Oahu | Page 44 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

April 30, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

The Beaver Block

Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) was a fur trading company that started in Canada in 1670; its first century of operation found HBC firmly focused in a few forts and posts around the shores of James and Hudson Bays, Central Canada.

Fast forward 150-years and in 1821, it merged with North West Company, its competitor; the resulting enterprise then spanned the continent – all the way to the Pacific Northwest (modern-day Oregon, Washington and British Columbia) and the North (Alaska, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories.)

On January 21, 1829 the Hudson’s Bay Company schooner ‘Cadboro’ arrived at Honolulu from Fort Vancouver. While the HBC fur trade focused furs of beavers, sea otters, seals and other animals from the Pacific Northwest Coast and Alaska to be sold in China in exchange for tea, silks, porcelain and other Chinese goods, their interest in Hawaiʻi was to sell lumber and other goods, not furs.

When the Hudson’s Bay Company entered the Hawaiian scene in 1829, Honolulu had already become a significant Pacific port of call and major provisioning station for trans-Pacific travelers.

The earliest location of the Agency in Honolulu was on the north side of Nuʻuanu Street (between King and Merchant Streets,) where it occupied a two-story, shingle-sided building.

“The premises were named “Aienui,” meaning “great debt,” perhaps in reference to the Company’s liberal policy of granting credit on reasonable security, such as was and still is granted to the Indians on their prospective winter catch.” (The Beaver, June 1930)

In 1846 the Agency moved to a new site closer and more convenient to the waterfront at the corner of Fort and Queen Streets. They had a two-story coral building with slate roof, fronting on Queen Street, and one-story storage building along Fort Street.

Thereafter, the location of their establishment became known as the “Beaver Block,” named after the HBC ‘mascot’ (and primary economic resource,) the beaver.

As the year 1859 started, Pacific whaling entered its decline, HBC’s competition in the importation of goods increased. Janion Green and Co (forerunner of Theo H Davies), Hackfeld and Co (forerunner of Amfac,) C Brewer, and Castle and Cooke (the beginnings of the Big Five) were established firms.

Instructed to wind up affairs in 1860, the last Company representative left Honolulu in March 1861. The Company’s old Fort and Queen business site, however, continued to be known as the Beaver Block. Other businesses moved into the premises.

Twenty years passed, during them, Lunalilo ascended to the throne and died within a year; his estate took control of the property and their trustees sold it to James Campbell. In 1882, Campbell built a new building and put the old iron beaver weathervane of the Hudson’s Bay Company on its roof – affirming the Beaver Block tradition.

“Thousands of Honolulans who pass up and down Fort Street and visit the wharves have probably never lifted their eyes high enough on such trips to notice on the Makai-Waikiki cornice of the Campbell block at Fort and Queen Streets a weather-beaten weather vane, with the letter “N” missing from that particular arm and to notice that the vane itself resembles a well-known forest and stream animal…. It took a visitor from Winnipeg, Canada, to notice that the animal was a beaver …” (Advertiser, March 31, 1930; The Beaver)

Beaver Block was a large building that included uses such as storage, shops and offices that stretched along Fort Street and Queen. That year, Campbell, who owned the adjacent land (fronting Fort and Merchant Streets) built the “Campbell Block,” a similarly-large building that included uses such as storage, shops and offices.

“The activity of building, throughout Honolulu and its suburbs, continues. That in the business portion of the city gives it the most substantial aspect of any years undertaking, the most prominent of which is the Campbell Block, extending from the Bank premises on Merchant street around onto Fort street to join the Beaver Block …. In the buildings that have been constructed a more lavish style is observed, and ornamentation externally and internally is now the rule rather than the exception, both in business houses and private dwellings.” (Hawaiian Almanac and Annual, 1884)

The first elevators in Hawai‘i were installed in the early 1880s. One was in the Beaver Block, a two-story structure at Fort and Queen Streets, completed in 1882. (The elevator was replaced by an electric elevator.)

Another pioneering elevator was located near the front of a two-story brick building occupied by Wing Wo Chan & Co., on Nu‘uanu Avenue between King and Merchant Streets. This structure was lost in the 1886 Chinatown fire.) (Hawaiian Historical Society)

A notable Beaver Block tenant was GW MacFarlane & Co, shipping and general wholesale merchants. George W. MacFarlane was born in Honolulu in 1849. He got a job with Theo Davies in 1868 and stayed with the firm until 1876.

McFarlane became a prominent attendant to King Kalākaua and merchant in Honolulu during the 1870s-1880s. He was also associated with Spreckels and other financiers in sugar interests. He died in 1921.

