Waiakea

December 27, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Every morning and evening
When upward turn we our eyes
High above stands Mauna Kea and
In the distance, the wide Pacific Ocean
Scenery so beautiful, inspiring, and tranquil,
Certainly is the pride of Yashiljima.

Aa the waves of the East and West
Beat upon the shore of our crescent bay,
The moonlight streams through the
shimmering leaves of the Yashi no ki.
This enlightening purity, we are
reminded to etch upon our hearts to keep.

Increasingly learn, let us all of us together,
For Americans of Japanese ancestry by birth we be,
And, as such, fulfill we must a calling of great significance.
Go forth then, and bring good name to
our Yashijima Nihongo Gakkoo.

(English translation of the Waiakea Japanese School alma mater)
(The message was: Learn to take the good of Japan and the good of America and serve your country well.)

“The Waiakea peninsula … was a compact community separated from Hilo by the Wailoa River.” (HTH Mar 7, 1994) “Waiakea town was the original. Everybody was living Waiakea town. From Kamehameha Avenue all the way to Coconut Island. So they used to call [Waiakea] ‘Yashijima.’ ‘Yashi’ is coconut, and ‘jima’ is [island].” (Hayato Okino)

“Many immigrants from Japan settled in Waiakea, making it a thriving community, nearly as popular as downtown Hilo.” (HTH, Feb 24, 1980) “A compact, cohesive and tightly knit community, Waiakea was predominantly Japanese but included other ethnic groups. The men worked primarily as fishermen and stevedores.” (HTH. Mar 31, 1999)

“Life was tough. Families were large and many lived frugally with little to spare. The Waiakea Social Settlement was the only organized social facility for the deprived children.” (HTH. Mar 31, 1999)

“A majority of the men who first settled there were fishermen from Oshima-gun, Yamaguchi-ken. As a result, a thriving fishing industry was started along Wailoa River.” (HTH, May 23, 1986) “And then … they started to move over to the Shinmachi area.” (Hayato Okino)

Between 1913 and 1946, the present green space between Hilo Iron Works towards the old Hilo town was Shinmachi (‘New Town’), a thriving neighborhood of small business owners who established many of Hawai‘i Island mainstays.

These include Hawaii Planing Mill, Atebara Potato Chips, S. Tokunaga Sports, Hilo Transportation, and Hilo Macaroni Factory (makers of the Saloon Pilot Cracker). (Lyman Museum)

“Waiakea was roughly bounded by Lihiwai Street, what is now Banyan Drive and Lanikaula Street. It also encompassed Waiakea Houselots with Manono as the main street and Mililani, Hinano and Laupaku as the side streets.” (HTH Mar 7, 1994)

“Waiakea Social Settlement was ‘Founded January 1, 1903, by the Hawaiian Evangelical Association, as the enlargement of a Sunday-school work already begun ‘to be a home-place for the community …’”

“‘… where all are welcome to partake of rest, social pleasure, mental food and spiritual nourishment; to help the children especially to be happy as well as good.’ Maintained by the Hawaiian Board of Missions and by subscriptions.”

“Maintains daily dispensary; Sunday school; ‘friendly talks’ on Sunday evenings; sewing school; music and culture classes; girls’ weaving class; women’s class (industrial and devotional); prayer meeting; reading room; socials; drills; visits; collecting savings; annual concert.” (Handbook of Settlements, 1911)

“The finishing touches are being put on the two new buildings of the Waiakea Social Settlement located on the corner of Kamehameha Ave. and Kilohana Street. These larger facilities will make possible an expansion of the services to the whole of the neighborhood. ‘It’s the place of the people,’ said a scout, referring to the Settlement.”

“The new facilities are making possible activities which heretofore were closed to them. A complete stage with make-up rooms will permit all sorts of performance for story acting to big time plays not to mention community meetings of all kinds.”

“The standard size gymnasium and showers will offer athletic facilities for boys’ and girls’ groups with a variety of sports from basketball to shuffleboard and games.”

