then, sold “sugar loaves,” Spreckels introduced the European process of packaging granulated sugar and sugar cubes (so customers could more easily divide the portions.)

In 1878, through his friendship with King Kalākaua, Claus Spreckels secured a lease of 40,000-acres of land on Maui and by 1882 he acquired the fee simple title to the Wailuku ahupuaʻa.

That same year, Spreckels founded the Hawaiian Commercial Company, which quickly became the largest and best-equipped sugar plantation in the islands.

The Spreckelsville Mill was actually four mills in one complex (it was located just to the northeast of the present Kahului Airport, near the intersection of Old Stable Road and Hana Highway.) The town of Spreckelsville built up around it.

Part of the production innovation was the use of electric lights; the first recorded onshore use of electric lighting in Hawaiʻi was at Mill Number One of the Spreckelsville Plantation on Maui on Aug. 21, 1881.

To satisfy the curiosity of people anxious to see the “concentrated daylight,” Capt. Coit Hobron ran a special train from Kahului, and King Kalākaua, Widow Queen Emma and Princess Ruth were among those who came to view the lights.

Spreckels modernized and mechanized the sugar production process, from hauling cane to the mill, to extracting the juice, reducing the juice to syrup and producing sugar grains. The raw sugar was then packed and shipped to his refinery in San Francisco. (Miller)

Sugar is a thirsty crop and Spreckels built the Haiku Ditch that spanned thirty miles and delivered fifty million gallons of water daily, irrigating twenty times as much land as had previously been irrigated.

Looking to upgrade from the mule and oxen means of moving sugar to the mill (as well as reduce costs,) Spreckels built a narrow-gauge railroad to haul the sugar from the plantation to the mill.

By 1881, twenty miles of iron track were completed. The rail line also transported the processed sugar to Maui’s major port, Kahului. By 1885, Spreckelsville had forty-three miles of railroad, four engines and 498 cars for hauling cane.

Needing transportation to move his Hawaiʻi sugar for refining on the continent, he formed JD Spreckels & Bros. shipping line in 1879, which was incorporated as the Oceanic Steamship Company in 1881.

It was the first line to offer regular service between Honolulu and San Francisco, and his sons managed to reduce travel time immensely. While the sailing ship Claus Spreckels made a record run of less than ten days in 1879, by 1883 the new steam vessel Mariposa needed less than six days.

Spreckels incorporated the Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company in 1884; it included four sugar mills, thirty-five miles of railroad with equipment, a water reservoir and the most advanced ditch system in the Pacific region. (Spiekermann)

Spreckelsville was the largest sugar estate in the world by 1892.

The late-1890s saw internal family conflicts. Spreckels lost control of HC&S and in 1898; it became a part of Alexander & Baldwin Co. Following the 1948 merger of HC&S and Maui Agriculture Co., HC&S became a division of Alexander & Baldwin.

Claus Spreckels was a controversial figure. For friends, he was a man “with a fine presence, an open, pleasant countenance and a cheerful word for everybody.” Others, however, characterized him as impatient, implacable, and ruthless, driven by “Dutch obstinacy.” (Spiekermann)

Hawaiʻi served as only one of the venues for the Spreckels holdings. During the 1880s and early 1890s, he bought and built up several blocks of office buildings in San Francisco.

Claus Spreckels was a financial and an industrial capitalist. Obtaining, investing and multiplying money was his main business, and his role as a pioneer of Hawaiian sugar planting and Californian beet sugar production was merely an outgrowth of his desire to increase his fortune. (Spiekermann)

Although none of his firms survived, his name today is still mentioned in San Francisco and Hawaiian travel guides as an example of an exceptional self-made man: “The life of Claus Spreckels is one of the interesting and absorbing personal histories of which America is so proud.” (Spiekermann)

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September 28, 2019 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Piʻilanihale Heiau

Piʻilanihale Heiau is Hawaiʻi’s (and maybe Polynesia’s) largest heiau that is still intact (it is situated near Hāna, Maui.)

