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September 12, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kapuāiwa Building

In the late-1860s, plans were underway for a Government Building and the need for this building was even more urgent than that for a palace.

Officials were scattered in rented offices around the town, the legislature had no home and the courts had long since outgrown their quarters in the old coral Court House on Queen Street.

Suggestions were made to develop a government center on the Esplanade at the foot of Fort Street, on recently reclaimed land owned by the government.

This area, it was urged, was close to the business interests of Honolulu, and with the government printing office nearby, would make a convenient civic center, Kamehameha V, however, envisioned a civic center around the palace, and plans were made to purchase the Mililani premises on King Street, ‘a long and fatiguing journey (away) over the dustiest street in the city.’

In 1871, King Kamehameha V commissioned two architects in Sydney, Australia, through the Hawaiian Consul there, to submit plans for a new royal palace in Honolulu. (HABS)

Rather than a palace, the cornerstone of Ali‘iolani Hale to serve as a Government Building was laid on February 19, 1872 with full Masonic ceremony. The new building was of concrete block, a technique first used in 1870 when the government built the Post Office building.

Kamehameha V never saw the completion of the Government Building; nor did they build his new Palace. The Government Building officially opened by the Legislature on April 30, 1874.

‘Ali‘iolani House’ is the name by which the new Government house is to be hereafter known, by command of His Majesty (Kalākaua.) “‘Ali‘iolani’ was one of the titles given to Kamehameha V at his birth, and is now appropriately applied to the building which was projected under his reign.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, May 2, 1874)

In 1882, the Legislature appropriated funds for the construction of a fireproof building to house important government documents and other records. In March 1884, work finally started on the new building in the ’Ali‘iolani Hale Yard.’

It was one of the structures in Kamehameha V’s projected civic center and was given one of the Monarch’s personal names, Kapuāiwa. When completed late in the year, it provided quarters for the Surveyor General, Superintendent of Public Works and Tax Collector.

The original two-story building was constructed by George Lucas in 1884 to house official government documents but was immediately put to use housing government offices instead.

The Kapuāiwa Building is a simpler version of Ali‘iolani Hale which has been described as an ‘English inspired ideal of Italian Renaissance Architecture.’

Architecturally, the Kapuāiwa Building is significant to the Civic Center Complex in Honolulu. It was the third structure in Kamehameha V’s projected civic center and was given one of the Monarch’s personal names, Kapuāiwa. (HHF)

In 1927, Kapuāiwa, by then known as the Board of Health Building because of its long-term occupant, was extensively repaired. In 1930, the Waikiki wing was added in the same character and detail as the original. Extensive renovation to the existing structure was also performed.

Another downtown building carries Kapuāiwa’s names; in 1871, the Kamehameha V Post Office at the corner of Merchant and Bethel Streets was constructed.

Kapuāiwa died on his 42nd birthday (December 11, 1830 – December 11, 1872.) He was given the Christian name Lot and the Hawaiian name Kapuāiwa, which means ‘mysterious kapu’ (taboo) or ‘the sacred one protected by supernatural powers.’ (ksbe)

His mother was Kīnaʻu, a daughter of Kamehameha I (she became the Kuhina nui, in 1832.) His father was Mataio Kekūanāoʻa, a descendent of the Chiefs of the Island of Oʻahu (he was governor of Oʻahu, as well as a member of the House of Nobles and the Privy Council.)

Lot was most often called Lot Kamehameha and that is how he signed his letters and other writings. (ksbe) He had three brothers and a sister (David Kamehameha, Moses Kekūāiwa, Alexander Liholiho and Victoria Kamāmalu, the youngest of the children. (David died in 1835 at the age of seven. Moses was nineteen years old when he died in 1848.) (ksbe)

Lot Kapuāiwa was hānai to Chief Hoapili of Lahaina and Princess Nahiʻenaʻena (daughter of Kamehameha I and Keōpūolani; she was sister to Liholiho and Kauikeaouli (they were later Kamehameha II and III.)) Lot ascended to the throne as Kamehameha V on November 30, 1863, on the death of his younger brother.