Another tenant in the building was the Beaver Saloon, opened on April 5, 1882 by HJ Nolte (who also had “The Casino” on his property at Kapiʻolani Park.)

The Beaver Saloon was “a favorite lunch resort for a large majority of the business element, the civil service, the factory and waterfront toilers, judges, lawyers and doctors … (and) has indeed been the most frequented noonday club in Honolulu, a recognized exchange for public opinion and clearing house for community gossip.” (Hawaiian Gazette, March 29, 1907)

Then, on October 11, 1964, the Sunday Star-Bulletin and Advertiser noted, “Office-Parking Building Planned by Campbell Estate on Fort Street.”

Plans called for a combined office and parking structure to replace the 2-story on Fort and Merchants Streets; this new building was considered an important part of the redevelopment of downtown Honolulu. (Adamson) The Beaver Block and Campbell Block buildings were torn down and a new building was completed in May 1967.

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Beaver_Weathervane-HBC-Honolulu-(TheBeaver)

Carved wooden beaver for the Hudson's Bay Company store, Honolulu-HSA-PP-37-4-009

Hudson Bay Co Beaver On Branch Pendant Tag

The_Beaver,_No._4,_March_1932,_outfit_262,_Hudson's_Bay_Company_Publication

Beaver_Saloon-Casino-advertisement-Daily_Bulletin-Aug_12,_1885

Downtown_Honolulu-Building_ownership_noted-Map-1950-noting_Beaver_Block

Fort St near makai-Waikiki corner with Queen St-King St crossing in distance-1880s-Beaver_Block_to_Left

Fort_St-left are G.W. Macfarlane & Co., Gency Hall's Safe & Lock Co, and H.J. Nolte's Beaver Saloon-HSA-PP-38-6-012

Hudson_Bay_Company,_Honolulu,_by_Paul_Emmert-1853

Kalakaua_aboard_the_U.S.S._Charleston-Colonel_George_W_Macfarlane_is_behind_the_King-(WC)-1890

MacFarlane_advertisement-(AllAboutHawaii)

View of Queen Street, Honolulu in 1857, left, Hudson's Bay store-right work begun on the demolition of 1816 fort wall-1857

Waikiki-Kaneloa-Kapiolani_Park-Monsarrat-Reg1079 (1883)-The_Casino-noted

Hudson_Bay_Company-Honolulu_Layout-Beaver_Block

Downtown and Vicinity-Dakin-Fire Insurance- 4-Map-1891-notin_Beaver_Block

Honolulu and Vicinity-Dakin-Fire Insurance- 04-Map-1906-noting_Beaver_Block

April 27, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Oʻahu Country Club

Nuʻuanu Ahupua‘a consisted of one of the largest valleys within the Kona District on the island of Oʻahu. The valley floor was wide and relatively flat due both to a late volcanic eruption at the head of the valley and to the heavy rains captured by Kōnāhuanui, the highest peak in the Koʻolau range.

An early historic account in 1820 by the missionary Hiram Bingham described the ahupua‘a of Nuʻuanu as viewed from ‘Punchbowl Hill’:

“Below us, on the south and west, spread the plain of Honolulu, having its fishponds and salt making pools along the seashore, the village and fort between us and the harbor, and the valley stretching a few miles north into the interior, which presented its scattered habitations and numerous beds of kalo in its various stages of growth, with its large green leaves, beautifully embossed on the silvery water, in which it flourishes …”

“Through this valley, several streams descending from the mountains in the interior, wind their way some six or seven miles, watering and overflowing by means of numerous artificial canals, the bottoms of kalo patches, and then, by one mouth, fall into the peaceful harbor.” (Bingham, Cultural Surveys)

Naʻeʻepa o Waolani is a proverb that refers to the magical ways of the menehune that are “the extraordinary ones of Waolani.” The proverb refers to magical ways that “can make big things happen from what may seem to be only small gestures.” (Kaʻikena)

Pukui notes of Waolani, “Kāne and Kanaloa lived here and here the first man, Wākea, was born.”

“In the valley of Waolani, a side valley from the great Nuuanu, stood one of the sacred Heiaus called Kawaluna, which only the highest chief of the island was entitled to consecrate at the annual sacrifice.”

“As Moi of Oahu the undoubted right to perform the ceremony was with Kualii, and he resolved to assert his prerogative and try conclusions with the Kona chiefs, who were preparing to resist what they considered an assumption of authority by the Koolaupoko chief. …”

“Kualii assembled his men on the ridge of Keanakamano, overlooking the Waolani valley, descended to the Heiau, performed the customary ceremony on such occasions, and at the conclusion fought and routed the Kona forces that had ascended the valley to resist and prevent him. The Kona chiefs submitted themselves, and Kualii returned to Kailua.” (Fornander II)

Thomas CB Rooke, hānai father of Emma (granddaughter of John Young and later wife and Queen of Kamehameha IV,) acquired Waolani Valley (“heavenly mountain area”) on the north side of Nuʻuanu Valley (as such it was also known as Rooke’s Valley.)

