Oahu | Page 65 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

June 3, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Executive Building

‘Iolani Palace was the official residence of both King Kalākaua and Queen Lili‘uokalani. (‘Io is the Hawaiian hawk, a bird that flies higher than all the rest, and ‘lani’ denotes heavenly, royal or exalted.)

The cornerstone for ‘Iolani Palace was laid on December 31, 1879 with full Masonic rites. Construction was completed in 1882; in December of that year King Kalākaua and Queen Kapi‘olani took up residence in their new home.

The first floor consists of the public reception areas – the Grand Hall, State Dining Room, Throne Room and Blue Room (where informal audiences and small receptions took place) The second floor consists of the private suites – the King’s and Queen’s suites, Music Room and King’s Library.

“The apartments of the King and Queen occupied the rear of mauka side of the Palace on this floor. The King’s room which is on the Ewa side is 25 feet by 30 feet with dressing room and bath room, etc., opening from it. Adjoining is the library designed to be used also as a Privy Council chamber’.

“The Queen’s apartment is the same size as His Majesty’s and there are on the same side of the building, two guest chambers of about 23 feet. The rooms in the corner towers form agreeable additions to the apartments with which they communicate being entered directly from them.” (Pacoific Commercial Advertiser, September 24, 1881)

In 1895, Queen Lili‘uokalani was held under house arrest for eight months, following a failed counter-revolution by royalists seeking to restore the Queen to power after the overthrow of 1893.

After the overthrow of the monarchy, ‘Iolani Palace became the government headquarters (Executive Building) for the Provisional Government, Republic, Territory and State of Hawai‘i.

The palace was used for nearly three-quarters of a century as a government capitol building under the Provisional Government, the Republic of Hawai‘i, the Territory of Hawai‘i and the State of Hawai‘i – until the existing capitol building was completed in 1969.

It was during that time that the Palace served as a government office building, and for a while it also had a less that regal appearance.

The uses of the respective rooms changed. A major addition to the Palace (Executive Building) occurred in 1894. On April 26, 1894, a new vault for the treasury was put in the Blue Room.

The Finance Minister moved into the Blue room, and the dining room was taken over by the Minister of the Interior. Upstairs it was first planned that the President of the Executive would occupy the King’s bed chamber, with the Foreign Office moving into the old library and the Attorney General situated in the previous music room.

The Throne Room was converted into council chambers. The Waikiki side of the second floor was to be used for storing furniture. Some shuffling of uses occurred in the respective rooms.

Interior rooms were partitioned into office space and the exterior of the building was encrusted with many temporary wooden additions to increase the floor space required for the office personnel.

Little else was done to the Palace during the remaining years of the Republic. At the turn of the century, during 1900, the Territorial government took over control of Hawai‘i.

The legislature set aside a sum for alterations, repairs and improvements to the Territorial Capitol Building, and during the year just ended the Department has complete the work outlined in the plans for repairs and improvements.

This included the laying of ohia flooring throughout the entire building, reshingling the roof, painting of the exterior and the decoration of the interior of the building. Special care was given to the Governor’s office, the Senate Chamber, and the Throne Room.

Koa benches were placed in the corridors, the lanais were retiled, the old tile having broken or sagged in many places, and the building in general was completely renovated, including the installation of modern plumbing. An elevator. . . was installed.” (Public Works Report; Fairfax)

The former throne room had been used for sessions of the Territorial House of Representatives. The state dining room was used as the chamber of the Territorial Senate.

The private apartment of Kalakaua and later Lili‘uokalani was used as the Governor’s office. These formerly territorial functions were then moved to the new State Capitol in 1969.

The state government then vacated the Palace and plans were initiated an authentic restoration of the Palace to its appearance during the Hawaiian Monarchy, 1882-1893.

Click on the following link for a virtual tour of Iolani Palace: https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=E9uDoFAP3SH

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NORTHEAST_FACADE_-_Iolani_Palace-LOC

WEST_SIDE_-_Iolani_Palace-LOC

SOUTHWEST_(FRONT)_FACADE_AND_GROUNDS_-_Iolani_Palace-LOC

SOUTHWEST_FACADE,_AXIAL_VIEW_-_Iolani_Palace-LOC

SENATE_CHAMBER_-_Iolani_Palace-LOC

GOVERNOR’S_OFFICE_-_Iolani_Palace-LOC

Iolani_Palace-temporary offices-interior and exterior-LOC

Iolani_Palace-with temporary offices added on exterior-LOC

Iolani_Palace,_-temporary offices – Legislative Chambers-1st floor-LOC

May 17, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Train Terminal, Depot

Benjamin Franklin (Frank) Dillingham’s OR&L company, created in 1889, changed the landscape of west Honolulu. Its first train depot was created between a fishpond and North King Street, next to Prison Road, later renamed Iwilei Road.

