Oahu | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

December 19, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Duke Kahanamoku Beach

Duke Paoa Kahanamoku was born in 1890, one of nine children of a Honolulu policeman.

Duke was named after his father who was given the name by Bernice Pauahi Bishop. The elder Duke explains his naming as “Mrs. Bishop took hold of me and at the same time a salute to the Hawaiian flag from the British Battleship in which the (Prince Albert) Duke of Edinburgh arrived”.

“… after I was washed by Mrs. Bishop she gave me the name ‘The Duke of Edinburgh.’” (The Duke of Edinburgh was visiting the Islands at the time (July 21, 1869.))

“The Duke heard and was glad and came to (the) house and I was presented to him and tooke me in his arms. And that is how I got this name.” (Nendel)

Both were born at the Paki property in downtown Honolulu. The Paki (Pauahi’s parents) home was called Haleʻakala (the ‘Pink House,’ made of coral.)

A couple years after Duke’s birth (1893,) the family was living in a small house on the beach at Waikiki where the present day Hawaiian Hilton Village now stands.

Duke had a normal upbringing for a young boy his age in Waikiki. He swam, surfed, fished, did odd jobs such as selling newspapers and went to school at Waikiki grammar school; he would never graduate from high school due to the need to help his family earn enough money to live.

For fun and extra money he and others would greet the boatloads of tourists coming to and from Honolulu Harbor. They would dive for coins tossed into the water by the visitors, perform acrobatic displays of diving from towers on boat days, and explore the crop of newcomers for potential students to teach surfing and canoeing lessons to on the beach.

He earned his living as a beachboy and stevedore at the Honolulu Harbor docks. Growing up on the beach in Waikiki, Duke surfed with his brothers and entertained tourists with tandem rides. (Nendel)

Duke’s love of surfing is what he is most remembered. He used surfing to promote Hawaiian culture to visitors who wanted to fully experience the islands.

Through his many travels, Duke introduced surfing to the rest of the world and was regarded as the father of international surfing.

Back at home, the beach and subsequent lagoon near where he lived now carry his name.

Ownership of the Waikiki property by the Paoa family goes back to Kaʻahumanu as noted in testimony before the Land Commission on December 16, 1847 (LCA 1775:)

“I hereby state my claim for a section of irrigation ditch. I do not know its length – perhaps it is two fathoms more or less. The length of my interest at this place is from the time of Kaahumanu I, which was when my people acquired this place, and until this day when I am telling you, no one has objected at this place where I live.”

“The houselot where we live is on the north of the government fence at Kalia. Some planted trees grow there-five hau and four hala. There is a well which is used jointly.” The Royal Patent for the claim was awarded to Paoa on December 7, 1870 (Royal Patent No. 7033) (Rosendahl)

In 1891, the ‘Old Waikiki’ opened as a bathhouse, one of the first places in Waikiki to offer rooms for overnight guests. It was later redeveloped (1928) as the Niumalu Hotel. Henry J Kaiser bought it and adjoining property and started the Kaiser Hawaiian Village.

The shoreline area was filled and is considered State-owned land. A 1955 lease allowed Kaiser’s Hawaiian Village to dredge and fill areas – in the process the 4.6-acre Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon was created in 1956. To the east of the lagoon is the crescent-shaped Duke Kahanamoku Beach. (In 1961 Kaiser sold to Hilton Hotels.)

Initially, the Territory of Hawaiʻi constructed the ‘Crescent Beach’ project by dredging and filling the nearby ocean shoreline; most of the material that now makes up the banks of the lagoon originated from that project (the beach and lagoon were built at the same time.)

Duke Kahanamoku Beach was crowned the Best Beach in the list of annual ‘Top 10 US Beaches 2024’ by Stephen Leatherman, a.k.a. ‘Dr. Beach’ (and has been on the top 10 list often).

December 10, 2025 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Honolulu Harbor Lights

Even in today’s high-tech environment with tools and toys with satellite support, the simple illumination from a known point continues to serve as a navigational aid, as well as warn mariners of hazardous areas.

In 1924, construction of the 10-story, 184-foot Aloha Tower (lighthouse) began; it was completed in a year and a half. For four decades the Aloha Tower was the tallest structure in Hawaiʻi. But that is getting ahead of ourselves.

