Oahu | Page 4 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

April 7, 2025 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Campos Dairy

During the mid-1800s, Queen Kalama, wife of Kamehameha III, and Judge CC Harris attempted to establish a sugar plantation on the majority of lands in Kāneʻohe and Kailua. When this venture failed in 1871, Judge Harris obtained title to the lands, which he transferred to his daughter Nannie R Rice.

JP Mendonca leased the lands from her and, on November 1, 1894, incorporated Kāneʻohe Ranch, for the purpose of raising cattle. A foundation herd of Aberdeen-Angus cattle formed the basis for a commercial herd of between two and three thousand head.

The “wet-lands” on the property were leased to Chinese for rice cultivation. In 1907, James B Castle acquired the capital stock of Kāneʻohe Ranch Company Limited, and in 1917 his son Harold KL Castle eventually purchased the lands from Mrs Rice.

The cattle industry remained an integral part of the ranch’s operations until World War II, with the herds in the early days being driven by cowboys over the Pali to be butchered in Honolulu. Military operations on the ranch lands became so extensive during World War II that the cattle industry was discontinued.

The 12,000-acre ranch, when it came under the direction of Mr Castle, also engaged in the cultivation of pineapple. However, because of the extensive rainfall on this side of the island, pineapples proved uneconomical and in the 1920s were discontinued. Likewise, because of competition from California, rice farming declined in the 1930s. (NPS)

Parts of the area became used by dairy farms … that leads us to the Campos clan.

One of the biggest dairies on the Island was Campos Dairy in Kailua (it was also called LW Campos Ranch and Eagle Rock Dairy – because there was a large lava outcrop in the middle of a flat field shaped like an eagle.) (Miranda)

Rafael Marfil Campos was born in Velez, Malaga, Spain on June 30, 1860 to Antonio Gonzales Campos and Ana Robles Marfil. In 1883 he married Irene Rudea Lopes of Macharaviaya, Malaga (she died in 1889); his second wife was Carolina Escano Lopes, of Benagalbon, Malaga (she died in 1894).

Campos had emigrated from Spain to Cuba in 1893; there he lost his worldly possessions in the revolution against Spain. In 1897, Campos married Maria Gallardo Claros de Macharaviaya. He then moved to Puerto Rico in 1900.

After returning to Spain and living there for a while, he came to Hawaiʻi in 1907.

1912 newspaper reports show Campos was farming in Kapahulu (near where the Honolulu Zoo is situated.) Campos “is an expert farmer who arrived here from Spain in the immigrant steamer Heliopolis …”

The newspaper was reporting on losses he suffered on his vegetable and fruit farm due to fruit flies attacking his Chile pepper. He noted, “If something is not done in regard to the fruit fly, our islands will be ruined as far as vegetables and fruits are concerned.” (Hawaiian Star, June 6, 1912) That same year, recorded transactions note he also sold cows.

During the 1920s and 1930s several dairymen moved from Kapahulu to the windward side because large tracts of land had been abandoned by Libby, McNeill & Libby, following the closing of their pineapple cannery in Kahaluʻu.

Campos Dairy farm appeared in 1925 along the mauka side of Kailua Road (reportedly, one of the first to make the move to the Windward side.) It was where Target and the Ka Malanai Condominiums are today.

Leasing land from Kāneʻohe Ranch, Campos also bought land around Kaʻelepulu Stream. A 1994 MidWeek cover story said the Campos land included 800 to 1,000-acres, where a herd of 1,000 to 1,200-cattle roamed. (Star-Bulletin)

The senior Campos “retired from the diary business in 1937, turning his interests over to his sone, Lawrence. He kept his hand in, however, by maintaining a flock of 600 Rhode Island Red chickens as a hobby.” (Adv, Mar 1, 1946) (Another son, George, also was involved with management of the dairy.)

Campos sold milk to the Dairymen’s Association (a cooperative formed in June 1897 when seven O’ahu dairy farms joined forces (Waiʻalae Ranch dairy, Kaipu Dairy, Mānoa Dairy, Honolulu Dairy, Nuʻuanu Valley Dairy, Woodlawn Dairy (Mānoa) and Kapahulu Dairy.)) (In 1959, the Dairymen’s Association, Ltd name changed to Meadow Gold Dairies Hawai‘i.)

