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November 2, 2021 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Fifteen Days in the Islands

In January, 1778, Captain Cook was travelling from Christmas Island (“As we kept our Christmas here, I called this discovery Christmas Island” (Cook,)) heading across the north Pacific to the Oregon coast of North America, he wasn’t looking for Hawai‘i.

“On the 2d of January, at day-break, we weighed anchor (at Christmas Island,) and resumed our course to the north; having fine weather, and a gentle breeze at east, and east-south-east …”

“We continued to see birds every day … sometimes in greater numbers than others; and between the latitude of 10° and 11% we saw several turtle.”

“All these are looked upon us signs of the vicinity of land.”

“However, we discovered none till day-break, in the morning of the 18th, when an island made its appearance, bearing northeast by east (O‘ahu;) and, soon after, we saw more land bearing north (Kauai,) and entirely detached from the former. Both had the appearance of being high land.”

“On the 19th, at sunrise, the island first seen, bore east several leagues distant. This being directly to windward, which prevented our getting near it, I stood for the other, which we could reach; and not long after discovered a third island (Ni‘ihau) in the direction of west north-west, as far distant as land could be seen.”

“We had now a fine breeze at east by north; and I steered for the east end of the second island ; which at noon extended from north, half east, to west northwest, a quarter west, the nearest part being about two leagues distant.”

“At this time, we were in some doubt whether or no the land before us was inhabited; but this doubt was soon cleared up, by seeing some canoes coming off from the shore, toward the ships.”

“I immediately brought-to, to give them time to join us.” … Contact.

“They had from three to six men each; and, on their approach, we were agreeably surprised to find, that they spoke the language of Otaheite, and of the other islands we had lately visited. It required but very little address, to get them to come alongside ; but no intreaties could prevail upon any of them to come on board.”

“I tied some brass medals to a rope, and gave them to those in one of the canoes, who, in return, tied some small mackerel to the rope as an equivalent.”

“This was repeated; and some small nails, or bits of iron, which they valued more than any other article, were given them. For these they exchanged more fish, and a sweet potatoe; a sure sign that they had some notion of bartering; or, at least, of returning one present for another.”

“Seeing no signs of an anchoring place at this eastern extreme of the island, I bore away to leeward, and ranged along the south east side, at the distance of half a league from the shore.”

“As soon as we made sail, the canoes left us; but others came off, as we proceeded along the coast, bringing with them roasting pigs, and some very fine potatoes, which they exchanged, as the others had done, for whatever was offered to them.”

“Several small pigs were purchased for a sixpenny nail; so that we again found ourselves in a land of plenty; and just at the time when the turtle, which we had so fortunately procured at Christmas Island, were nearly expended.”

For the next 15-days, Cook and his crew effectively took the time to barter for provisions – water and food.

“The very instant I leaped on shore, the collected body of the natives all fell flat upon their faces, and remained in that very humble posture, till, by expressive signs, I prevailed upon them to rise.”

“They then brought a great many small pigs, which they presented to me, with plantain-trees, using much the same ceremonies that we had seen practised, on such occasions, at the Society and other islands …”

“… and a long prayer being spoken by a single person, in which others of the assembly sometimes joined. I expressed my acceptance of their proffered friendship, by giving them, in return, such presents as I had brought with me from the ship for that purpose.”

“As soon as we landed, a trade was set on foot for hogs and potatoes, which the people of the island gave us in exchange for nails and pieces of iron, formed into something like chisels.”

“We met with no obstruction in watering; on the contrary, the natives assisted our men in rolling the casks to and from the pool; and readily performed whatever we ‘required.”

Cook was concerned about his men infecting the Hawaiian women with venereal disease, “(The women) would as readily have favoured us with their company on board as the men; but I wished to prevent all connection, which might, too probably, convey an irreparable injury to themselves, and through their means, to the whole nation.”

“Another necessary precaution was taken, by strictly enjoining, that no person, known to be capable of propagating the infection, should be sent upon duty out of the ships … I had been equally attentive to the same object, when I first visited the Friendly Islands; yet I afterward found, with real concern, that I had not succeeded.”

“(A)bout seven o’clock in the evening the anchor of the Resolution started, and she drove off the bank. As we had a whole cable out, it was some time before the anchor was at the bows; and then we had the launch to hoist up alongside, before we could make sail.”

“By this unlucky accident, we found ourselves, at daybreak next morning, three leagues to the leeward of our last station; and foreseeing that it would require more time to recover it than I chose to spend, I made the signal for the Discovery to weigh and join us.”