“The new clinic and meeting rooms will make possible the improved services of cooperating agencies of the Board of Health, religious education, the University Extension Bureau, Baby Conference, Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts and Hilo Recreation Committee.” (HTH, Feb 1, 1939)

“Yashijima Nihongo-Gakkoo [Waiakea Japanese School] had its beginnings in 1904 in a Christian Mission in Waiakea Town, the Waiakea Social Settlement of later years.” (HTH, July 27, 1980)

The lyrics as the beginning of this summary are the alma mater for the Waiakea Japanese School. “The song had been very dear to the students. It had etched into their hearts and minds the destiny and the responsibilities of the Americans of Japanese Ancestry.”

“Singing it not only brought back fond as well as humorous memories of learning the Japanese language but also of the many activities which helped to mold their lives in preparation for the future.” (HTH, July 27, 1980)

The Waiakea Social Settlement which stood in the area just behind where the clock stands today was the hub of activities for the children of Waiakea. (Historical Marker Database)

“The village had two theaters, restaurants, general merchandise stores, grocery stores, meat markets, drug stores, coffee shop, barbershops, billiard parlor, poi factory, kamaboko factories, a transportation company, railroad depot and terminal with a tum-table in the middle of the Wailoa River …”

“… fish markets, sampans, garages, and Waiakea Kai School on Kilohana Street facing the Japanese school located on Kainehe Street. There was also Coconut Island and the landscaped park now called Liliuokalani Park, dry docks for sampans, and homes.” (HTH, July 27, 1980)

“Waiakea Social Settlement is a social work agency. By that definition its responsibility is to help people adjust to where they are or to be efficient as citizens. It is a group agency and thus helps people by the use of groups rather than as individuals As people came through the doors, there were achievements and failures.” (HTH, Apr 23, 1949)

Waiakea Social Settlement “Was a good place for a number of children that couldn’t make the – that the Boy Scouts couldn’t take in. They’ve become much broader lately.”

“You had to be a good boy to get into the Boy Scouts and there were too many youngsters that weren’t interested in being good boys – you know, parents were at fault – but the Waiakea Settlement would try to work with them.”

“I thought it was a splendid thing. Or anything like that, you know. I wish there had been something that could have taken in more girls than the YW did. You know, girls down at Keaukaha [Hawaiian homestead area in Hilo, Hawaii] and along in there that needed that kind of help. I think they’re getting more help now.” (Lorna Hooleia Jarrett Desha)

In 1958, the Waiakea Social Settlement board of trustees approved the settlement consolidation with the Hawaii County YMCA. The two agencies had been working together on a cooperative program for two years. (HTH, Oct 2, 1958)

Waiakea Social Settlement’s Clock was dedicated in 1939, in memory of Mrs CS Richardson; it adjoined the Settlement building. The clock was significantly damaged in the 1960 tsunami. It was refurbished and re-erected on this original concrete stand by the Waiakea Pirates Athletic Club in May, 1984.

The clock is significant to the people that grew up in the community. The time is stopped at 1:04 am when the clock itself was destroyed by the 3rd and largest wave. (Tsunami Museum) Today it serves as a symbol of the strength, courage. and resilience of the residents of Waiakea. (Historical Marker Database)

Waiakea Town, Yashijima, was never rebuilt after the 1960 tsunami. The golf course and park that you see today was once filled with homes, businesses and schools, all of which provided the backbone for a local economy of fishing, stevedoring, sugar, railroading and service industries. (Historical Marker Database)

November 13, 2021 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kanakea Pond

In the Waiākea area called Keaukaha (‘passing current’) at Hilo on the Island of Hawaiʻi a legend refers to a hole called Kaluakoko beneath the water.

A man and a woman lived nearby, and later a second woman came to live with them.

The new wife became jealous of the first, and convinced her to go net fishing one day when the husband was fishing, though the husband had forbidden it because it would affect his fishing.

As she caught shrimp at the edge of a large hole, the second wife pushed her into the hole and covered the entrance with a rock, killing her. Blood spread through the sea foam and the fisherman, followed its trail in his canoe, moved the stone, and saw what had happened.

He confronted the second wife, who lied, and then beat her to death. According to the story, the hole has been referred to as Kaluakoko (‘the Hole of Blood.’) (Cultural Surveys)

Here, Kanakea (‘wide stream’) pond is located. A freshwater subterranean spring rises from a large sinkhole and feeds cold water into the bay at a former fishpond.