Due to disagreement in a new policy, Campos was ready to go out on his own. “The decision to go into his own milk and dairy products business was made, according to Mr Campos, when Dairymen’s refused him the renewal of the flat-rate contract … he was asked to join the pool to which most of the milk producers now belong”. (Honolulu Record, September 7, 1950)

Lawrence Campos of the Eagle Rock Dairy planned to go into distributing milk in competition with the Dairymen’s Association. This brought speculation of a “milk price war.”

“Campos is working closely with owners of the Hygienic Dairy in his plans to organize a million dollar company … Hygienic has also had disagreement on a contract renewal with Dairymen’s.” (Honolulu Record, September 14, 1950)

By 1952, Campos is noted as “processing and selling milk;” that year, Foremost bought Campos Dairy Products, Ltd, as well as several other dairies and made its entrance into the Honolulu milk market. Operations were later transferred to Waimanalo. (FTC)

In the late-1960s, negotiation were underway by respective parties to acquire the Campos lease on the Castle/Kāneʻohe Ranch lands – the plan was to develop the pasture into apartments, condominium and commercial uses (one party offered $1,370,000 to purchase the Campos Ranch leases with Castle.)

Hawaii’s current dairy industry is tiny compared to what it once was. The state was self-sufficient in milk until 1982. Dairy operations could once be found across Oahu — from Hawaii Kai to Kapahulu and Waianae.

But in 2022, Hawaii had 633 dairy cows spread across 22 farms, according to the USDA. And more than half belong to Cloverleaf Dairy. In the 1960s, the state had about 50 dairies; now, there is one – the 350-cow Cloverleaf Dairy. (Heaton; Civil Beat)

April 2, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Alāla

Alāla (lit., awakening) is a point at the south end of Kailua Beach that separates Kailua Beach and Kaʻōhao (an ʻili in the Kailua ahupuaʻa – the area is now more commonly called Lanikai) on Oʻahu.

The point takes its name from the fishing shrine, a natural stone formation, on the ridge above. Wailea, a companion fishing shrine (and point,) is located at the south end of Lanikai. (Ulukau)

In 1920, a bridge was constructed across Kaʻelepulu Stream, giving better access to the area.

Shortly after, Harold Kainalu Long Castle sold land to developer Charles Russell Frazier (the head of Town and Country Homes, Ltd., which was the real estate division of the Trent Trust Co) to create what Frazier and Trent called Lanikai (a name they made up.)

They laid out the subdivision and the first permanent homes in the area were constructed in 1924. Development began at the northern end of the neighborhood and moved further south along the beach.

The area was initially considered a remote country location for weekend getaways or vacations at the beach for swimming, fishing, boating and hiking.

The construction of the Lanikai streets was completed by October 1925. Included in the deeds for the Lanikai subdivision were restrictions that remained in effect until 1950, against building within 18-feet of the property boundary line along the street or using the property for anything other than residences.

At about the same time, Frazier leased a couple-hundred acres of neighboring land from Bishop Estate. He persuaded sixty-five men, many of whom were purchasing his lots and cottages at Lanikai, to commit to a country club project (Kailua Country Club; the name quickly changed to Mid-Pacific Country Club.)

In 1926, the development doubled in size and Frazier added the now-iconic monument at the entrance to the development.

It was designed by the famed local architect Hart Wood. (Wood, known for residential and commercial structures (including Alexander & Baldwin Building and Honolulu Hale,) designed the also-iconic “Hawaiian” double-hipped roof pattern and “lanai” or broad roofed-in patio with open sides.)

The Lanikai Monument’s use of rough concrete and stone is in keeping with Wood’s experiments with natural stone indigenous to the structure’s site, an example of which is his Makiki Christian Science Church.

The Lanikai Monument is a simple pillar located on a narrow strip of land that is a high point next to the road; it’s there to mark the boundary and entry point of the subdivision and golf course. It is still in its original location and its original design remains almost intact.

The tapered concrete base structure is 40-feet in circumference and 56 inches high. The pillar is made of concrete and stone.

The 16 foot tall pillar has a gentle taper from its 5-foot-diameter lower portion to a slightly narrower and rounded concrete top that is capped with a conical concrete cap. Two curved metal plates near the top bear the name, “Lanikai.” (NPS)

For decades, beach houses in Lanikai were mainly used as a retreat from Honolulu; however, in the 1950s, the area began to develop into a more suburban residential area. (The Pali Highway and its tunnels opened in 1959; that helped spark the change.)

Lanikai Beach had a white sandy beach approximately one mile long (about half of this has disappeared over the years due to erosion and seawalls along the shore.)