In 1906, a group of men selected land in Waolani Valley as the best site for the fourth golf club in the Islands; the new club was to be named Oʻahu Country Club.

The three existing courses at that time were the Moanalua Golf Club (built in 1898,) the Manoa Golf Club (1904) and the Haleiwa Hotel Golf Course (1906.) Of these, only the Moanalua Club is still in existence.

“The history of the movement toward the organization of the Country Club dates back two years, when a self-appointed committee visited the lands known as Waolani valley for the purpose of investigating its feasibility as a site for such an organization.”

“The committee found the land to be so splendidly adapted for the purpose that overtures were made to the owners of the property for a lease with an option of purchase.” (Evening Bulletin, April 6, 1906)

The group leased part of Waolani Valley for an annual rent of $900 in US gold coins. Two years into the lease, they decided to purchase the land outright and reportedly paid 6,000 sterling, the equivalent of $30,000 at that time, for the 378-acres.

The Club’s charter was approved by officials of the Territory of Hawaiʻi on June 8, 1906; thus was the founding of Oʻahu Country Club.

Construction of the first nine holes at Oahu Country Club golf course began in August 1906, and a formal opening of the 2,813 yard course was held on April 27, 1907.

Reportedly, the first golf ball struck at the club was hit by a woman, Annie Walker Faxon Bishop (wife of the Club’s first president, Eben Faxon Bishop.)

The second nine holes were completed in September 1913; the driving range was opened in 1988.

The original OCC Clubhouse was opened with the golf course on April 27, 1907, and in September of that year, two tennis courts were added. (The courts later deteriorated and were torn out due to lack of use.)

Clubhouse changes, renovations and expansions continued until July 31, 1970 when, after 16 months of construction, the present Clubhouse was opened on the same site.

Extensive changes have been made to the layout, lengthening the course to 5,820 yards and a par of 71.

Each year the course is home to the historic Manoa Cup. The Mānoa Cup was donated to Oahu Country Club by the Manoa Golf Club when Mānoa was disbanded in 1908.

Lots of information here is from Oʻahu Country Club and many of the images are © Gary Wild.

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Oahu_Country_Club-early_years-(GaryWild)

Oahu_Country_Club-from_Alewa-(GaryWild)-1919

Oahu_Country_Club-looking_makai-(GaryWild)

Nuuanu Valley, Honolulu, Hawaii, circa 1900

Panaramic BW

Oahu_Country_Club-Land_Document-(GaryWild)

April 24, 2020 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Poi Prohibited

“The sale of poi is now officially prohibited.”

Thus was the March 2, 1911 directive of Food Commissioner Blanchard (as noted in an announcement on the front page of the Hawaiian Gazette, March 3, 1911.) (While not being sold, there was still plenty of poi available to consumption.)

“Over seventy-five hundred pounds of poi is being distributed free every day to Hawaiians in this city by the board of health under a resolution by the legislature appropriating $2000 out of the contingent fund for the expense subject to the approval of the Governor.” (Hawaiian Gazette, March 10, 1911)

“About one ton of poi a day is given out at each of the four stations Kalihi, Palama, Mōʻiliʻili and Kawaiahaʻo Church. At each place there is a health inspector representing the board of health who is in charge of the operation assisted by deputies of Mr Rath superintendent of the Palama settlement work, who is superintending the poi distribution.” (Hawaiian Gazette, March 10, 1911)

“At first the distribution was in the shape of sacks of poi of about ten pounds each put up at the Kalihi factory but such a great demand was immediately developed that the factory had no time to sack the poi and now it is being sent to the distributing points in barrels.” (Hawaiian Gazette, March 10, 1911)

“A number of bacteriological tests made with poi have convinced the health officers of the territorial and federal government that that staple can transmit and impart the germs of cholera and probably all other disease of similar nature.” (Hawaiian Gazette, March 17, 1911)

“With but two exceptions every case of cholera in the two outbreaks during the past two months has been traced to one source of infection – the Manoa valley taro patches and the poi manufactured from this taro.” (Hawaiian Gazette, April 18, 1911)

“In Manoa valley is a Chinese named Hong Fong who had a taro patch. He carried taro to a shop on Fort street near School. This was made into poi and each day he carried poi from this shop up to Manoa and delivered it to Manana and Mrs Gonsalves who were the first of the Manoa cases.” (Hawaiian Gazette, April 18, 1911)

“Then comes the Perry family cases in Manoa where cholera wiped out almost an entire family. There were four cases of cholera. They lived on the bank near this taro field. They raised their own taro but sometimes bought poi from Hong Fong.”