“This was done about noon; and we immediately stood away to the northward, in prosecution of our voyage.”

“Thus, after spending more time about these islands than was necessary to have answered all our purposes, we were obliged to leave them before we had completed our water and got from them such a quantity of refreshments as their inhabitants were both able and willing to have supplied us with.”

“But, as it was, our ship procured from them provisions, sufficient for three weeks at least; and Captain Clerke, more fortunate than us, got of their vegetable productions, a supply that lasted his people upward of two months.” The Discovery and Resolution left Hawai‘i on February 2, 1778.

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An Inland View of Atooi-Webber
An Inland View of Atooi-Webber

Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Place Names, Prominent People, Sailing, Shipping & Shipwrecks, General Tagged With: Hawaii, Oahu, Captain Cook, Resolution, Kauai, Discovery, Contact

October 29, 2021 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Heʻeia Sugar

Heʻeia is one of nine ahupuaʻa of Kāneʻohe Bay (this makes up most of the Koʻolaupoko moku (district.))  In early times, the land was intensely cultivated and fish ponds lined the Bay (30 walled fishponds were noted in the Bay in 1882 – including the two largest (Heʻeia and Moliʻi) fishponds remaining in Hawaiʻi.)

 “Southeastward along the windward coast, beginning with Waikāne and continuing through Waiāhole, Kaʻalaea, Kahaluʻu, Heʻeia and Kāne’ohe, were broad valley bottoms and flatlands between the mountains and the sea which, taken all together, represent the most extensive wet-taro area on Oʻahu.” (Handy, Devaney)

As early as 1789, Portlock described this area: “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)”.

“… the bay all around has a very beautiful appearance, the low land and valleys being in high state of cultivation, and crowded with plantations of taro, sweet potatoes, sugar-cane, etc. interspersed with a great number of coconut trees”.

The open waters of the bay were also probably heavily fished within the limitations of the kapu system, and fishing rights were allocated as part of the respective ahupua’a.  (Coles)

Chief Abner Paki (father of Bernice Pauahi Bishop and hānai father of Queen Liliʻuokalani) was granted the land of Heʻeia in 1848, apparently in recognition of allegiance to the Kamehameha Dynasty and also for a longer ancestral family interest in this land. Kelly reports that some of Paki’s ancestors can be traced to a Maui line of chiefs that had conquered Kahahana, the ruling chief of O‘ahu about 1785.

Apparently, one of Paki’s uncles was charged with managing Heʻeia under the Maui rulership. Kelly suggests: “At least part of Paki’s connection with the land of Heʻeia may stem from his uncle’s earlier residence in that land, and may have been the reason why Paki was made konohiki of Heʻeia.” (Carson)

Sugarcane was introduced to Koʻolaupoko in 1865, when the Kingdom’s minister of finance and foreign affairs, Charles Coffin Harris, partnered with Queen Kalama to begin an operation known as the Kāneʻohe Sugar Company.  (History of Koʻolaupoko)

By 1865, four plantations were in production, at Kualoa, Kaʻalaea, Waiheʻe and Kāneʻohe, and in the early 1880s, four more at Heʻeia, Kāneʻohe, Kahaluʻu and Ahuimanu, with a total of over 1,000-acres in cultivation in 1880.  (Coles)

McKeague’s Sugar Plantation was in Heʻeia; starting in 1869, John McKeague (from Coleraine near Belfast, Ireland – February 12, 1832 – January 25, 1899) leased the Heʻeia ahupuaʻa from Charles and Bernice Pauahi Bishop – he had a partner, his uncle, Dr Alexander Kennedy.

About a decade later, McKeague added a mill and other improvements.  (The Plantation was also known as Heʻeia Sugar Company, as well as Heʻeia Agricultural Company.)

“Mr John McKeague, the proprietor of the Heʻeia Sugar Plantation at Koʻolaupoko, Oʻahu, has completed the erection of an entire new mill and buildings, and on Wednesday last, he very hospitably entertained a large party of his friends and acquaintances, on the occasion of firing up and setting to motion the machinery of his new plant.”

“Mr Young, the manager of the Honolulu Iron Works (by whom the machinery was built,) and several other practical engineers were present, and everybody, including Mr McKeague himself, pronounced the running of the works as perfectly satisfactory.”

“The mill can turn out ten tons of sugar per diem.  The machinery has all the modern improvements…. The works are located on rising ground, whereby each story has a ground floor.”