The first section of track extended only as far as Aiea, but by the 1920s, tracks had been laid all over the island. The train was the primary mode of transportation. (Burlingame)

“Among the most important works now in progress of rapid construction, is the Oahu Railway to Pearl Harbor, which is already approaching completion, so far as grading is concerned.”

“Eleven miles of this line will have the grading completed in two weeks; and of this length ten miles are already finished. The material for the bridges is already on the ground, and the work of driving the piles has been begun at the larger estuaries of Kalihi and Moanalua.”

“A few of the bridges on this line will be of considerable length; but, with the present energy being displayed only a short time will elapse before the gaps in the line will all disappear.”

“Many of the smaller bridges and culverts have been already built. There will be altogether twenty bridges between Honolulu and Ewa, of various lengths—from 16 to 300 feet, with an aggregate length of 1250 feet.”

“Plans have been approved by which the main depot will be placed 180 feet from King street in what is now a fish-pond dividing Oahu prison from the royal stables.”

“A large portion, if not all of this extensive fish-pond will be filled in without delay, and this substantial and eligible building ground, artificially firmed, will become of great value by close proximity to the main depot buildings.”

“The depot itself will be of imposing size and made as ornamental in appearance as convenience and traffic requirements will allow. The grading of the whole division of this line, twelve miles, will be completed within the next month; and the laying of the rails will commence immediately upon their arrival by the bank Deutschland now nearly due from Germany.”

“The progress of this important work has been so rapid during the month of July that we give it first place among works in progress. (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 27, 1889)

The inauguration of the OR&L rail service was November 16, 1889. (LOC)Eventually, the railroad ran west out of Honolulu to Waianae, around Kaena Point and on to Kahuku, and is significant in the development of the sugar industry on the island of Oahu.

As a result of the development of this rail line the lands of western and northern Oahu were able to be opened for the cultivation of sugar, with plantations started at Ewa, Waipahu, Waianae, Waialua, Kahuku and other areas. Besides freight, the OR&L also provided plantation workers with easy access to Honolulu. (NPS)

In 1924-1925, a new Depot was constructed to replace an earlier 1889 wooden terminal building, and was the main Honolulu rail terminal for OR&L’s passenger operations.

The building was designed by local architect Guy N. Rothwell. The contract to erect the terminal was officially given to the Hawaiian Contracting Company (a company that was owned by the Dillingham family), though much of the work was performed by OR&L’s in-house construction crews.

Upon completion, the building had dual functions, with the 2nd floor providing offices for the company’s daily railroad operations, and the 1st floor accommodating passengers. The 1st floor layout included a porte-cochere, a ticket office and lobby with a restaurant and bar, as well as a news stand.

The offices upstairs were occupied by OR&L’s president, general manager, superintendent and treasurer, as well as the station’s dispatcher.

Both floors also included spacious restrooms for travelers and employees. As soon as the building was completed, an extension was constructed on the north side, to accommodate the company’s growing freight department.

The railroad prospered until the 1930s when the advent of improved roadways led to its decline. The railway continued in operation through World War II, but in 1947 all operations outside of Honolulu were abandoned. (NPS)

The company continued to use Depot building as a terminal well after rail passenger operations ceased at the end of 1947. The property was acquired by the State of Hawaii in 1961. After OR&L moved off the premises eighteen months later the building was used as office space.

A 1975 renovation completely reconfigured the interior of the building for office use, and an elevator and expanded stairwell were added at an unknown date. Various state organizations have occupied the offices, with the current users being the Division of Accounting and General Services, Department of Human Services in the terminal building. (HABS)

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First day of operation Nov 16, 1889.