“They filled their water barrels for drinking purposes from this stream which had been contaminated by Manana when he became sick.” (Hawaiian Gazette, April 18, 1911)

“In this stream Manana’s contaminated clothing was washed by members of his family and water from this polluted stream was used to mix with poi. A Japanese dairyman nearby used this water to dilute the milk product and the children in the Perry family drank milk so diluted and contaminated.” (Hawaiian Gazette, April 18, 1911)

“From February 25, when the first case was reported, to March 14, 1911, the date of the last case, there had been reported a total of 31-cases with 22 deaths. Twenty four days having elapsed since the occurrence of the last case, Honolulu may properly be considered to no longer harbor the disease.” (Public Health Reports)

The medical conditions led the territorial legislature to enact regulations on the processing of poi. The “Poi Bill” gave the board of health the authority to close any poi shop which is found to be making poi under filthy and disease-breeding conditions (the first law to regulate poi factories.)

This is not the Islands’ last legislative fight over processing poi.

A hundred years later, in 2011, another “Poi Bill” (SB101) was enacted after it made its way through the legislature and onto the Governor’s desk.

It exempted paʻi ʻai (traditional “hand-pounded poi”) from certain food-processing requirements/permits under certain conditions. (Up to that passage, the Department of Health deemed paʻi ʻai unsafe.)

(Cholera is an infection of the small intestine caused by the bacteria; the main symptoms are watery diarrhea and vomiting. It is typically transmitted by either contaminated food or water. Worldwide, there have been several cholera pandemics, killing millions of people.)

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Hawaiian men pounding kalo-(BishopMuseum)

Hawaiian boys pounding kalo, photo by P.L. Lord-(BishopMuseum)-ca. 1889

Hawaiian couple pounding kalo; Hawai‘i, photo by Davey-(BishopMuseum)-ca. 1900

Hawaiian women eating poi, photo by J.A. Gonsalves-(BishopMuseum)-ca. 1920

Men pounding poi with women and children standing behind them-(HHS-6054)

Loi-Manoa Valley

View across Mānoa Valley-(UH_Heritage)-1930

April 21, 2020 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

In The Beginning They Called It Wireless

Since previous communication had been by means of wires, “wireless” seemed like the logical name and it served until 1906.

In that year, an international conference meeting in Berlin, Germany, decided that, instead, the word “radio” should be used to describe the new means of communication. (Coe)

In the 1920s, there were four communications organizations in the US: the American Telephone and Telegraph Co, Western Union Telegraph Co, International Telephone and Telegraph Co, and Radio Corporation of America.

Two of them operated international radiotelegraph circuits – the ITT and the RCA. The ITT had a radio-telegraph subsidiary known as Mackay Radio and Telegraph Co, which operated radio circuits to a few foreign countries, in addition to its radio service to and from ships at sea.

Mackay Radio & Telegraph Company was founded by Clarence H Mackay, son of John W Mackay. Clarence Mackay was the father-in-law of composer Irving Berlin.

John Mackay initially made his fortune in Comstock silver, but he later (1883) moved into telegraphic communications. Mackay formed several telegraph communications companies to compete with Western Union.

When John Mackay died in 1902, Clarence inherited the businesses.

Clarence Mackay saw to the completion of the transpacific cable. Radio was added to the business end of things in 1925 to provide “radiogram” service to every area of the world.

In May, 1928, the Federal Mackay Radio Company opened a new station at Kailua, Oʻahu. Intended to take overflow cable traffic, the station operated on the then new high frequency radio system for transpacific communication and developed into an important transpacific station. (Thrum 1929)

Mackay Radio was mainly interested in maritime communications which went along with the maritime radio-telegraph business. By 1928, ITT had merged with most of Mackay’s business interests but the Mackay name continued on for several decades.

The Mackay Radio and Telegraph Co radio tower was located on the Kāneʻohe side of Kailua Road just before you get to the bridge that marks the entrance to Kailua town (the wooden bridge was replaced by a concrete one in 1940.)

The tower was an inescapable landmark overshadowing the community. It’s gone now; and so is Mackay’s company from the community.

But Mackay Radio and Telegraph has left a lasting legacy in corporate operations.