“The proprietor has built a dock on the water front below the mill, alongside which a vessel can load and unload freight – a vast improvement on the old boat and scow system.  Altogether, it may be said that the mill and works of Heʻeia are among the finest and best appointed of any on the Islands.”  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 14, 1878)

Unfortunately, on February 12, 1879, McKeague received a severe injury by a fall from his horse in an accident crossing the Pali, “by reason of which his mind became impaired to such an extent as to render his intellect incoherent and his judgment defective so as to unfit him for the transaction of business.”  (Supreme Court Records)  A guardian (TA Lloyd) was appointed to represent his interests.

For the 1880 season, the plantation was renting 2,500-acres, 650 of which were for sugarcane, with 250 actually under cultivation, and having a mill capacity of 10 tons/day, expecting 600 tons that season. (Devaney)

June 30, 1882, John McKeague sold to the Heʻeia Sugar Plantation Company, a corporation “organized and existing under the laws of the State of California, USA, and carrying on business at Heʻeia, Koʻolaupoko, Island of Oʻahu, as cultivator and manufacturer of sugar and other products of sugarcane”.  (Supreme Court Records)

Heʻeia had a good landing place, in which the sugar was shipped in barges, to be put on board schooners which lie out about the sixth part of a mile from the shore.  In the late-1800s, all supplies were brought to the windward side from Honolulu by the schooner JA Cummins, which made twice a week trips, picking up sugar grown in Heʻeia and Waimanalo, and rice from the area.  (Devaney)

In 1880, the region reported 7,000-acres available for cultivation; in 1883 a railroad was installed at Heʻeia, and by the summer of that year it was noted that the railroad had allowed a much greater amount of land to be harvested, even allowing cane from Kāneʻohe to be ground at Heʻeia; however, the commercial cultivation of sugar cane was short-lived.  (Devaney)

After almost four decades of a thriving sugar industry in Koʻolaupoko, the tide eventually turned bad and saw the closures of all five sugar plantations by 1903. The closures were due to poor soil, uneven lands and the start-up of sugar plantations in ʻEwa, which were seeing much higher yields.

As sugar was on its way out in Koʻolaupoko, rice crops began to emerge as the next thriving industry.  (History of Koʻolaupoko)  In 1880 the first Chinese rice company started in the nearby Waineʻe area. Abandoned systems of loʻi kalo were modified into rice paddies. The Kāneʻohe Rice Mill was built around 1892-1893 in nearby Waikalua.

Another commercial crop, pineapple, was also grown here, starting around 1910.  By 1911, Libby, McNeill & Libby gained control of land there and built the first large-scale cannery at nearby Kahaluʻu with an annual capacity of 250,000-cans; growing and canning pineapples became a major industry in the area for a period of 15 years (to 1925.)

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Filed Under: Economy, Place Names Tagged With: Hawaii, Oahu, Kaneohe Bay, Libby, McKeague Sugar, Heeia, Heeia Sugar, Koolaupoko

October 27, 2021 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

HNL

John Rodgers, Commanding Officer of the Naval Air Station at Pearl Harbor from 1923 to 1925, left to command the Navy’s historical flight between the West Coast and Hawaiʻi.

On August 31, 1925, Rodgers and his crew left San Francisco to attempt the first flight across the Pacific Ocean from the Mainland US to Hawaiʻi.  The seaplane was forced to land in the ocean after running out of fuel, about 365 miles from Oʻahu.

After three days of waiting to be picked up, the crew crafted sails from the wings of the plane and sailed toward Hawaiʻi.  On the tenth day, they spotted Kauaʻi.  Ten miles off shore they met a submarine which towed them safely to shore.

(Rodgers lived only one year after the Hawaiian flight. While serving as the Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics, he was killed in a single engine plane crash in the Delaware River near the Naval Aircraft Factory, Philadelphia on August 27, 1926.)

In response to the growing demand to accommodate aviation presence, the Territorial Legislature appropriated funds for the acquisition and improvement of an airport and/or landing field on the Island of Oʻahu, within a reasonable distance of Honolulu.

According to the Act, Territorial Treasury funds needed to be matched with private funding; the Chamber of Commerce raised the matching money from local businessmen.

From these funds, about 119-acres of fast (dry) land and 766-acres of submerged land were purchased from the SM Damon Estate as an airport site.