During cleaning of the monument in 2001, it lost its pointed metal spear at the top, as well as the heavy chain that surrounded the monument and draped from four metal rings.

March 29, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Keanianileihuaokalani – Healing Stone of Wahiawa

Cultures collided at Keanianileihuaokalani.

Keanianileihuaokalani was a large tongue-shaped stone that has since been split into three pieces. Hawaiians view it as a healing stone; Hindus see it as an embodiment of the god Shiva. (According to reports, they appear to have worked (working) out how they work together.)

Reportedly, originally found in Kaukonahua gulch by a Waialua Sugar worker, the 6-foot stone broke when it fell off a wagon while being moved. (They are now situated at the lower end of California Avenue in Wahiawa.)

Hawaiians believe that the stone has sacred healing properties. It was believed that all children of royal lineage were thrice blessed and elevated to a higher status if born at nearby Kūkaniloko, the center of the earth. (Reveria)

After childbirth, the new mothers would bath in the cool springs of Helemano. It was this mingling of blood and water that culminated into the healing mystic rains that fell upon the land, people and most importantly Keanianileihuaokalani giving the healing stone its healing powers. (Reveria)

On the day of a royal birth, all work stopped in anticipation of the first healing rains generated from the blessed event. These rains were Waiʻihiawa, mystical rains tainted with the blood of royalty. This healing rain fell freely on the people who lived and worked in Kūkaniloko. (Reveria)

“This rock being visited by people to worship these days is becoming something that truly is stirring the thoughts of some people here in Honolulu, and some who are living near Wahiawa are appealing to the Government and to the power of the Board of Health to move that rock from where it first stood, because in their opinion, this action by the people will cause an epidemic to grow here where all ethnicities are going and touching themselves against the bodies of others, and this will perhaps cause sicknesses to spread from one to another.”

“The Board of Health refused to step in and block this action by people who believe their ailments will be healed by touching the sick area to that rock of Wahiawa, and the birthing stones of the High Chiefs of this land in ancient times.”

“Some people have said that their weakness due to rheumatism by them going there and touching their areas of pain to that rock. Some say that their weak areas were not cured by touching the rock.” (Hoku o Hawaiʻi, November 1, 1927)

According to practitioners, the stone should be anointed with Waiʻihiawa rainwater. Appropriate and appreciated gifts are awa root, olena sprigs, herbs, lei and flowers. (Reveria)

In 1971 the Wahiawa Community and Businessmen’s Association asked the Hawaii Visitors Bureau to put up a sign to again call public attention to the “Healing Stone of Wahiawa.”

Hindu, who assumed a caretaker role for the stone also revere it as a manifestation of their deity, Shiva (it is interpreted to have a phallic shape.)

The Hindu recognized it as a Shiva image in 1988. At the time, the structure that enclosed the stones on three sides was a dilapidated concrete shed; a Hindu family turned the shed into a white marble shrine.

Hindus anoint themselves with smoke from sacred candles, part of the ceremonial cleansing of the stones. In their ritual, the stone is bathed in milk, rubbed with honey and draped with lei. (Reportedly, contrary to some claims, Hindus do not put oil or candle wax on the stone.)

The “healing stones” of Wahiawa drew hundreds of pilgrims in the 1930s, but few local people or tourists find their way to the off-the-beaten-path location these days. (star-bulletin)

March 12, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Mōkapu Peninsula

“I learnt, that their present king’s name was Taheeterre [Kahekili], and that he was also king of Morotoi [Molokai] and Mowee [Maui]. The old man informed me, that his residence was in a bay [Kāne‘ohe Bay] round the West point, and importuned me very much to carry the ships there, as that place, he said, afforded plenty of fine hogs and vegetables.”

“Indeed, I had some reason to think, that the inhabitants on that part of the island were more numerous than in King George’s Bay [Maunalua Bay], as I observed most of the double canoes came round the West point; but as the people now brought us plenty of water, I determined to keep my present situation, it being in many respects a very eligible one …”

“… for we hitherto had been favoured with a most refreshing sea breeze, which blows over the low land at the head of the bay; and the bay all round has a very beautiful appearance …”

“… the low land and vallies being in a high state of cultivation, and crowded with plantations of taro, sweet potatoes, sugarcane, &c. interspersed with a great number of cocoa-nut trees, which renders the prospect truly delightful. …”

“Potatoes and taro are likewise met with here-in great plenty, but I never observed any bread-fruit, and scarcely any yams; so that there is reason to suppose they are not cultivated by the inhabitants of Woahoo [O‘ahu].” (Capt Nathaiel Portlock, June 1786)