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Kapuaiwa-Aliiolani-Opera_House-from Iolani Palace-S00089_001
Kapuaiwa-Aliiolani-Opera_House-from Iolani Palace-S00089_001
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Kapuaiwa Building-PP-11-11-010-00001
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Kapuaiwa Building-PP-11-11-001-00001
Kapuaiwa Building-LOC
Kapuaiwa Building-LOC
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Kapuaiwa Building-PP-11-11-002-00001
Kamehameha_V-Lot Kapuaiwa
Kamehameha_V-Lot Kapuaiwa
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Aliiolani_Hale-LOC-ca1870
Kamehameha_V_Post_Office-(WC)
Kamehameha_V_Post_Office-(WC)

Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Buildings Tagged With: Hawaii, Oahu, Downtown Honolulu, Prince Lot Kapuaiwa, Aliiolani Hale, Lot Kapuaiwa, Kamehameha V, Kapuaiwa Building

August 19, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

‘A City in a Grove’

“When the whalers began to frequent (Honolulu Harbor) place in numbers, a town soon sprung up, and by the year 1820, Honolulu contained some six or seven thousand inhabitants.”

“To-day its population is reckoned at 17,000, a larger number than the capital of the important British Colony of New Zealand could recently boast.”

“The First view of Honolulu, on approaching it from the sea, has been variously described by visitors, some of whom have expressed great disappointment, whilst others have gone into raptures over the scene.”

“Unless, however, from exaggerated descriptions the traveler has been led to expect something extremely wonderful and unusual, I do not understand how anyone can fail to be charmed with the view of Honolulu …”

“… and its surrounding scenery as seen from the deck of an approaching vessel, especially after many days’ confinement on shipboard, with nothing but the waste of waters around him.”

“It is true that the hills of Oahu have not the same luxurious clothing of vegetation that is common in many of the island groups of the Southern Pacific. It is true also that the town has no characteristic buildings of a striking nature to arrest attention.”

“Nevertheless, Honolulu is a prettier place to look at from the sea than nineteen out of twenty port tropics or elsewhere. It has rightly been called ‘a city in a grove.’”

“Until trees were planted it cannot have been an inviting-looking place. No visitor of former days, up to five and twenty years ago, has anything to say in praise of the city, however delighted with the surrounding scenery.”

“Dusty streets, insignificant houses irregularly built and located, with hardly a tree to be seen anywhere, presented no feature worth a second thought.”

“All this is now changed, and by nothing more so than by the growth of the trees, now universally to be found throughout town and suburbs.”

“A few of the more important building tower above the trees; but for the most part the houses and stores are completely hidden by rich evergreen foliage.”

“This alone gives a character of its own to Honolulu which, charming as seen from the sea, is still more delightful when its cool shade is experienced in the streets and gardens of the town.”

“The first evidence of the commercial activity of the port to which the visitor is introduced is the large and substantial wharf or dock, as (according to an imported custom) it is usually called.”

“Here the large steamers of the Mail Service can lie alongside with ease. On the wharf is a huge landing shed, and behind this a large building of stone, occupied as a warehouse for bonded goods.”

“Facing the Esplanade Wharf are the Custom-house buildings, the entrance to the Custom-house itself is on Fort street. The department occupies half the upper floor of one of the buildings. They are all solid-looking erections of stone, and form a block by themselves, having open ground around them on three sides and a wide street on the other.”

“Of these the first was built in 1860, a two-story, fireproof building, sixty feet by sixty. It is here that Customs Department are located, and hence the building is usually known as the Custom-house’”

“Immediately alongside of this a similar warehouse was erected in 1867, and quite lately, in 1878, it has been found necessary to add another large bonding store, 200 feet in length by a width of 50 feet. This latter building has, however, but one story.”

“The isolated position of these warehouses and the substantial manner in which they have been built of stone, with slate or corrugated iron for roofing, renders them the safest stores in the town, and they are recognized as such by all the insurance companies, who take risks on their contents at lower rates than on any other stores.”