The original Honolulu Harbor Light was built in 1826. (USCG) Some suggest the earliest light was a “crude oil lamp wrapped with red cloth.” (De Wire)

Some official action for more formal lighting was set in motion. The Kingdom’s ‘Second Act of Kamehameha III; An Act to Organize the Executive Ministry of the Hawaiian Islands,’ Chapter 3, Section 3, Article 3, notes:

“The respective governors shall, on receiving the king’s instructions from the Minister of the Interior, have power to cause to be erected at any designated points upon the coasts of their respective islands, lighthouses or beacons, for the guidance of vessels at night”. (April 27, 1846)

The House of Nobles had previously read and reviewed “Article III., of Chapter III., regarding to Lighthouses, Beacons and Channels. This was passed being very clearly worded.” (July 22, 1845)

However, it wasn’t until 1869 that “Harbor Wink” was built at the edge of the reef on the north side of the Honolulu Harbor entrance, near what is now Sand Island. It was a white wooden structure on piles, linked to a nearby dwelling by a pier.

Two bids were submitted for the harbor lighthouse. Honolulu Iron Works agreed to provide a lighthouse on iron pilings for $2,141, but a lower bid of $360, submitted by LL Gilbert for an all-wooden structure, was accepted.

Wooden pilings were driven into the reef that formed the small island, and atop these a keeper’s residence and a square pyramidal lighthouse topped by a lantern room were constructed. Keeper Captain McGregor first exhibited the light from whale oil lamps, concentrated by a fourth-order Fresnel lens, on August 2, 1869.

The facility didn’t go without its detractors. The Pacific Commercial Advertiser called it “an infantile structure which more resembles a birdcage than a lighthouse.” The lighthouse also served as a front range light. (Lighthouse Friends)

In 1906, plans were proposed for the transition from a simple, primitive light in Honolulu Harbor to a permanent, efficient light station. The following year, the harbor was dredged, providing a deeper port for large ships.

Material created from the dredging was added to the existing Quarantine Island (what is now called Sand Island.) It was on Sand Island that the Honolulu Harbor Light station was built. (Brown)

Plans were prepared for a concrete-block (subsequently changed to re-enforced concrete) structure, to include a combined light-keeper’s dwelling and tower, the building to rest upon twenty-four concrete foundation cylinders or piles 3 feet in diameter.

The structure was rectangular, one and a half stories high, and is surmounted by a square tower supporting a fourth-order cylindrical helical-bar lantern. The illuminating apparatus consisted of an occulting fourth-order lens, revolving on ball bearings.

The main floor contains quarters for two keepers, each provided with kitchen, living room, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. There are ample closets and pantries for each keeper. (Report of the Light-House Board, 1909)

The beacon went into service on February 15, 1910. After several years, the sturdy building, that had become the well-known Honolulu Harbor Lighthouse, almost resembled a home, complete with a gate and white picket fence.

The lower portion of the structure provided living accommodations for two light keepers. The 43-foot high illuminating apparatus above the dwelling housed the necessary guiding light for all ships entering the busy harbor. (Brown)

Sixteen years later, the iconic Aloha Tower was completed to replace the Sand Island facility. (The Honolulu Harbor Light was destroyed in 1934.)

The Aloha Tower navigational aid served until 1975, when the present Honolulu Harbor Light was established on a metal pole at the end of Pier 2.

November 20, 2025 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Coconut Grove

Kailua Ahupua‘a is the largest on the windward side of O‘ahu, and the largest ahupua‘a of the Koʻolaupoko District. From the Koʻolau ridge line it extends down two descending ridge lines which provide the natural boundaries for the sides of the ahupua‘a.

The natural environment includes the sand accretion barrier upon which Kailua Town stands, the mountainous upland terrain and alluvial valley of Maunawili, the largest fresh water marsh in Hawai‘i (Kawainui Marsh), another inland pond (Kaʻelepulu) and intermittent streams. (Cultural Surveys)

When the first Polynesians landed and settled in Hawaiʻi (about 900 to 1000 AD (Kirch)) they brought with them shoots, roots, cuttings and seeds of various plants for food, cordage, medicine, fabric, containers, all of life’s vital needs.

“Canoe crops” (Canoe Plants) is a term to describe the group of plants brought to Hawaiʻi by these early Polynesians. One of these was ‘niu,’ the coconut; they used it for food, cordage, etc.

Later, others saw commercial opportunities from coconuts.

In 1906, Albert and Fred Waterhouse were walking over sand dunes along the approximately one-mile wide by two-and-a-half-mile long area between Kawainui Marsh and the ocean, when they envisioned the idea of planting coconut trees there.