Due to apparent remnant of a seaward rock wall at the narrowest point of the channel to the ocean, it is believed to be a loko kuapā. A cobble field, submerged except during low tide, is in a linear pattern, suggesting they may have been in the formation of the pond wall. (However, the cobbles may have simple accumulated there by currents or tsunami.)

“There are plenty of ducks in the ponds and streams, at a short distance from the sea, and several large ponds or lakes literally swarm with fish, principally of the mullet kind.”

“The fish in these ponds belong to the king and chiefs, and are tabued from the common people. Along the stone walls which partly encircle these ponds, we saw a number of small huts, where the persons reside who have the care of the fish, and are obliged frequently to feed them with a small kind of muscle, which they procure in the sands round the bay.” (Ellis, 1823)

“On the nights of high tides every keeper slept by the mākāhā of which he had charge. It was the custom to build small watch houses from which to guard the fish from being stolen at high tide, or from being killed by pigs and dogs; when the tides receded the fish would return to the middle of the pond, out of reach of thieves.”

“On these nights, the keeper would dip his foot into the water at the mākāhā and if the sea pressed in like a stream and felt warm, then he knew that the sluice would be full of fish.” (Kamakau; Maly)

Railway tracks crossed the pond from about 1916 until 1946 (when they were destroyed by a tsunami;) remnants of the railroad trestle are still visible within and above the surface of the pond. (Hawaiʻi County)

The pond’s modern name is ‘Ice Pond’ (due to the cold spring-fed waters.) It is brackish (that word comes from the Middle Dutch root ‘brak’ (‘salty.’))

The adjoining small bay consists of white sand and coral rubble; between 1925 and 1930, coral material dredged from Hilo harbor was deposited on the western side.

The small bay is now referred to as ‘Reed’s Bay.’ It is named after William H Reed. Born in 1814 Belfast, Ireland, Reed was a businessman. He created Reed’s Landing, which he used to moor boats carrying lumber for one of his businesses. (Hawaiʻi County)

Reed arrived in the Islands in the 1840s and set up a contracting concern specializing in the construction of wharfs, landings, bridges and roads. Other interests included ranching, trading and retailing. (Clark)

Across Hilo Bay, Reed also bought an island in 1861, originally known as ‘Koloiki’ (‘little crawling,’) once surrounded by the Wailuku River and Waikapu Stream.

Reed married Jane Stobie Shipman on July 8, 1868 (she was a widow, previously married to William Cornelius Shipman, a missionary assigned to Waiʻōhinu in the district of Kaʻū. Shipman died in 1861, leaving Jane with her three children, William Herbert, Oliver Taylor and Margaret Clarissa.)

Jane was born in Scotland. At an early age she came to the US with her parents, lived in Quincy, Illinois, and was educated to be a teacher; and in 1853 was married to Reverend Shipman. (The Friend, December, 1902)

Following his death, Jane moved to Hilo, with her three children and maintained the family by keeping a boarding school until 1868 (when she was married to Reed.) (The Friend, December, 1902)

William Reed died on November 11, 1880 with no children of his own; Jane inherited the Reed land holdings. (In 1881, Reed’s stepson William Herbert Shipman and two partners (Captain J. E. Eldarts and Samuel M Damon) purchased the entire ahupuaʻa of Keaʻau, about 70,000-acres from the King Lunalilo estate.)

March 20, 2020 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Hilo Bay and Breakwater

Legendary sources indicate that Hilo (‘to braid’) was, among other things, renowned for its rain and fertility. Hilo is likely to have been one of the first Polynesian settlement areas on Hawai‘i Island; oral history and local legend indicate that Polynesians first settled Hilo Harbor around 1100 AD.

Early settlers would have found a protected bay, surrounded by fertile lands for agriculture, and well watered by regular rainfall and natural springs. Natural waterways and wetlands were modified to create fishponds and planting areas.

Early accounts of Hilo Bay describe a long black sand beach stretching along present day Bay Front from the Wailuku River to the Wailoa River. Coconut Island is just east of the Wailoa River, and Reed’s Bay and Kūhiō Bay are just east of Coconut Island.