“Outside the shed I found quite a crowd of vehicles with their chattering Kanaka drivers looking for a fare. I chartered one, and I and my belongings were quickly bowled over the level streets to my destination.”

“Of course, I went to the Hawaiian Hotel, that pride of all the white inhabitants of Honolulu. It used, I hear, not to be so highly esteemed by a dissatisfied section of the natives, because it was built by the Government and cost a considerable sum of money, ($120,000 or so), to raise which the Government of the day ran the country into debt.”

“Next day I undertook a voyage of discovery through the town and found out the Government Buildings, and the King’s palace, and many other places of more or less interest. A new palace is in course of erection, and it is estimated that it will be completed before the beginning of 1881.”

“From the palace I went to the Government buildings. This is a plain structure, but of handsome proportions, and a decided credit to the Kingdom.”

“The great central hall and staircase of the buildings is lighted by a lantern tower, which is one of the most conspicuous objects in any view of the town from sea or shore, and is a relieving feature in a design otherwise rather homely in its character.”

“The Library is a highly creditable one. As might naturally have been expected, it is particularly rich in works upon the Hawaiian Islands or in which descriptions of the Islands, their people, language, fauna and flora, or anything relating to their history, are to be found.”

“I closed my afternoon’s excursion with a visit to the O‘ahu Prison. This is situated at the west side of the town and immediately at the mouth of the Nu‘uanu Valley. Its position for healthiness cannot be surpassed, subject as it is to every breath of the trade winds.”

“Built in 1857 of coral stone, cut from the various reefs by the prisoners themselves, and modeled after the Charlestown prison, near Boston, it so far has proved large enough for the criminal population of the country.”

“All prisoners whose sentences are over three months are sent here; also prisoners committed for trial to the various terms of the Supreme and Circuit Courts. There is cell accommodation for 170, and the usual average of prisoners is 150 to 155, one half of whom are natives, the other half foreigners and Chinese…”

“Prisoners are employed making roads, wharves, bridges, in fact any public work which may be going on at the time. In consequence of prisoners being thus employed, with the exception of such as are kept inside as servants, or on the sick list, or awaiting trial …”

“… no one, to look at the prison in the day time, would suspect that at night every cell was occupied, as from 6 A.M. to 5:50 P.M. all that can work are at work.”

“Looking seaward from the prison I noticed a building which had been erected upon the reef, and on enquiry found it to be a Quarantine Station. This building had been erected by the Government in the anticipation of its being required for purposes of quarantine, but it was not until the 28th of March, this year, that occasion occurred to put it to use for its proper purposes.”

“On the next day, on which I had leisure to pursue my examination of the town, I visited some of its educational establishments. There are plenty of native schools everywhere in this Kingdom.”

“Is it not the proud boast of the Kanaka race and of its teachers that it is ahead of all those nations which pride themselves on their advances in what we call western civilization in the proportion to the total population of those who can read and write their own language …”

“I never saw any theatrical representation in Honolulu. Neither tragedy nor comedy, burlesque nor opera can be said to be naturalized here yet. Nevertheless there is a theatre Royal, where occasionally a passing company angles for a few dollars with various results.”

“There is another public institution in Honolulu which does credit to the country, but which I did not visit. This is known as Queen Emma’s Hospital, having been named after his Queen by Kamehameha IV.”

“There is in Merchant Street another valuable public institution not supported by Government. This is the Sailors’ Home, which is maintained by a society organized in 1853, called the Sailors’ Home Society.”

“There is one public institution which every town ought to be able to boast of, more especially every tropical town, which I miss in Honolulu. There is no public park in or about the town.”

“The only open spaces in the town are Emma Square and the ground around the Government buildings. Emma Square is of no great extent.”

“The last, perhaps the most important place I have to mention is the bank. Messrs. Bishop & Co.’s premises are of stone, and handsome building at the corner of Merchant and Kaahumanu streets. This is the only bank on the islands.”