“During the week papers will be filed with the Treasurer for the incorporation of the Hawaiian Copra Co, having lands under (a 29-year) lease from Mr Castle. …”

“(The land) is … two-hundred and fifty acres adapted to the cultivation of cocoanut trees, of which it has twenty thousand, half of which are nearly three feet high and the balance recently planted.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, May 12, 1907)

“Samples of copra (dried meat of coconut) grown here have been forwarded to San Francisco …. The quality of the product is excellent, comparing favorably with that of the best grade received in that market, and the price per pound is satisfactory. So well pleased are the people on the Coast that they have signified a willingness to take all that can be shipped to them.”

“The copra is compressed and the extracted oil used in the manufacture of soaps, and as oils in the manufacture of high-grade paints. Another use to which it is put is the manufacture of shredded cocoanut, which is utilized by confectioners and bakers. The fiber is made into hawsers (ropes) for towing purposes.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, May 12, 1907)

They “leveled the sand dunes and smoothed out the sand hillocks,” and planted approximately 320-acres with over 130,000-coconut trees.

Many rows of ironwood trees were also planted as a windbreak and a fence had to be built to keep cattle out. (Drigot)

“The (coconuts were) secured from Kauai …. We have sunk one well and found water at a depth of 51-feet. It is our intention to sink about 25-such wells for irrigation purposes.”

“Our trees will be of the Samoan variety and will bear when about seven years old. There is very little labor needed. Eight men will take care of the whole place, so we will have no labor problem to contend with.” (Maui News, September 17, 1907)

“One of the uses to which copra is put and for which there has not yet been found an available substitute is in the production of salt water soap, soap that will lather and be effective in salt water.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, September 15, 1907)

Things looked up.

“George A Moore & Co, commission merchants, of San Francisco, see no reason why Hawaiian copra should not compete more than favorably with other South Sea copra in the mainland market.… (He noted,) We beg to call to your attention the large consumption in this market of dried cocoanut, commercially known as copra, which reaches as high as fifteen thousand tons per annum.”

“Most of our importations are brought from the Pacific and South Sea Islands, but having recently seen a small parcel which issued from the Hawaiian Islands of very good quality it occurs to us and we see no reason why large quantities of this could not be brought from the American island possessions, notably the Hawaiian Islands.”

“For your information we would say that the ripe cocoanuts are cracked open and exposed to the sun, whereupon the meat shrinks from the shell and the dried meat itself constitutes the commodity above referred to, which is today realizing in our market 3 3/8 c US gold.”

“Cocoanut plantations in the Pacific Islands for the production of copra have now become quite an extensive and profitable venture, and we have no doubt it would prove so to your planters. ” (Peters; Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 17, 1908)

It didn’t last. … In 1916, the copra/coconut oil enterprise failed.

The Waterhouses sold their “Coconut Grove” to AH Rice, who planned a residential subdivision in the area. In 1924, Earl H Williams, of Liberty Investment Co, acquired 200-acres from Rice and began the subdivision process (the Coconut Grove Tract.) (Drigot) At the end of World War II, Kailua began a real estate and development boom.

As the landscape became urbanized, flooding became a problem. There are reports of major flooding in this area in the years 1921 and 1940. In 1939, Congress instructed the Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a survey of the Marsh area and to assess its value as a flood control basin.

Kailua town as a whole suffered a severe flood in 1951 and 250-people were forced to evacuate their homes in the area. The Oneawa Channel (Kawainui Canal) was under construction in 1952 to prevent the major flooding of the Kailua residential area situated on the edge of the marsh. Subsequent severe floods occurred in 1956, 1958, 1961 and 1963.

Finally, the “permanent” stage of the Federal-State Kawainui Flood Control Project, first targeted for this area in the 1930s, was completed in 1966. This project entailed “dredging the debris and widening the Kawainui Canal, and building a 9-foot high levee to hold back storm water and widening the inner canal”.

However, from December 1968 through January 1969, as much as 8-inches of water covered a large area from Oneawa Street to Kihapai Street. The levee and Canal had eliminated direct overflow from the marsh, but flooding still occurred. (Drigot)

In 1988, floodwaters breached the levee. it was later modified by the Army Corps and City in 1997 raising its height and constructing a concrete floodwall to address the 100-year flood level estimated for Kawainui Marsh. (HHF)

November 14, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

The Donna

“Honolulu is to have a new family hotel – ‘The Donna’ – at Beretania and Piikoi streets. The four cottages owned by Col CJ McCarthy are to be made into a hotel, having about thirty rooms, and the opening will take place next month. Mrs CJ McCarthy will manage the enterprise.”