John Rodgers Airport (named in honor of Rodgers) was dedicated March 21, 1927 and placed under the jurisdiction of the Territorial Aeronautical Commission – then, construction began.

In 1929, a runway 250-300 feet wide and 2,050-feet long was completed as well as considerable clearing on the balance of the area.

Over the next few years, the facility faced various stages of expansion, on land and in the water – the layout included a  combined airport and Seadrome, with seaplane runways in Keʻehi Lagoon adjacent to John Rodgers Airport.

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, all airports were taken over by the US armed forces.  The Army Corps of Engineers began to build four runways at John Rodgers Airport which would become Naval Air Station Honolulu (NAS 29) and home base for an Army and Navy Air Transport Command.

Dredged material from the seaplane runway was used to fill some of the submerged land and raise the elevation of the airport to about eight feet. The land area was increased from about 200-acres to more than 1,000-acres.  Over the years, the facilities expanded.

The Navy completed construction of a terminal building, control tower and maintenance hangars for land planes operated by the Naval Air Transport Services.  On the north side of the field, the Navy built the Naval Air Station Honolulu to support the Naval Air Transport operations and to house about 5,000-men.

The airport was officially designated as Naval Air Station Honolulu, with the primary mission of maintaining and operating a base for Naval Air Transport Units, Pacific Wing.  During the war years, John Rodgers Airport was also home base for the Naval Utility Flight Unit, Naval Air Transport Service, 1522d AAF Base Unit, 15th Air Service Squadron and 19th Troop Carrier Squadron.

Full scale operations commenced at US Naval Air Station Honolulu for both land and sea planes on April 1, 1944 (by the end of World War II the seaplane runways were obsolete.)

In 1946, John Rodgers Airport was one of the largest airports in the US and comprised over  4,000-acres.  It had four paved land plane runways, 200 feet wide and with lengths varying from 6,200 linear feet to 7,650 linear feet.  There were three seaplane runways, each 1,000 feet wide with an average length of approximately 2.7 miles.

Space for federal agencies was provided, including the CAA Control Tower, Airways Traffic Control and Communication Center.  Also US Customs, US Immigration, US Department of Agriculture, US Public Health and US Weather Bureau.

John Rodgers Airport was returned to the Territory on October 1, 1946; the following year the name changed from John Rodgers Airport and Keʻehi Lagoon Seaplane Harbor to Honolulu Airport.  In 1951, its name changed to Honolulu International Airport.

Recognizing the importance of making visitors welcome in Hawaiʻi, Lei Stands replaced cars and trucks, that previously had parked on the airport entry road.

Then, in 1953, Honolulu International Airport’s combine Hickam/Honolulu 13,097-foot runway was officially declared the longest runway in the world by the Airport Operators Council.

By 1959, most major airlines serving Hawaiʻi decided to purchase jet aircraft and have them in operation between Hawaiʻi and the mainland; the next expansion of the airport was timed to the schedules of the major airlines.

On February 5, 1959, a groundbreaking ceremony was held to mark construction to accommodate “jet age facility (that was) the first of our major public improvements when Hawaiʻi becomes a state” and “a facility which Hawaiʻi will be proud of.” (Governor William F Quinn)  The first jet service from the mainland US and Hawaiʻi started later that year.

In 1962, Hawaiʻi Visitors Information Program was established to welcome passengers at Honolulu International Airport and Honolulu Harbor, to encourage travel to the Neighbor Islands, and to provide information and other help to airport and harbor visitors.

A Joint Use Agreement between Hickam AFB and Honolulu International Airport was signed in 1963.  It specified that for the purpose of overall aerial and ground operation, Hickam AFB and HNL comprised a single airport complex.

Construction of the first phase of the long-awaited Reef Runway over the fringe reef began in 1972; the runway was completed and dedicated for use on October 14, 1977.

HNL (identifying Honolulu International Airport) is part of the 3-letter airport and 2-letter airline codes administered by the Montreal-based International Air Transport Association (IATA.)  It was patterned after the National Weather Service 2-letter identification system, giving a seemingly endless 17,576-different combinations.

Honolulu got HNL; to ease the transition for existing airports, an X was placed after the 2-letter weather station code (i.e. Los Angeles became LAX, Portland became PDX and so on.) At the historic sand dune in Kitty Hawk, where the first flight occurred, the US National Parks Service maintains a tiny airstrip called FFA—First Flight Airport.

With little fanfare, Honolulu International Airport was renamed the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, honoring the state’s former US senator, effective April 27, 2017.   (Lots of info here is from hawaii-gov.)