“On the first Saturday afternoon after my arrival in Honolulu I went, as every stranger does, and as a very large number of the residents do also, to the fish market. The place is on Queen street, just beyond Messrs. Brewer & Co.’s premises, and covers a considerable area between that place and the wharf which goes by its name.”

“This is the market of Honolulu. Not only fish, but fruit and vegetables and butchers’ meat, are to be purchased here. On Saturday all the country people come into town who can, and on the afternoon of that day the place is so crowded by pedestrians, that it is almost impossible to move about in it.”

“And now, before quitting Honolulu, I must not forget to mention two facts which do credit to the paternal Government which takes its municipal affairs under its wing. Water is laid on over almost all the town, and the streets are lighted with gas.” (Bowser, 1880)

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Honolulu_Harbor_in_1881
Honolulu_Harbor_in_1881
Iolani_Palace-early 1880s
Iolani_Palace-early 1880s
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Aliiolani_Hale-PPWD-1-7-017-1888-400
Fort St near makai-Waikiki corner with Queen St-King St crossing in distance-1880s
Fort St near makai-Waikiki corner with Queen St-King St crossing in distance-1880s
Fort Street looking across King Street-early 1889
Fort Street looking across King Street-early 1889
Honolulu_the_Pele-PPWD-9-4-014-1888
Honolulu_the_Pele-PPWD-9-4-014-1888
Hotel Street looking toward Waikiki at corner with Fort St-1882
Hotel Street looking toward Waikiki at corner with Fort St-1882
Kaahumanu_Street-1880
Kaahumanu_Street-1880
Kalakaua Hale - Police Station 1886
Kalakaua Hale – Police Station 1886
Kawaiahao Church in 1885-Look towards Diamond Head
Kawaiahao Church in 1885-Look towards Diamond Head
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Looking-mauka-on-Fort-Street-on-corner-of-Fort-and-Merchant-Streets-1881.jpg
Looking mauka on lower Fort Street-1885
Looking mauka on lower Fort Street-1885
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Washington_Place,_Honolulu,_Hawaii,_1886
'Entrance_to_Honolulu_Harbor'-William_Alexander_Coulter-1882
‘Entrance_to_Honolulu_Harbor’-William_Alexander_Coulter-1882

Filed Under: Economy, General, Buildings, Place Names Tagged With: Hawaii, Honolulu, Oahu, Downtown Honolulu

July 26, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

St Cross Seminary

“A College will shortly be opened for Hawaiian Girls, under the patronage of Her Gracious Majesty Queen Emma. Lady Superintendant, Mrs George Mason. Besides and ordinary English education, instruction will be given in Industrial work.”

“Application for the admission of Boarders and for terms, to be made to Mrs Mason, at the Parsonage, Kukui Street. Also, there will be opened shortly a Collegiate Grammar School, for Young Gentlemen (it started as St Albans, later, Iolani).”

“Instruction will be given in Latin, Greek, Euclid and Algebra, as well as in the usual branches of English education.” (Polynesian, November 8, 1862)

In January 1864, the Female Industrial Seminary was transferred to Lahaina; the Reverend Mother Lydia Sellon arrived in Hawai‘i in late-1864 and took charge of the school. By then, the school had 25-boarders and about 40-day girls; it was renamed St Cross school for girls (St Cross Seminary) (Kanahele).

The school was operated by three religious Sisters of the Society of the Most Holy Trinity, Devonport, England (the Devonport Sisters), the first of the Religious Orders re-founded in the Church of England after the Reformation.

“Lahaina was a great whaling port during the (eighteen) sixties, for as many as eighty or ninety whaleships were at one time anchored in the offing. Sailors crowded the streets of Lahaina, and people came from far and wide to see them.”

“Many even from Molokai were tempted to change their residences to Lahaina, just for the purpose of seeing the crowds of whaling men pass through the streets, and many of the young girls of those days, and many of the married women even, were parted from their parents and from their husbands just for the novelty of being in the company of seafaring men.”