“During recent months there have been many visitors unable to get the sort of accommodations they wanted. Several of the local hostelries have had the experience recently of turning away applicants for room and board, and visitors have had difficulty in finding places at all suited to them.”

“The McCarthy cottages are located in a fine residence district and have attractive grounds.” (Hawaiian Star, Feb 17, 1910) “It was run by the McCarthy family and Mr. [Charles J] McCarthy at one time was governor of Hawai’i. [1918-1921] Mr. and Mrs. McCarthy ran this hotel.” (Nell Kahululani Conant Porter, Watumull Oral History)

Charles James McCarthy “was born in Boston, August 4, 1861, and came to San Francisco with [his] parents in 1866. [He] was educated in the grammar schools of that city also attended the Pacific Business College. [He came] to Hawaii in March, 1881, as an employee of a wholesale fruit house, which shipped tropical fruits to San Francisco .”

In 1889 he married Margaret Teresa Morgan. “Mrs. McCarthy was born in Honolulu on October 30, 1865, the daughter of Robert Dalton Morgan and Catherine Ward Morgan. Both her parents were born in Dublin, Ireland, and had lived in New York City before coming to Hawaii. Her father came to the islands three years before his wife and family followed”.

“A native of Honolulu, Mrs. McCarthy was intensely interested in the islands and beloved by the Hawaiian people of whom she was a true and understanding friend. She spoke Hawaiian fluently and did much in the interests of these people.”

“As a member and for several years an officer of the Outdoor Circle se took a leading part in the organization’s work to preserve the natural charm of the islands. She was also a member of the Sons and Daughters of Warriors, the Daughters of Hawaii and the Guild of Francis Hospital.” (Hnl Adv, March 19, 1934)

After several elected public service positions, CJ McCarthy “was appointed Governor of Hawaii on April 18, 1918, for a term of four years. On March 4th, 1921 , [he] tendered [his] resignation to President Harding to take effect June 1st, [1921, because he had] been appointed by the Honolulu Chamber of Commerce to represent them in Washington, DC.” (Charles J McCarthy Autobiographical Sketch, American Irish Historical Society)

“Mrs. McCarthy’s life was a busy one. In addition to the task of rearing her family of five daughters and seconding her husband’s public activities, she successfully established and maintained the Donna Hotel on Beretania street and also managed other apartment holdings at Waikiki.” (Hnl Adv, March 19, 1934)

[T]here was a large house, two or three stories high, and it was the home of Governor [Charles J] McCarthy. He was governor here [June 22, 1918 to 1921.] And his wife had the hotel and it was her private project.”

“He had nothing to do with it and she wanted it understood that it was hers and she ran it and they had the best food in the city that you could buy, you know, at a restaurant and she did catering for big parties if the people wanted to pay for really nice food, nice catering. And the rooms weren’t so good.”

“She owned, I think, three buildings – could have been only two – there on Beretania and they owned the land right straight through to the street behind it, Kinau.”

“Their big house was where Schuman Carriage Company is and then these smaller houses, where they had roomers, were Waikiki side. And then they had the dining room–main dining room. That was the style of practically all the hotels here then.” (Margaret Way, Watumull Oral History)

It was originally advertised as “Home-Like in its surroundings and comforts and with all the conveniences and ease of the most approved hotel” “The Donna The new Apartment Hotel” at “1262-70-76-86 Beretania Avenue” ((PCA, Jun 1, 1910)

“The Donna Hotel, 1286 S. Beretania, is delightfully situated within ten minutes’ ride from the center of Honolulu. Here, amidst the surroundings of a subtropical park, one may enjoy all the comforts of home.”

“The rooms in the main buildings or in one of the attractive screened cottages are cheery, well-furnished, and have hot and cold running water. The delicious home cooked meals are served at little cozy tables which are grouped about an artistically decorated open lanai. Permanent rates are $65 a month or $3.00 a day and up.” (Mid-Pacific Magazine, Feb 1928)

“Although located amidst quiet and restful surroundings, The Donna is only a few minutes’ walk from the business portion of the city. Electric cars, which transfer to all parts of the city and the beach, have a station in front of the house. The Donna has many unique and pleasing features that will irresistably appeal to visitors to Honolulu.” (The Courtland Guide, Jan 1917)

“C. & M. McCarthy, Ltd., was a corporation organized under the laws of the Territory of Hawaii. In 1944 it owned (and presumably operated) in Honolulu the Donna Hotel and the Waikiki Apartments.” The company was dissolved on February 15, 1945. (US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, Oct 10, 1957, 248 F.2d 765)

The hotel operation and apartment rentals “was her business. She may have had it before he was governor and she kept it quite a long time afterward too.” (Margaret Way, Watumull Oral History) The Donna Hotel was situated on property now occupied by Times Super Market. (Yardley, Hnl Adv, Apr 10, 1985)

“The home and the hotel properties ran back to Kinau Street, but a high wooden fence separated the rear part of the hotel grounds. Behind the fence were the staff quarters, known as Japanese Camp.”