OR&L Railroad Depot 1890

OR&L Honolulu Depot-1890

OR&L Railway Depot

OR&L Railroad Yard, November 1941

OR&L Railroad Depot

OR&L Railroad Station 1890

OR&L Honolulu Terminal Roundhouse-Adv

OR&L Honolulu Depot-1914

OR&L Honolulu Depot_1890

OR&L Alakea Street Honolulu

OR&L Honolulu

OR&L Honolulu Depot-1901

OR&L Station 325 N. King St. Honolulu, late 1940s

OR&L-Iwilei-map

OR&L-Oahu-Map

OR&L-Map

May 13, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Pahukini Heiau

Ko‘olau volcano started as a seamount above the Hawaiian hotspot around 4-million years ago. It broke sea level some time prior to 2.9-million years ago.

About 2-million years ago, much of the northeast flank of Ko‘olau volcano was sheared off and material was swept more than 140-miles north of O‘ahu and Molokai onto the ocean floor (named the Nu‘uanu Avalanche) – one of the largest landslides on Earth.

About 6,000 years ago and before the arrival of the Hawaiians, Kawainui (“the large [flow of] fresh water”) and Ka‘elepulu (“the moist blackness”) were bays connected to the ocean and extended a mile inland of the present coastline. (This saltwater environment is indicated by inland deposits of sand and coral.)

A sand bar began forming across Kawainui Bay around 2,500 years ago creating Kawainui Lagoon filled with coral, fish and shellfish. The Hawaiians probably first settled along the fringes of this lagoon. Gradually, erosion of the hillsides surrounding Kawainui began to fill in the lagoon with sediments.

About 500 years ago, early Hawaiians maintained a freshwater fishpond in Kawainui; the fishpond was surrounded on all sides by a system of ʻauwai (canals) bringing water from Maunawili Stream (winding/twisted mountain) and springs to walled taro lo‘i (irrigated fields.)

Pahukini (many drums) is a heiau located on the slopes of Kapa‘a and at one time overlooked the site of an ancient adze quarry. Below the heiau stretches the expanse of the Kawainui wetlands.

Said to have been built by 14th century Tahitian Chief Olopana, it has also been listed as being named Moʻokini (many lineages) and also Makini (contraction of make kini (many deaths.))

These last two names suggest this heiau was designated as po’okanaka (human head or skull) and functioned as a a luakini where rulling chiefs proayed and human sacrifices were offered.

The stacked rocks measure approximately 120 x 180 feet with an adjoining 32 x 38 foot structure on the north wall. Several interior terraces are found where the grass houses, oracle tower and perhaps wooden carvings stood.

Pahukini heiau commands a sweeping view of low hills, the spreading expanse of the abandoned Kawainui fish pond once used by the ancient Hawaiians, and the present city of Kailua where a major Hawaiian settlement was on the shores of Kailua Bay.

In several respects, the heiau resembles Pu‘u O Mahuka heiau which is above Waimea Bay. Both heiau are rectangular, located on natural promontories affording excellent view of the Pacific, and both show evidence of disturbance for native agriculture within the confines of the heiau themselves. (NPS)

In 1750, Kailua (two seas (probably two currents)) was the Royal Center of power for the district of Koʻolaupoko and a favored place of the O‘ahu chiefs for its abundance of fish and good canoe landings (and probably enjoyed the surf, as well.)

Farmers grew kalo (taro) in the irrigated lo‘i along the streams from Maunawili and along the edges of the fishponds. Crops of dryland kalo, banana, sweet potato and sugarcane marked the fringes of the marsh. Fishermen harvested fish from the fishponds and the sea.

In 1845 the first road was built over the Nuʻuanu Pali (cool height – cliff) to connect Windward Oʻahu with Honolulu. It was jointly financed by the government and sugar planters who wanted easy access to the fertile lands on the windward side of Oʻahu. Kamehameha III and two of his attendants were the first to cross on horseback.

(In 1898 this road was developed into a highway and was later replaced by the Pali Highway. When the current Pali Highway and its tunnels opened (1959,) the original roadway was closed and is now used by hikers.)

Lili‘uokalani wrote “Aloha ‘Oe” (farewell to thee) after an 1878 visit to an estate in Maunawili. She and her brother King David Kalākaua were regular guests and attended parties or simply came there to rest.

Guests would walk between two parallel rows of royal palms, farewells would be exchanged; then, they would ride away on horseback or in their carriages.