By the mid-1930s, Mackay Radio’s principal West Coast office was in San Francisco, and it had other sending facilities in several cities. These facilities transmitted and received both telegraph and radio messages. From the San Francisco facility, the company maintained point-to-point radio circuits with Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, Hawaiʻi, Tokyo and Shanghai, among other locations.

However, the Mackay system had long been in weak financial condition and, by the mid-1930s, its corporate parent stood under considerable strain. Disturbed by cutbacks in their working conditions and changes in employment policies, the Mackay workers began a union-organizing effort in the early part of 1934.

They then sought to negotiate with the Company. No agreement was reached, and a strike began at 12:01 am on October 5, 1935. A later National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) finding led to a lawsuit and subsequent US Supreme Court decision.

In a landmark 7-0 ruling (NLRB v. Mackay Radio & Telegraph Co (1938)) the Supreme Court made two significant decisions: (1) an employer may hire strikebreakers and is not bound to discharge any of them if or when a strike ends and (2) workers who strike remain employees for the purposes of the National Labor Relations Act and an employer may not discriminate on the basis of union activity in reinstating employees at the end of a strike.

The “Mackay Doctrine,” as the striker replacement portion of the ruling is known, is one of the most significant Supreme Court rulings in American labor law, and has defined collective bargaining in the United States since its publication.

The rule forbids employers to discharge workers who engage in a legal strike. At the same time, it allows employers to hire other workers to take their jobs.

Mackay was more than a decision that provided an instrumental method for a firm to replace economic strikers and to resist their return to employment after a strike. It was also a decision that established important practices that constituted the conduct of union-management bargaining.

The ruling is highly controversial, even over 70-years later. It is strongly and uniformly condemned by labor unions, and resolutely defended by employers. In the legal community, however, “the doctrine continues to provoke the notice and the nearly universal condemnation of scholars.” (Getman & Kohler)

The lawsuit that initiated this decision was based on the economic conditions of the larger company, not its Kailua presence; however, Mackay was here at the time of the decision and, as such, Kailua and Hawaiʻi are a part of that legacy.

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Kailua-Aerial-(2667)-1949-portion_noting_Mackay_Radio_Station_Tower

Kailua-Aerial-(2667)-1949-Mackay_Radio_Tower-noted

Mackay tower in background-corner of Malunui and Kuulie Rd. Kailua Elem on the left-(MKwiatkowski)

Mackay tower in background-Kailua Road towards the Center of town-(MKwiatkowski)

Communication between San Francisco and O'ahu, people on the Hawai'i end received their first message-(honoluluadvertiser)-1903

Aerial view of Clarence Mackay's Harbor Hill

April 14, 2020 by Peter T Young 4 Comments

A Short Piece on a Short Cut

It wasn’t the same back then; they didn’t have two cars in the garage and other mobility options. Back then, land travel was only foot traffic, over little more than trails and pathways.

In 1803, the first horses arrived. However, until the mid-1800s, overland travel was predominantly by foot and followed the traditional trails.

By the 1840s, the use of introduced horses, mules and bullocks for transportation was increasing, and many traditional trails were modified by removing the smooth stepping stones that caused the animals to slip.

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 gasoline-powered automobile arrived in the Islands in 1900. That year, an electric trolley (tram line) was put into operation in Honolulu, and then in 1902, a tram line was built to connect Waikīkī and downtown Honolulu. The electric trolley replaced the horse/mule-driven tram cars.

“In those days – there were only four automobiles on Oahu in 1901 – you lived downtown because you worked downtown, you couldn’t live in Kaimuki or in Manoa.” (star-bulletin) The tram helped changed that.

In 1899, one of Honolulu’s first subdivisions was laid out – Pacific Heights, just above Honolulu. They built the Pacific Heights Electric Railway to support the housing development.

If you look at the layout and topography of Pacific Heights, due to the slope, as you go up the hill, the road switches back and forth – making the walk a lot longer. You quickly see the challenges those in the middle or upper section have in getting to the bottom.

It is not clear how far the tram traveled up the subdivision; but if you lived near the top and needed to get up/down the hill, you had a long way to go to get there.

The developer must have seen that, too.

Hidden in overgrowth (or in use by neighboring properties,) is a flight of stone steps from the bottom of the subdivision to the middle section of the subdivision (as the road bends back, just above the Water Department facility;) it was in the original subdivision.

Middle and upper homeowners walking up/down the hill could bypass the lower switchbacks and take a bee-line to/from the bottom.

Early mapping of the subdivision notes this short cut down the hill.

While Charles Desky (the developer) is reported to have “pulled several shady land transactions”, he got it right, here – with the stone step short cut. The images show portions of the stone steps in the Pacific Heights short cut.

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