Schoenberg | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

In the early-1900s, Lucius Pinkham, then President of the Territorial Board of Health and later Governor, developed the idea of constructing a drainage canal to drain the wetlands, which he considered “unsanitary.” This called for the construction of a canal to reclaim the marshland.

The Waikīkī Reclamation District was identified as the approximate 800-acres from King and McCully Streets to Kapahulu Street, near Campbell Avenue down to Kapiʻolani Park and Kalākaua Avenue on the makai side (1921-1928.) The dredge material not only filled in the makai Waikīkī wetlands, but it was also used to fill in the McKinley High School site.

During the 1920s, the Waikīkī landscape would be transformed when the construction of the Ala Wai Drainage Canal, begun in 1921 and completed in 1928, resulted in the draining and filling in of the remaining ponds and irrigated fields of Waikīkī.

By 1924, the dredging of the Ala Wai Canal and filling of the wetlands stopped the flows of the Pi‘inaio, ‘Āpuakēhau and Kuekaunahi streams running from the Makiki, Mānoa, and Pālolo valleys to and through Waikīkī.

With construction of the Ala Wai Canal, 625-acres of wetland were drained and filled and runoff was diverted away from Waikīkī beach. The completion of the Ala Wai Canal not only gave impetus to the development of Waikīkī as Hawai‘i’s primary visitor destination, but also expanded the district’s potential for residential use.

Then, in 1956, Hawaiian Electric installed cables across the Ala Wai Canal to provide Waikīkī with additional electric power capacity. (HECO)

As part of the installation process, “A ‘road’ nearly spanning the Ala Wai has appeared almost overnight, surprising thousands of passers-by who are accustomed to seeing the canal as an unbroken ribbon of water from Kapahulu to the sea.”

“But Hawaiian Electric Co. assured the public yesterday that the ‘road’ would stay there only as long as to bury a 44,000-volt cable needed to bring more electricity to an expanding Waikiki.”

“The ‘road’ will support cranes which will dig a trench 23 feet deep and four feet wide under the Ala Wai. Then the cable will be laid across the canal, down Kaiolu St. and ino the Waikiki sub station.”

“Erling V Schoenberg, Hawaiian Electric’s superintendent for the job, said the Ala Wai ‘road’ was the cheapest way of getting the digging equipment into the area.” (Advertiser, Sep 11, 1956)

“Clam shell cranes will begin digging a ditch in the floor of the Ala Wai from a causeway today or tomorrow, according to Erling V Schoenberg, Hawaiian Electric Company underground superintendent.”

“The dirt and rock causeway was been built four-fifths of the way across the canal from the Iolani School area to Kaiolu Street. A 50-foot passage was left on the makai side for boats.”

“The cranes will dig a trench 23 feet deep and four feet wide under the Ala Wai in which a 44,0000-volt cable will be buried. When this is accomplished, the causeway will be removed.” (Star Bulletin, September 11, 1956)

“As electricity use increased, the original cables were replaced in 1990 with higher capacity cables …. In 2002-03, when the Canal was last dredged, it was determined the cables were at risk of damage from dredging.”

“Hawaiian Electric, DLNR and the dredging contractor developed an interim solution to dredge around the cables. The current cable relocation project will be a permanent solution to not interfere with future dredging operations.” (HECO)

Then, “The State Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) plans to dredge the Ala Wai Canal for flood control and increased recreational use starting in 2019, pending approval of permits. Hawaiian Electric currently has 46 kilovolt (kV) electrical cables buried under the canal that must be removed for efficient dredging.”

“Hawaiian Electric plans to install new 46kv cables about 40 feet below the canal using horizontal directional drilling. Once new cables are in service, the old cables will be removed. Hawaiian Electric plans to install new 46kv cables about 40 feet below the canal using horizontal directional drilling.”

“To minimize disruption from conventional trenching in the city streets, Hawaiian Electric will use horizontal directional drilling to install the new cables.”:

“As with any major construction, however, some short-term impacts are unavoidable. Hawaiian Electric will make every effort to limit closed traffic lanes, noise and dust.” (HECO)

“To the Emigrants for the Sandwich Islands … Contracts with those who will go to the Sandwich Islands, are drawn up and signed on Wednesday, Sept. 23, and the following days at the office of Hans P. Faye, at Drammen from 11 to 3 o’clock. The parties must be provided with good recommendations, and attestations for good and faultless behaviour.”

“Parties under obligation of military service, must bring release from service. Signature of minors must, to be valid, be confirmed by guardian.”

“The conditions are now regulated, and thus fixed: laborers over 20 years, 9 dollars; under 20 years, somewhat less, per month, with free board, or board-money and free lodgings, families may bring two children with them. Free passage and board, which is not to be worked out afterwards. … Chr. L’Orange, Agent for the Hawaiian Bureau of Immigration, Sandwich Islands” (PCA, Oct 21, 1882)

“There were about 600 Norwegians who emigrated to Hawaii, the main harbor for this organized emigration was Drammen. It was planned and executed by Hans L’Orange. L’Orange was commissioned by the king of Hawaii (King Kalakaua) to bring the Norwegians to the island. L’Orange was a Norwegian plantation owner in the islands.” (Haakon Bjerke)

A plaque near Maalaea Maui states, “This monument commemorates the arrival of the Norwegian barque Beta which dropped anchor near this spot on February 18, 1881, and of her sister ship Musca, which arrived in Honolulu May 13, 1881.”