Mōkapu received its basic formation when volcanic eruptions of the southeast end of the Ko‘olau mountain range produced many lava flows and much falling rock. These same eruptions produced secondary tuff cones now known as Diamond Head, Koko Head and Punchbowl. (Steele, MCBH)

Like Lē‘ahi (Diamond Head), Ulapa‘u tuff is a volcanic rock made up of a mixture of volcanic rock and mineral fragments (they were likely explosive volcanic eruptions). (SOEST)

“The ahupua‘a of Heeia and its sources of foods such as the sea pond of Heeia, the large mullet of Kalimuloa and Kealohi, the reef of Malauka‘a where octopus were found, the travelling uhu and ohua fishes, and the wooden bowls of Mokapu, belonged to Maui-kiikii (Top-knot Maui).” (Kamakau in Sterling & Summers)

Mōkapu Peninsula encompasses portions He‘eia and Kāne‘ohe – these are extensions of the ahupua‘a across the large basin of Kāne‘ohe Bay. Mōkapu peninsula is further sub-divided into six sections.

The tip of the left lobe of the peninsula was called Mōkapu and was in the He‘eia section, while Heleloa, Kuwa‘aohe, Ulupa‘u, Halekou-Kaluapuhi, and Nu‘upia, rested in the Kāne‘ohe district. (Sterling & Summers)

“The two divergent lobes of Mo-kapu possess distinctive features. The left lobe … is marked by Hawaii Loa crater, the coral bluffs, lava sheets, Pyramid Rock, and stone ruins. The right lobe is dominated and terminated by the Ulu-pa‘u crater. This is a broad, shallow, saucer-shaped vent, a truncated hollow cone, very similar in appearance and structure to Le-ahi.” (MacCaughey, 1917)

‘Mōkapu’ is the contraction of ‘Mōku Kapu’ … ‘mōku’ (island) and ‘kapu’ (sacred or restricted), which means “Sacred or Forbidden Island.”

The sea and bays around Mōkapu were kapu in pre-contact days. The right to fish in the surrounding waters was granted only to the high chiefs and servants of the king. These fishing grounds were called ko‘a. (Steele, MCBH)

Fishing was confined to certain types of fish native to certain sections of the ocean. Persons were assigned to areas with the task of feeding the fish two or three times a week. (Steele, MCBH)

Though Mōkapu Peninsula had only limited fresh water, ‘uala (sweet potatoes) and ipu (gourds) were cultivated there. It is also likely that other mulched dryland crops such as kalo (taro), ko (sugar canes), niu (coconuts), ‘ulu (breadfruit), and the pia (arrow root) also grew there.

However, the most important resource of the peninsula were its loko i‘a (fishponds). There were at least five loko i‘a on Mokapu Peninsula, including Ka-lua-puhi (literally: The eel pit), Nu‘u-pia (interpretively: arrow root mound) …

… Hale-kou (interpretively: House surrounded by kou trees), Hele-loa (literally: Distant travel), Muli-wai-‘olena (interpretively: Turmeric [yellowish] estuary), and Pa-‘ohua (literally: Fish fry enclosure). (Maly)

Prior to Polynesian settlement, the ponds were thought to be a shallow open channel between Kāneʻohe and Kailua Bays, making Mōkapu an island, connected to Oʻahu by a thin coastal barrier dune.

Kaneohe Ranch began in 1893, when Nannie Rice leased 15,000 acres to JP Mendonca and C Bolte for cattle ranching. Incorporated as Kaneohe Ranch Company, Ltd. in 1894, the lands were leased and primarily used for raising pineapple, processing sugar, and cattle operations.

In 1905, James Bicknell Castle acquired the cattle ranching interest of Mendonca and Bolte, and in 1907 he purchased large blocks of shares in the cattle operations of the Kaneohe Ranch Company.

In 1917, Harold Kainalu Long Castle, son of James B Castle, purchased the title to 9,500 acres of land from Mrs. Rice, which included the ‘iii of Heleloa. (HABS No. HI-311-L)

The United States’ military presence on the Mōkapu Peninsula area initially began in 1918. It was through President Woodrow Wilson’s Executive Order No. 2900 that the Kuwa‘aohe Military Reservation was established. (HABS No. HI-311-L)

Use and ownership has been shared and alternated between the Army and Navy over the years. Following the Base Realignment and Closure Committee’s decision to close NAS Barbers Point, the Kāne‘ohe base acquired 4 Navy P-3 patrol squadrons and one SH-60 Anti-Submarine squadron in 1999.