Modern quarrying operations have carved away major portions of the hill upon which Pahukini is located, leaving it in a somewhat precarious condition today, for one edge lies just at the top of a precipitous 100-foot quarried cliff. (NPS)

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Pahukini_Heiau

PahukiniHeiau

Pahukini Heiau

Pahukini Heiau – HVB Warrior Marker

Pahukini Heiau – SFCA

Pahukini Heiau – interpretive sign

Pahukini_Heiau – pohukaina

Pahukini Heiau – pohukaina

April 20, 2017 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Shunchoro

Shuichi and Taneyo Fujiwara, immigrants from Shikoku, Japan, were in San Francisco during the 1906 earthquake. They lost everything they owned in the earthquake and went back to Japan.

They were returning to San Francisco, stopped in Hawai‘i and decided to stay. (Ohira) They purchased a nearly 1-acre property on Alewa Heights from the McInerny family and opened Shunchoro Teahouse (Spring Tide Restaurant) in 1921. It was “the first building on the hill;” they had to build their own road and put up utility poles.

“A customer named Yoshikawa used to come here during the day for tea or beer.” (Fujiwara; Sigall) Takeo Yoshikawa, a Japanese spy, arrived in Honolulu on March 27, 1941, aboard the Japanese liner Nitta Maru.

His papers identified him as Tadashi Morimura, the name he was always referred to while in the Islands (and subsequent investigative records.) (He’ll be referred to here by his real name, Yoshikawa.)

“I was a spy in the field without that secret inside information. But I assumed my job was to help prepare for an attack on Pearl Harbor and I worked night and day getting necessary information.”

“The Americans were very foolish. As a diplomat I could move about the islands. No one bothered me. I often rented small planes at John Rodgers Airport (now Honolulu International Airport) in Honolulu and flew around US installations making observations. I kept everything in my head.”

“As a long distance swimmer I covered the harbor installations. Sometimes I stayed underwater for a long time breathing through a hollow reed.” (Yoshikawa; Palm Beach Post)

“And my favorite viewing place was a lovely Japanese teahouse overlooking the harbor. It was called ‘Shunchoro.’ I knew what ships were in, how heavily they were loaded, who their officers were, and what supplies were on board.”

“The trusting young officers who visited the teahouse told the girls there everything. And anything they didn’t reveal I found out by giving riders to hitchhiking American sailors and pumping them for information.” (Yoshikawa; Palm Beach Post)

“When he was tired, (he slept) in an upstairs room where we had a telescope. Unbeknownst to us, he was using it to watch the ship movements in Pearl Harbor.” (Fujiwara; Sigall)

Yoshikawa did not work alone. Later joining him in espionage was a ‘sleeper agent’ Bernard Otto Julius Kuehn and his family, Nazi spies sent to the Islands by Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. (Washington Times)

At midafternoon on December 6, Yoshikawa made his final reconnaissance of Pearl Harbor from the Pearl City pier. Back at the consulate, he coordinated his report with Japanese Consul General Nagao Kita, and then saw that the encoded message was transmitted to Tokyo.

At 1:20 am on December 7, 1941, on the darkened bridge of the Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi, Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo was handed the following message:

“Vessels moored in harbor: 9 battleships; 3 class B cruisers; 3 seaplane tenders, 17 destroyers. Entering harbor are 4 class B cruisers; 3 destroyers. All aircraft carriers and heavy cruisers have departed harbor…. No indication of any changes in US Fleet or anything unusual.” (Savela)

The prearranged coded signal “East wind, rain,” part of the weather forecast broadcast over Radio Tokyo, alerted Kita in Honolulu, and others, that the attack on Pearl Harbor had begun.

The first wave of 183-planes (43-fighters, 49-high-level bombers, 51-dive bombers and 40-torpedo planes) struck its targets at 7:55 am. The second wave of 167-Japanese planes (35-fighters, 54-horizontal bombers and 78-dive bombers) struck Oʻahu beginning at 8:40 am. By 9:45 am, the Japanese attack on Oʻahu was over.

The government took over Shunchoro Teahouse during World War II and converted the building into an emergency fire and first-aid station. After the war, the elder Fujiwaras leased the teahouse to Mamoru Kobayashi, who ran it until the mid-1950s.

Lawrence Sr, youngest of Shuichi and Taneyo Fujiwara’s five children, had opened his own teahouse on School Street after the war. It was called Natsunoya (Summer House.) “They eventually tore it down for the H-1 freeway.”