“They brought more than six hundred Norwegians, Swedes and Danes to work in the sugar cane fields and mills of the Hawaiian Kingdom – the first and only mass migration of Scandinavians to these islands.”

“For their contribution to the life of this land, as well as those of their countrymen who proceeded or followed, our mahalo and aloha. The Scandinavian Centennial Commission, February 14, 1981, the centennial date. This monument was restored in the year 2006, in celebration of the 125th anniversary of the Scandinavians arrival in Hawaii”.

“The Norwegians had signed a four-year contract as plantation workers. This experiment by having the Norwegians employed as plantation workers was not successful enterprise. The plantation owners soon found out they could not whip the Norwegians as they had previously done with the Asians. Soon, strikes flourished and the jails were filled up with Norwegians.”

“The Norwegian emigration to Hawaii was a failure, as soon as their four-years contract expired the majority of the Norwegians left for the US mainland to places like California, Minnesota and the Dakotas; there were only then a small number of Norwegians who remained in Hawaii.” (Haakon Bjerke)

But sugar laborers weren’t the only Norwegians to come to Hawai’i. “A long line of seafaring ancestors were responsible for the early call to the sea of Victor [Cotta] Schoenberg (born December 5, 1885, at Bergen, Norway; son of Fredrik Christian Torp and Edle Margarete (Holm-Brock) Schoenberg).” (Nellist and Siddall)

“At the completion of his education in the Hambro School and College and the Bergen Commercial College at Bergen, Norway, M. Schoenberg began his world travels [by way of England, Egypt, Siam and Hongkong, remaining in Hongkong until June, 1906] and reached Hawaii in Aug, 1906, as an officer on a Norwegian steamship. He remained here to accept a position in a mill at Makaweli, Kauai.”

“Later he removed to Waimea, Kauai, where he was acting postmaster for a short time. From 1907 to 1909 he was bookkeeper for the Lahaina branch of H. Hackfeld & Co., and for the next seven years was manager of the Lahaina National Bank, Lahaina, Maui, going to the Waipahu branch of the Bank of Hawaii, Ltd., in 1918, as manager and cashier, a position he still occupies.”

“Mr. Schoenberg has specialized in country and branch bank organization. He organized and developed the Pearl Harbor branch of the Bank of Hawaii, Ltd., in 1921, with a collection office at Aiea, which he managed for a year in conjunction with the Waipahu branch and a collection office at Wahiawa.”

In 1910 he married Jennie Wilhelmina Hansen and they have two sons, Erling (born in Wailuku July 2, 1911) and Eyvinn Schoenberg. (Nellist) Eyvinn was born and raised in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and began making model aircraft at age eleven while visiting San Leandro, California.

“On returning home to Hawaii, my room became my model shop, as I turned out all kinds of rubber-powered models, culminating in my building a successful flying Gas model ‘California Chief,’ powered with a Baby Cyclone engine, in 1939.”

“This lead to my interest in flying and I obtained a pilot’s license through the University of Hawaii’s CAAPT5 flight training course in 1940.” Schoenberg learned to fly a full-sized Piper Cub.

“Post war, living in Lima Peru, I built my first Radio Controlled model, a Walt Good ‘Rudder Bug’ design, with an English single-channel radio system and an S29 engine, with rudder only control. It flew beautifully!!”

“And while driving to the flying area 43 kilometers south of Lima, Peru, I saw the wonderful point break waves at Punta Hermosa, surfed there with my pal Hal McNicol, and changed Peruvian surfing from beach break to point break surfing thereafter …” (Schoenberg, Academy of Model Aeronautics)

Eyvinn’s son had an influence on music in the Islands. “I collaborated with Herb Ohta, Sr. (Ohta-San) on a number of songs over the years, beginning in the late 60s when I was a student at Punahou (class of 69).”

“This came about when a guest lecturer at a creative writing class mentioned that a local musician was looking for help with lyrics. That sounded interesting, so I met with Mr. Ohta at his practice studio and then went to see him perform at a club in Waikiki.”

“Initially, a song translated from French needed a little editing. Later, Ohta wrote original compositions that required lyrics. After I moved back to the mainland we continued working together by mail. He would send me sheet music, sometimes a cassette recording, or call and play a new tune over the phone.”

“Ohta was a terrific musician who could play the ukelele like a jazz guitar. Many of his recordings were instrumentals, although I still received credit as lyricist.” (The songs he collaborated with Ohta-san include, The Changing, Claustrophobia, Everything Is Real, I’m Going To Go, Love Can Be A Harmful Thing, More Than I Can Say, Sunshine, Wishes and You.)

“His music was very popular in Japan, where he was known as Ohta-San. For a while, I received annual printouts showing royalties earned, categorized in Japanese with amounts in Yen. A letter in English said they would hold onto the sum until it was enough to write a check.” (Victor (Vic) E Schoenberg)

That wasn’t the only musical Schoenberg. Folks might recall the Vaqueros that included Cotta Schoenberg (who played regularly at the Kāneʻohe Yacht Club). Back in the day, the Long House was available for periodic teen dances (hundreds of us packed the place.)