“In 1860 the present Lahaina stone court house was built. It served the dual purposes of both court house and custom house, and the collector of customs did a thriving business during those whaling days. The Queen’s Hospital was started at Honolulu in the same year.”

“The St. Cross Hospital, built in 1865 by the Episcopal Mission, which was also used as an industrial girls’ school, flourished for some years at Lahaina, and the old stone building is still standing …” (Keola; Mid-Pacific Magazine, December 1915)

In 1873 Isabella Bird visited “the industrial training and boarding school for girls, taught and superintended by two English ladies of Miss Sellon’s sisterhood, Sisters Mary Clara and Phoebe”.

“She notes, “I found it buried under the shade of the finest candlenut trees I have yet seen. A rude wooden cross in front is a touching and fitting emblem of the Saviour, for whom these pious women have sacrificed friends, sympathy, and the social intercourse and amenities which are within daily reach of our workers at home.”

“The large house, which is either plastered stone or adobe, contains the dormitories, visitors’ room, and oratory, and three houses at the back; all densely shaded, are used as schoolroom, cook-house, laundry, and refectory.“

“There is a playground under some fine tamarind trees, and an adobe wall encloses, without secluding, the whole. The visitors’ room is about twelve feet by eight feet, very bare, with a deal table and three chairs in it, but it was vacant …”

“… and I crossed to the large, shady, airy, school-room, where I found the senior sister engaged in teaching, while the junior was busy in the cook-house.”

“These ladies in eight years have never left Lahaina. Other people may think it necessary to leave its broiling heat, and seek health and recreation on the mountains, but their work has left them no leisure, and their zeal no desire, for a holiday.”

“A very solid, careful English education is given here, as well as a thorough training in all housewifely arts, and in the more important matters of modest dress and deportment, and propriety in language.
“

“There are thirty-seven boarders, native and half-native, and mixed native and Chinese, between the ages of four and eighteen. They provide their own clothes, beds, and bedding, and I think pay forty dollars a year. The capitation grant from Government
for two years was $2325.”

“Sister Phoebe was my cicerone, and l owe her one of the pleasantest days I have spent on the islands. The elder sister is in middle life, but though fragile-looking, has a pure complexion and a lovely countenance …”

“… the younger is scarcely middle-aged, one of the brightest, bonniest, sweetest-looking women I ever saw, with fun dancing in her eyes and round the corners of her mouth …”

“… yet the regnant expression on both faces was serenity, as though they had attained to ‘the love which looketh kindly, and the wisdom which looketh soberly on all things.’”

“I never saw such a mirthful-looking set of girls. Some were cooking the dinner, some ironing, others reading English aloud; but each occupation seemed a pastime, and whenever they spoke to the Sisters they clung about them as if they were their mothers.”

“I heard them read the Bible and an historical lesson, as well as play on a piano and sing, and they wrote some very difficult passages from dictation without any errors, and in a flowing, legible handwriting that I am disposed to envy.”

“Their accent and intonation were pleasing, and there was a briskness and emulation about their style of answering questions, rarely found in country schools with us, significant of intelligence and good teaching. All but the younger girls spoke English as fluently as Hawaiian.”

“I cannot convey a notion of the blithesomeness and independence of manner of these children. To say that they were free and easy would be wrong; it was rather the manner of very frolicksome daughters to very indulgent mothers or aunts. It was a family manner rather than a school manner, and the rule is obviously one of love.”

“The Sisters are very wise in adapting their discipline to the native character and circumstances. The rigidity which is customary in similar institutions at home would be out of place, as well as fatal here, and would ultimately lead to a rebound of a most injurious description.”

“Strict obedience is of course required, but the rules are few and lenient, and there is no more pressure of discipline than in a well-ordered family.” (Bird)

St. Cross provided the opportunity for the establishment of an enduring educational work for girls by the Society of the Holy Trinity. This venture proving successful, the Sisterhood presently opened a similar school – St. Andrew’s Priory – for which a site on the Cathedral property in Honolulu was granted. (Anglican History)

Despite the dedication of the Sisters and the support of the queen, St Cross was forced to close its doors in 1884 for lack of students. (Kanahele)

It was thereupon proposed that the two Sisters in charge should return to England; but they were so devoted to their task that they begged to be allowed to remain in Honolulu, depending upon such support as they themselves could secure.