Shunchoro had been closed for a couple of years when Lawrence Sr reopened the teahouse and changed its name to Natsunoya Tea House in 1958. (Fujiwara; Ohira)

Here’s a link to Google images of Natunoya Tea House: https://goo.gl/ZXhKdz

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Natsunoya Tea House

Natsunoya Tea-House

Natsunoya Tea_House

Natsunoya Tea-House

Takeo Yoshikawa

Japanese Consulate Staff-Honolulu-(NationalArchives)

April 5, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kaleleakeʻanae

Nuʻuanu Valley is romantic ground!
Here every knoll and dingle hath its talc.
Woven from legends stark of lonely swale
And Pali steep! Aye, long ago, to sound
Of savage warfare waged by Chiefs renowned.
Th’ historic Vale was scarred with bloody trail.
E’en now the bent ear hears the wild death-wail
Of warriors, in the winds which still rebound
The cliffs along: or, in the depths the eye
Doth catch the twinkling of spry Epas’ feet
Where, ‘neath the trailing clouds which not half hide
The tropic moon, they dance in circles nigh
To sound of falling waters—requiem meet,
Where mouldering heroes dim for aye abide!
(Johnstone; Thrum)

The battle was the last stand of Kalanikūpule and 9,000-warriors of O‘ahu against Kamehameha and his invading army of 12,000-warriors from Hawai‘i. (Dukas)

Kamehameha’s fleet landed at Waikiki where it covered the beaches from Waiʻalae to Waikiki. Kalanikūpule and his chiefs were stationed at strategic points in Nuʻuanu at Kanoneakapueo, Kahapaʻakai, Luakaha, Kawananakoa, Kaukahoku, Kapaʻeli, Kaumuʻohena, and Puʻiwa (where the fighting began.) (Kamakau)

Outnumbered and outgunned, the O‘ahu defenders were already weakened by the Battle of ‘Aiea (Kukiʻiahu) and a failed attempt to seize two well-armed foreign merchant vessels. (Dukas)

The landings were unopposed, and Kamehameha’s forces had four days to gather food and scout out enemy positions. The army began to move west and first clashed with Kalanikūpule’s men near Punchbowl Crater.

Both armies used traditional Hawaiian weapons, augmented with Western firearms. Kamehameha, however, used European-style flanking tactics and sited cannons on the Papakōlea ridgeline, routing similar positions held by Kalanikūpule’s cannoneers. (James)

“Kalanikūpule’s men were also supplied with these foreign weapons, however, not as well because they had lost those foreign weapons on board Captain Brown’s ships which the foreigners had taken at that time Kalanikūpule had first thought of attacking Kamehameha.” …

“In the beginning of this battle, the female aliʻi on Kamehameha’s side used their muskets, firing their bullets amongst the warriors on Kalanikūpule’s side.”

“Those on Kamehameha’s side were better skilled with the muskets, and perhaps these warriors furnished with the foreign weapons were electrified (ho‘ouwila ‘ia paha) by seeing the fearlessness of these aliʻi wahine.” (Desha)

Just a little above the Queen Emma’s property was a decisive point of the battle. There a well-directed shot from John Young’s cannon brought death to the restless and ambitious Kaʻiana; Kaʻiana had landed with Kamehameha but defected to the side of Kalanikupule.

With his death, Kalanikūpule’s forces scattered – some to the hills and valleys beyond, and drove the rest to a swift destruction over the famous pali. (Thrum)

Kamehameha’s cannon’s rained fire down on Kalanikūpule’s forces, which disorganized under the assault from above. From that point on, it was a running fight, a desperate rear-guard action as Oʻahu’s defenders were herded up Nuʻuanu Valley.

A number of them did escape. Some went up Pacific Heights, but primarily they went up Alewa and over into Kalihi and escaped to Aiea and through there.

Others went up over the pali or went up to Kalihi and then went over into Kāne’ohe. A lot of them went down the old trails on the pali. (Pacific Worlds)

But the actions of some gave the battle another name …

The name of the Battle of Nuʻuanu is also referred to as Kaleleakeʻanae, which means “the leaping of the mullet fish.” With their backs to the sheer cliff of the Nuʻuanu Pali, many chose to fall to their deaths than submit to Kamehameha.

In 1897, while improving the Pali road, workers found an estimated 800-skulls along with other bones, at the foot of the precipice. They believed these to be the remains of Oʻahu warriors defeated by Kamehameha a hundred years earlier. (Island Call, October 1953; Mitchell)

Kalanikūpule survived the battle, but was later captured and sacrificed by Kamehameha at the Diamond Head heiau of Papaʻenaʻena. (Dukas)

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