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Filed Under: Economy, Place Names Tagged With: Hawaii, Oahu, Hickam, Joint-Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Honolulu International Airport, Rodgers Airport, HNL, Reef Runway, John Rodgers

May 30, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

St. Andrew’s Priory

At the invitation of King Kamehameha IV, the Anglican Church mission came to Hawaiʻi in 1862; the invitation was extended to both the Church of England and the Episcopal Church in the Unites States. The Church of England gave a favorable response.

At the time, the American Protestants, through the Congregational Church, and Roman Catholic Church were established and active in the islands. Each had also established schools within the islands.

Queen Emma recognized the educational needs of the young women of her island nation. Her mission of establishing a girls’ school in Honolulu took her to England to seek the counsel of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Under his authority, the Sisters of the Church of England returned to Hawai’i with Queen Emma to begin their work.

Queen Emma was raised in the Anglican faith and envisioned a school where Hawaiian girls would receive an education equivalent to the education that was traditionally offered only to boys.

St. Andrew’s Priory School was founded on Ascension Day, May 30, 1867, by Queen Emma, wife of King Kamehameha IV, and Mother Priscilla Lydia Sellon of the Society of the Most Holy Trinity of Devonport, England.

St. Andrews Priory was named in honor of St. Andrew, which was also the dedication of the Cathedral. This name had been chosen for the Cathedral because St. Andrews Day, November 30, was the anniversary of the death of Kamehameha IV, for whom the building was a memorial.

The Society of the Most Holy Trinity used the Benedictine terminology, whereby the mother house of a religious order was called an abbey and a branch house a priory. Therefore, the school became St. Andrew’s Priory School for Girls.

The school opened with 11-boarders and a few day students; by the end of the year, 17-boarders had registered. Most of the boarders were aliʻi.

Priory was eligible and received government grants; in doing so, it had to follow government regulations. As such, curriculum included the required reading in English or Hawaiian, writing, arithmetic grammar, geography and training in industrial work,

Good English was the Priory’s chief objective, so all instruction was in English and the girls were not allowed to speak Hawaiian, even on the playground. The girls learned sewing and embroidery, music, drawing, in addition to the academic subjects. Religious classes were part of the school curriculum. (Heyes)

The Board of Education encouraged early entrance, before age 10, to English schools, so that students may learn English in their formative years. The Priory’s first 17-boarders ranged in age from four 1/2 to sixteen. In 1871, a 2 1/2-year old Kauaʻi student (McBryde) was admitted with her two older sisters.

The girls slept in dormitories (they furnished their own beds and bedding.) The girls had poi every day. Initially, the girls wore their own clothes, there was no uniform (however, every girl had a white dress for Sundays and special occasions – uniforms started sometime after 1918.)

By 1876, the school was well established; dormitory space had been almost doubled, making room for forty boarders. The number of day students also increased and in that year to a total of 118-students.

In the 1880s, the Royal Hawaiian Band played concerts twice a week in Queen Emma Square. “One of our pleasant diversions was to go to and hear Captain Berger’s band play at Emma Square every Saturday afternoon. … we all went and sat in the carriage just outside the park. There was usually a crowd there, as it was very popular.” (Sutherland Journal)

With the formation of the Republic of Hawaiʻi, the educational policy favored establishing the American system of free public schools for everyone. Government aid to private schools was forbidden. (However, private schools continued to flourish.)

In 1902, the school transferred to the jurisdiction of the Episcopal Church of the United States and was run by the Sisters of the American Order of the Transfiguration. The school was then dependent financially on tuition and gifts from friends.

Even with these changes, there was no basic change in the purpose of the school. An education suited for the “probable life circumstances” of the girls still placed high emphasis on the homemaking arts, as well as preparing the girls for teaching, nursing and secretarial work. (Heyes)

In 1903, a high school department was opened offering the girls an opportunity to receive secondary education, placing the Priory at the forefront of the secondary school movement in Hawaiʻi. At the time, the only other secondary education options for girls were Honolulu High School (later known as McKinley) and Punahou.

There was significant new construction between 1906 and 1914; in 1909 the cornerstone for the new Dickey-designed Priory was laid for a two-story building made of steel and concrete (the first of its kind in the islands.)

The Sisters of the American Order of the Transfiguration operated the school until 1969. Since that time, the school has been under the leadership of a head of school.

In 1976, the Priory became a non-profit corporation with a Board of Trustees and a charter of incorporation that continues to provide an official link with the Episcopal Church.