Their plea was heeded and they continued in charge of the Priory until the transfer of jurisdiction to the American Church. (Anglican History)

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St Cross Seminary-The Net-1877
St Cross Seminary-The Net-1877

Filed Under: Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings, Schools Tagged With: Lahaina, Anglican Church, St Cross Seminary, Female Industrial Seminary, Hawaii, Oahu, Maui, Episcopal

July 10, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Big Dipper

Nāhiku (the seven) is the asterism (pattern of stars) consisting of seven bright stars found in the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear. It is prominent in the northern sky in the summer, and is one of the first star patterns we learn to identify.

The Big and Little Dippers swing around the north star Polaris (the North Star) like riders on a Ferris wheel. They go full circle around Polaris once a day – or once every 23 hours and 56 minutes.

Wait … this isn’t about ‘that’ Big Dipper’ …

This is about the “two trains, 3,500 feet of track, two tunnels” of Big Dipper in the Aloha Park (aka Waikiki Park). (Honolulu Star Bulletin, September 14, 1922)

“Honolulu takes another step toward the metropolitan class with the opening tonight of the Aloha Amusement Park. … The park corporation has made good on its promise that Aloha Park would be outwardly attractive.” (Honolulu Star Bulletin, September 14, 1922)

“On the top of the 75-foot high incline the opening ceremony was held and at the close Mrs Cory boarded the front car of the train and with a dainty bet well directed swing brought the bottle of near wine, it must have been down, crashing it against the iron guard rail of the car and at the same time wishing bon voyage to the train and all who may ever ride the big dipper.”

“Mark Hanna, under whose personal direction and supervision the Big Dipper was built, was the recipient of many congratulations.”

“Director General Cory was the first one to congratulate him, which he did with generous abundance of praise, and vouched his appreciation many time for the excellent workmanship and detailed construction of the Dipper.” (Honolulu Advertiser, September 3, 1922)

“The dipper was designed by a California company which owns and operates three of the largest attractions of the kind in the world.”

“This Big Dipper is my special pet. It is an improvement over anything that has yet been built and there are only three as large on the mainland, at Venice, Idora Park, Oakland, and on the beach at San Francisco.”

“This one is better than any others. The first drop is 10-percent steeper, the cars run faster and the safety devices are more carefully worked out. There are no straightaways, thus making the ride faster, and more of a thriller.”

“The cars are specially designed and were made in San Francisco particularly for Aloha Park. They are two-passenger carriers and there are none cars to a train. Two wheels on each car instead of four, permits the trains to take sharper curves at greater angles.”

“At first the public seemed skeptical about the proposition. They seemed to fear that the park would not be the type that the city would want. … The buildings are put up to stay as anyone can see if they take the trouble to look. (Cory; Honolulu Star Bulletin, September 14, 1922)

Apparently, however, the Big Dipper and Aloha Park were not supported by the community. In less than ten-years, the Bank of Hawaii …

… “has owned the Waikiki park on Kalakaua Avenue, formerly Aloha Park, and the roller coaster, declared unsafe and unfit for further operation, has become something of a white elephant.”

“Officials of the bank say they want to realize as much as they can on the coaster, and wile thee has been a prospective buyer here and another there, the bank has refused to sell to anyone planning to operate the contrivance, and will only consider on a proposition from the standpoint of wood and metal.” (Honolulu Star Bulletin, December 1, 1930)

Aloha Park was adjacent to Fort DeRussy, an American army base and was opened by the Aloha Amusement Company, a group of local investors.

While Honolulu only had a permanent population of 90,000, it also had a transient population of 30,000 soldiers, sailors and tourists. And its mild climate was perfect for year around operation. The park’s entrance was designed after the Palace of Fine Arts arcade at the 1915 San Francisco Exposition.