Standing over 40-feet high, the stone platform is 289-feet by 565.5-feet; Piʻilanihale Heiau is a stepped lava rock platform the size of nearly two football fields.

Interior construction consists of eight lesser walls, three enclosures, five platforms, two upright stones and 22 pits.

The north wall is the longest wall and measures 565.5-feet. It is also the highest wall, measuring about 43-feet at its maximum point.

This wall contains the most unusual feature of the Heiau, the immense retaining wall that fills a gully between the two ridges comprising the Heiau foundation.

According to Cordy, this wall is unique in Hawaii: “it is built of superbly fitted stones ….. and has four [terraced] steps up its face.”

Piʻilanihale Heiau (also identified as Hale-o-Piʻilani Heiau) is one of the most important archeological sites in the Hawaiian Islands and is impressive in size and architectural quality.

Archaeologists believe the heiau (temple) was constructed in four stages, beginning as early as the 12th century.

The earliest shrines and rituals appear to have been simple ones constructed by families and small communities and dedicated to the gods of peace, health, fertility and a good harvest of the products of the land and the sea.

With increased population growth and social organizational complexity, religion, the legitimizing sanction of directed social and political change, evolved becoming integrated with government at the state level as well as at the local and personal level. Large and complex temples were constructed for public ceremonies dedicating major events.

Sometimes the ceremonies lasted for days. Between these major events, the temple might be left untended which accounts for the seeming neglect of some of these structures recorded by early voyagers to the Islands.

According to Kamakau, state temples were constructed on the sites formerly built on by the people of old. Studies have verified that these temples were constructed in a series of stages.

Archeologically Piʻilanihale Heiau’s occupation and use span both the prehistoric and historic periods.

Each rebuilding episode may commemorate a significant event in the reign of a particular chief or king. The stylistic changes embodied in these structures, therefore, not only document evolutionary changes in social organization and the evolution of religion, but may be stylistically identifiable with prominent lineages or personages.

In addition to serving as a heiau, some archaeologists believe this structure may also be the residential compound of a high chief, perhaps that of King Piʻilani.

The royal compound probably would have included the king’s personal temple.

The literal translation of Piʻilanihale is “house (hale) [of] Piʻilani.”

It is not known if the first king of the Piʻilani line built the structure or whether it was constructed by one of his several well-known descendants: his sons Lono-a-Piilani and Kihapiilani, and his grandson Kamalalawalu.

According to oral tradition, in the 16th century, Piʻilani unified the entire island of Maui, bringing together under one rule the formerly-competing eastern (Hāna) and western (Wailuku) multi-district kingdoms of the Island.

Hāna served as one of the royal centers of the kingdom.

Several generations later, through inter-island conquest, the marriage of his brother to the Queen of Kauaʻi, and appointment of his son to alternately govern Maui, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe and Oʻahu during his periodic absences, Kahekili by 1783 dominated all the Hawaiian Islands except for Hawaiʻi.

Hāna continued to be a center of royal power until 1794, when Kamehameha I, ruler of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i, defeated the Maui army and Maui came under him.

In 1848, the Hawaiian Monarchy was created and private land ownership was established. As a direct result of this new land ownership system, one-half of the ahupua‘a of Honomā‘ele, roughly 990 acres, was granted to Chief Kahanu by Kauikeaouli (King Kamehameha III).

In 1974, members of the Kahanu/Uaiwa/Matsuda/Kumaewa Family (descendants of Chief Kahanu) and Hāna Ranch deeded 61 acres of land to the then Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden to establish Kahanu Garden.

In exchange, the institution promised to restore Pi‘ilanihale, share it with the public, and provide perpetual care for this sacred site as well as the family graves that are on this ‘āina (land).

The restored Piʻilanihale Heiau is within the grounds of the National Tropical Botanical Garden’s Kahanu Garden.

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