Today, there are almost 10,000 active-duty Navy and Marine Corps personnel attached to the base. The Marine Corps Base Hawai‘i (MCBH) on Mōkapu maintains and operates the airfield and other training facilities in support of the readiness and global projection of DoD and military operating forces. (MCBH)

March 4, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Podmore Building

Joseph William Podmore was an English sailor who became a clerk for JT Waterhouse & Co from 1886 to 1900. He then opened his own firm for insurance, shipping, commission, and as agent of the Anglo-American Crockery & Glass Co. of San Francisco. He was active as a real estate investor in the early 1900s.

On February 26, 1902, Peter Cushman Jones, Ltd. leased the vacant lot it owned at Merchant and Alakea Streets to Podmore.

The lease was for a period of twenty-five years from April 1, 1902 at $60 per month net rent, with the condition that Podmore “within six months from April 1, 1902 at his own cost and charge, erect and complete a good and substantial building .., and shall lay out and expend therein not less than $7,000.”

The April 17, 1902 Advertiser listed a building permit issued to Lee Wai for a 2-story store at 901 Alakea Street. Apparently, PC Jones, Ltd. lent Podmore part of the money to construct the building, for on June 25, 1902 Podmore mortgaged his lease to PC Jones, Ltd.

It was called the Podmore Building.

It is believed that the building was built for investment, as Podmore was not an occupant. The City Directory of 1903-04 lists merchant tailor Joseph P Rodrigues as occupying the corner store, with Edward C Rowe, a painter, paperhanger and decorator occupying the mauka office. The upstairs was occupied from 1902-06 by the Mercantile Printing Co, Ltd.

The Podmore Building is a two story cut stone building constructed primarily of Hawaiian blue-gray basalt, measuring 72 feet by 34 feet, with a hip roof, situated at the northeast corner of Merchant and Alakea Streets.

The building is representative of a style of rusticated stone construction utilized for commercial buildings in Hawaii from 1894 to 1907, derived from the Romanesque Style popularized by Henry Hobson Richardson.

The building is characterized by massive, rough-faced stonework, sparse ornamentation, a flat facade divided by symmetrical windows and storefront openings, with arches over the entry doors to the second floor stairway, and a stone railing parapet with peaked capstones at the corners and midpoint of the facades.

The masonry work was typical in Honolulu when Hawaiian basalt was widely used for durable construction, with five quarries in operation on Oʻahu. The stone was finished and dressed by hand at the construction site, with much of the work performed by immigrant Portuguese stonemasons.

The massive stones were lifted into position by block and tackle from wooden hoists and scaffolds. Its use was discontinued due to economic considerations and the tendency of some stones to explode if heated by a fire and then doused with water.

On the curb on Alakea Street, between King and Merchant, in Honolulu, fronting this area is evidence of other aspects of old-Honolulu – remnants of the tethering rings. (By the 1840s, the use of introduced horses, mules and bullocks for transportation was increasing; circular indentations in curbs adjoining streets show the location of hitching rings used to tether horses outside businesses.)

(In 1868, horse-drawn carts operated by the Pioneer Omnibus Line went into operation in Honolulu, beginning the first public transit service in the Hawaiian Islands; the first automobile arrived in October 1899 (it was steam-powered,) the first gasoline-powered automobile arrived in the Islands in 1900.)

During 1906-07 Podmore apparently sold his lease back to Jones. On February 7, 1907 Jones donated the land and building to the Hawaiian Board of Missions for use as a permanent home. From March 1907 until April 1916 the Hawaiian Board of Missions used the property as their headquarters.

“The Hawaiian Board is the organization which carries on the home missionary work of the Congregational Church throughout the Territory of Hawaiʻi. The full name of this organization is The Board of the Hawaiian Evangelical Association. This Board is the child of the early mission begun in 1820 by the American Board of Foreign Missions; not only the child, but the direct successor and inheritor of that great enterprise.” (Erdman, The Friend, April 1, 1937)

The property was purchased by Charles M. Cooke, Ltd. in 1913. The Board continued to rent the premises until the completion of the new Mission Memorial Building on Beretania Street in 1916.

In 1924 the property was purchased by the Advertiser Publishing Co. Ltd who owned the adjacent property where the Honolulu Advertiser was published until 1928. (Lots of information here from NPS.)