Founded as a school for girls, the Priory remains dedicated to this legacy. Today, the Priory provides girls in grades K-12 a college preparatory education within a Christian environment so that in any future community they will be self-confident, capable, participating members. (Lots of information here from Heyes.)

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Filed Under: Schools, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings Tagged With: Hawaii, Honolulu, Oahu, Kamehameha IV, Queen Emma, Royal Hawaiian Band, St. Andrews Priory, Episcopal

May 29, 2020 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kewalo Basin

The Island of Oʻahu has three of the State’s nine commercial harbors – Kalaeloa Barbers Point, Kewalo Basin and Honolulu Harbor.

Kalaeloa Barbers Point Harbor, on the leeward, westerly side of the island, is in the vicinity of the growing city of Kapolei, while Kewalo Basin and Honolulu Harbor are located on the leeward, south shore, in the only well-sheltered area available for commercial purposes.

Kewalo Basin harbor was formerly a shallow reef that enclosed a deep section of water that had been used as a canoe landing since pre-Contact times and probably was used since the early historic period as an anchorage.

In 1899, Gorokichi Nakasugi, a Japanese shipbuilder, brought a traditional Japanese sailing vessel (called a sampan) to Hawai‘i, and this led to a unique class of vessels and distinctive maritime culture associated with the rise of the commercial fishing industry in Hawai‘i.

Japanese-trained shipwrights adapted the original sampan design to the rough waters of the Hawaiian Islands. The fishermen used a traditional live bait, pole-and-line method of fishing and unloaded their catches of aku (bonito, skipjack) and ahi (yellow-fin tuna) at Kewalo Basin. (It’s interesting that the Japanese aku boat fishing closely resembles the traditional Hawaiian technique.)

The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were a time of intense development of the coasts of Honolulu, Kaka‘ako, and Waikīkī.

In 1919, the Hawai‘i Government appropriated funds to improve the small harbor of Kewalo for the aim of “harbor extension, in that it will be made to serve the fishing and other small craft, to the relief of Honolulu harbor proper”.

A number of land reclamation projects dredged offshore areas to deepen and create boat harbors, and used the dredged material to fill in the former swampy land. Kaka‘ako became a prime spot for large industrial complexes, such as iron works, lumber yards and draying companies.

Since the area chosen for the harbor was adjacent to several lumber yards, such as the Lewers and Cooke yards, the basin was initially made to provide docking for lumber schooners.

Dredging of the Kewalo Channel began in 1924 (the harbor is approximately 55-acres including ocean acreage;) ; but by the time the wharf was completed in 1926, the lumber import business had faded, so the harbor was used mainly by commercial fishermen.

Half of the bulkhead along the mauka side of Kewalo Basin was built in 1928. The remainder of Kewalo Basin’s mauka bulkhead was constructed in 1934.

During the 1920s (before Ala Moana Park,) a channel was dredged through the coral reef to connecting Kewalo Basin to the Ala Wai Boat Harbor, so boats could travel between the two (later, the channel extended to Fort DeRussy.)

Part of the dredge material helped to reclaim swampland on the ʻEwa end of Waikīki (filled in with the dredged coral.)

Later, when it became a very popular swimming beach, the parallel coastal channel was closed to boat traffic.

The sampan aku fleet relocated to Kewalo Basin by 1930, and the McFarlane Tuna Company (later known as Hawaiian Tuna Packers) built a shipyard there in 1929 and a new tuna cannery at the basin in 1933.

Kewalo Basin’s Waikiki bulkhead was constructed in 1951. In 1955, workers placed the dredged material along the makai (seaward) side to form an eight-acre land section protected by a revetment—now the Kewalo Basin Park.

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Filed Under: Sailing, Shipping & Shipwrecks, Economy, General Tagged With: Hawaii, Oahu, Sampan, Kewalo Basin, Kewalo, Kakaako, Ala Wai Boat Harbor, Hawaiian Tuna Packers

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Images of Old Hawaiʻi

People, places, and events in Hawaiʻi’s past come alive through text and media in “Images of Old Hawaiʻi.” These posts are informal historic summaries presented for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes.

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Hoʻokuleana LLC

Hoʻokuleana LLC is a Planning and Consulting firm assisting property owners with Land Use Planning efforts, including Environmental Review, Entitlement Process, Permitting, Community Outreach, etc. We are uniquely positioned to assist you in a variety of needs.

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