The park’s rides included the Big Dipper roller coaster designed by Prior and Church of Venice, California, a Noah’s Ark fun house, a 70 foot high Traver Seaplane, a ten-car Dodgem, a carousel built by Arthur Looff, and a miniature railroad.

The dance hall had a floor 120 x 150 feet, with a 20 foot lanai, where refreshments were served, and contained boxes for private parties. Music was provided by the Hawaiian brass band, that played at the band pavilion where a big musical revue was staged nightly.

The Aloha Amusement Park, Ltd was “a locally financed. Locally-built and locally-managed concern.” Running into financial difficulties, the Aloha Park went into bankruptcy in 1924.

Then, “Court Lunalilo No 66000, Ancient Order of Foresters, on Thursday of this week closed a deal with the Bank of Hawaii whereby the lodge purchased for $15,000, a six-year lease on the Waikiki Park”.

“The dance pavilion at the park is being transformed into a meeting hall … The big dipper, the merry-go-round and the dance pavilion were included in the lease.”

“The Foresters intend to hold periodical carnivals at the park in addition to renting the grounds out for private use and to other organizations for dances, should, fairs and carnivals for the next six years.” (Honolulu Advertiser, April 3, 1926)

Eventually, as noted by the bank, the “ungainly ‘White Elephant’ is valuable only for metal, wood”. (Honolulu Star Bulletin, December 1, 1930)

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Big Dipper-Hnl SB, Sept 14, 1922-page 2
Big Dipper-Hnl SB, Sept 14, 1922-page 2
Big Dipper-Hnl SB, Sept 14, 1922-page 20
Big Dipper-Hnl SB, Sept 14, 1922-page 20
Big Dipper-Hnl SB, Oct 14, 1922
Big Dipper-Hnl SB, Oct 14, 1922
Aloha Park-Hnl Adv, August 20, 1922
Aloha Park-Hnl Adv, August 20, 1922
Big Dipper-Hnl Adv, Sept 3, 1922-page 11
Big Dipper-Hnl Adv, Sept 3, 1922-page 11
Waikiki Amusement Park-Ilikai
Waikiki Amusement Park-Ilikai
Aloha Park-Hnl SB-Sept 14, 1922
Aloha Park-Hnl SB-Sept 14, 1922
Aloha Amusement Park-Hnl SB-Sept 14, 1922
Aloha Amusement Park-Hnl SB-Sept 14, 1922
1925 Entrance to the Waikiki Amusement Park-Ilikai
1925 Entrance to the Waikiki Amusement Park-Ilikai
Honolulu and Vicinity-Map-1934-(portion-noting-Waikiki_Park)
Honolulu and Vicinity-Map-1934-(portion-noting-Waikiki_Park)
Honolulu and Vicinity-Map-1934-(portion-noting-Waikiki_Park)-Waikiki_Park-Honolulu-Map-1927
Honolulu and Vicinity-Map-1934-(portion-noting-Waikiki_Park)-Waikiki_Park-Honolulu-Map-1927

Filed Under: Economy, General Tagged With: Aloha Park, Waikiki Park, Big Dipper, Hawaii, Waikiki, Oahu

July 3, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Nu‘uanu – 1842

“On the morning of the 3d of March, 1841, (Sir George Simpson) started from Euston Square, by railway, for Liverpool, at a quarter past nine o’clock.” He embarked on a ‘Journey Round the World,’ including a stop in the Hawaiian Islands.

“As we edged away towards the south, the heat became more oppressive from day to day. The skies were usually a little overcast, coming down upon us now and then, with a flying shower; so that, even when our breeze was at its freshest, the air felt close and sultry. …”

“On the evening of the ninth of February (1842), we felt tolerably certain that the next day’s sun would find us within the visual range of Hawai‘i, though, as nothing but the clearest atmosphere could serve our purpose, we were rather likely than otherwise to be prevented from actually seeing it. In the morning, however, this last anticipation was agreeably disappointed. …”

“I accompanied my friend Mr. Pelly to his rural retreat in the valley of Nuanau. The change of temperature within a distance of four miles of gentle ascent was very remarkable, so that, at our journey’s end, we found a change from light grass clothing to warm pea-jackets highly acceptable.”