“It was a community unto itself with its own stores and baths. The waiters, maids, dish washers, cook, yard men and laundresses all lived there and to and from work through a door in the fence.”

“The hotel building on the on the Kaimuki end consisted of rooms upstairs and the office, parlor, public rooms and a dining room on the lanai of the first floor. An inviting lanai with rockers ran the length pf the front of the building.”

“The rooms were simple, clean and always cool. Floors were covered with sturdy lauhala mats, the dining tables covered with white linen cloths (with linen napkins tucked in the guest’s own napkin ring), and the quest rooms had comfortable iron and brass bedsteads covered with heavy white counterpanes.”

“Mrs McCarthy was a fabulous Island cook and her recipes and menus were referred to as the Kitchen Bible. … Unfortunately, the era of boarding houses in lovely residential districts is a thing of the past, but how nice it would be to have them revived.” (Yardley, Hnl Adv, Apr 10, 1985)

An interesting aside … “Governor McCarthy was the fifth territorial governor but the first to live at Washington Place. In 1918, he leased Washington Place privately. In 1921, the Territorial government purchased Washington Place from the Liliʻuokalani Estate.” (Washington Place)

November 12, 2025 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Pohaku O Lanai

“It is different in character from the rocks that line the coast, and unlike anything for miles around.”

Hawaiians know it as ‘pohaku lanai,’ and is said by them to have floated ashore ‘from Kahiki,’ (Tahiti.) It is a balancing rock on a somewhat broader base, of limestone formation, with projecting top so as to afford material shelter in its shelving structure. (Thrum)

This is said to have been used as a lookout by fishermen in the region. When fish were sighted, the stone was beaten with a wooden mallet, and the resulting hollow sound was sufficient to gather together the fishermen of the village.” (McAllister; Ulukau)

On a trip around Oʻahu, Tyerman and Bennet (1832) noted, “Continuing our circuminsular tour we crossed a spacious plain, on the coast, of which the base was coral, and the soil a thin layer of vegetable mould.”

“On this level stands a mound, which might be taken for an artificial monument, consisting of two prodigious masses of coral-rock, the lower about six feet above the surface of the ground, but evidently imbedded in the stratum below;”

“… the upper, laid flat upon this, and overspreading it on every side, measured ninety-three feet in compass, and eight, at least, in the thickest part, the shape being conical.”

“The whole pile reached nearly five yards in height, and, when we consider that the substance must have been wrought under water, it is almost a necessary conclusion that the sea has considerably retired from this coast – from twenty-five to thirty feet in depth …”

“… or been repelled by some of the volcanic convulsions, which probably heaved the island itself from the bottom of the abyss, at a far distant period in the agency of that Providence of which the records are only preserved in the Eternal Mind.”

“There is no other rock of the same kind within several miles of this irregular formation. It was recently a marae (heiau,) to which the kings and chiefs repaired to consult Tani (Kane,) who was worshipped at it, on questions of peace and war, and to pray that in battle their bodies might be rendered invulnerable to the spears of their enemies.” (Tyerman and Bennet, 1832)

Pohaku Lanai is a large balancing stone on Kalaeoiupaoa Point. A large oval-shaped stone 18 feet across is balanced on a smaller base, standing about 10 feet high in all. (Ulukau) It’s also referred to as Lana-ike-Kane (Fisherman’s Stone.)

“One of the lions of the village affording some study is a stone of peculiar formation, in which the natives of the district maintain not a little traditional interest.”

“It is located near the seashore, not far distant from the railroad station, but of late entirely hidden from sight among the tangle-growth of lantana and kolu bushes.”

“(W)hether this shape is the natural result of the erosion of ages, or of surf wearing, of which this may be evidence of a difference in shore line and elevation at some remote period, or the result of man’s rude chizeling for a resting place, are questions of interest for the geologist, for it stands alone”. (Thrum)

An 1890 map notes “Two Rocks called Pohakulanai” located in the Land of Ulupehupehu (in what would be the present Turtle Bay Resort.) (McAllister did not document the two rocks in Kahuku in his 1930s inventory.)