“Mr. Pelly’s residence was a snug little cottage, surrounded by a great variety of tropical plants, particularly by beds of pine-apples and miniature plantations of coffee.”

“In fact, the gardens of the residents generally contain rich displays of almost every flower and shrub under the sun, orange, lemon, citron, lime, pomegranate, fig, olive, gooseberry, strawberry, squash, melon, grape, guava, tomata, batata or love apple, yams, sweet potatoes, with many other fruits and all sorts of esculent vegetables.”

“To notice one or two of the rarer specimens, a very large variety of melon produces a most gorgeous flower, far more beautiful and elaborate than even the passiflora in Europe, and the papia causes so rapid a decomposition in meats …”

“… that the toughest beef or the most venerable of old cocks, if steeped in an infusion of the fruit or the stem of the plant, becomes, in a few hours, perfectly tender.”

“In addition to all that I have just enumerated, may be mentioned, the prickly pear, the oriental lilac, the date palm, the camphor tree, in short nearly all the plants of all the groups of Polynesia …”

“… and, in order, if possible, to extend the catalogue, Mr. Hopkins left in the hands of one of the most persevering horticulturists some seeds of the cherry and apple, which he had brought from England.”

“At the head of the valley, distant but a few miles from the house, a pali of 1,100 feet in height overhangs the windward side of the island. I had intended to ride to this precipice in the course of the afternoon, but was prevented by the heavy rain …”

“… our time, however, was spent very agreeably in receiving visits from many of the neighboring natives. Next morning, though the rain continued to fall as heavily as ever, and the clouds and mist were driving down the gorge before the trade-wind, I was trotting away at dawn in the very teeth of the storm.”

“The scenery of Nuanau is strikingly picturesque and romantic.”

“On looking downwards, the placid ocean breaking on the coral reefs that gird the island, the white houses of the town glancing in the sun, the ships lying at anchor in the harbor, while canoes and boats are flitting …”

“… as if in play, among them, form together a view which, in addition to its physical beauty, overwhelms one who looks back to the past, with a flood of moral associations.”

“In the opposite direction you discover a rugged glen, with blackened and broken mountains on either side, which are partially covered with low trees, while from crag to crag there leaps and bubbles many a stream, as if glad and eager to drop its fatness through its dependent aqueducts, on the parched plain below.”

“Nor is the view in this direction destitute, any more than the view in the other, of historical interest.”

“It was up this very pass that Kamehameha, after gaining … his last and greatest battle, chased with ‘his red pursuing spear’ the forces of Woahoo, and his own recreant followers who had joined them …”

“… till he drove them headlong, to the number of three hundred, ‘death in their front, destruction in their rear,’ down the almost perpendicular wall that terminates the valley.”

“On arriving at the pali, I saw, as it were, at my feet a champagne country, prettily dotted with villages, groves and plantations, while in the distance there lay, screened, however, by a curtain of vapors, the same ocean which I had so lately left behind me.”

“Though the wind, as it entered the gorge, blew in such gusts as almost prevented me from standing, yet I resolved to attempt the descent, which was known to be practicable for those who had not Kamehameha to hurry them.”

“I accordingly scrambled down, having, of course, dismounted, for some distance; but as the path was slippery from the wet, I was fain to retrace my steps before reaching the bottom.”

“In all weathers, however, the natives, when they are coming to market with pigs, vegetables, &c., are in the habit of safely ascending and descending the precipice with their loads.”

“While I was drenched on this excursion, the good folks of Honolulu were as dry and dusty as usual, the showers having merely peeped out of the valley to tantalize them.” (Simpson)

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Nuuanu_Valley_(WC)_1840
Nuuanu_Valley_(WC)_1840

Filed Under: General, Place Names, Prominent People Tagged With: Hawaii, Oahu, Nuuanu, George Simpson

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