“The romantic might easily imagine Hilo to be a very inviting location … on account of the beauty, grandeur, and wonders of nature, which are there so interesting. … even by the sober, pious mind, to be now a desirable residence, because the wonders of nature and the wonders of grace are there united and so distinguished.” (Hiram Bingham)

Hilo was a Royal Center for many of the early chiefs.

When Captain George Vancouver arrived at Hilo Bay in 1794, Kamehameha was living at Waiākea and preparing his fleet of war canoes for his coming conquest of the other Hawaiian Islands, which ultimately led to the consolidation of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

Vancouver’s crew surveyed Hilo as a potential anchorage, but found the surf too problematic to effect a landing and declared the bay only marginally sufficient for anchorage.

Missionary William Ellis arrived in Hilo Harbor in 1823, when the main settlement there was called Waiākea. Christian missionaries continued to come to Hilo Harbor until the mid-19th Century. The missionaries were followed by trade ships and whalers that used the Hilo Harbor port.

Hilo Bay is partially protected by a reef located in 10 to 20 feet of water (later named Blonde Reef after Lord Byron’s vessel, HMS Blonde, which successfully anchored there in 1825.) (The Blonde had carried the bodies of Liholiho (who was born in Hilo) and Kamāmalu back from London, where they died from measles during a visit there.)

Between 1824 and 1848 Hilo became a significant center for foreign activities, primarily as a result of the establishment of religious mission stations by American missionaries.

By 1874, Hilo ranked as the second largest population center in the islands, and within a few years shortly thereafter Hilo with its fertile uplands, plentiful water supply, and good port became a major center for sugarcane production and export.

Passengers and cargo landed at Hilo in the surf along the beach until about 1863, when a wharf was constructed at the base of present day Waiānuenue Street.

At one time both cargo and passengers were hoisted in a basket-like sling out to a waiting row boat which took the goods or passengers to the waiting ship. If the weather was rough, landing took place on the beach.

The wooden wharf was replaced by an iron pile wharf in 1865, and was extended between 1889 and 1890. Raw sugar was brought by inter-island steamships from the Hāmākua coast to Hilo before being shipped overseas.

The northern side of the bay became a focal point for the community’s trade and commerce. During this time, Hilo was ranked as the third most frequented port for whaling vessels in need of repair and re-provisioning.

With its foundations in the missionary Hilo Boarding School, commercial sugarcane cultivation and sugar production became the central economic focus for the Hilo area lasting until the 1970s.

The Waiākea Mill Company, in operation between 1879 and 1948, with thousands of acres of cultivated fields, established its mill operation at Wailoa Pond.

The Reciprocity Treaty (1876) between the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi and the US, along with the increase in commerce associated with the growing sugar industry and improvements in transportation in the Hilo area, prompted the decision that a harbor facility should be built on the calmer Waiākea side of Hilo Harbor. The government wharf at Waiākea was constructed at Kalauokukui Point between 1897 and 1899, and was upgraded in 1902.

Hilo Bay was still unprotected from high winds and storm surges that caused ships to break loose from their moorings and risk grounding.

In the late 19th century, the growing sugar industry in East Hawai’i demanded a better and more protected port, and a breakwater was constructed on Blonde Reef to shield ships from rough waters as they entered Hilo Harbor.

In 1908, construction began on a breakwater along the shallow reef, beginning at the shoreline east of Kūhīo Bay. The breakwater was completed in 1929 and extended roughly halfway across the bay. In 1912, contracts were awarded to construct Kūhiō Wharf, to dredge the approach to the new wharf, and to lay railroad track into the new harbor facility.

Work was completed at Kūhiō Wharf, Pier 1 in 1916. Pier 1 was a 1,400-foot long by 150-foot wide wharf with a wooden storage shed. By 1917, a mechanical conveyor for bagged sugar with derricks for loading ships, was constructed.

In 1923, Pier 2 was constructed just west of Pier 1. Additional dredging was conducted in Kūhiō Bay as part of the construction. By 1927, Pier 3 was added on the west side of Pier 2.

Between 1927 and 1928, the approach to Pier 3 was dredged and the pier was widened. In 1929, the 10,080-foot long rubble mound breakwater was completed.

Contrary to urban legend, the Hilo breakwater was built to dissipate general wave energy and reduce wave action in the protected bay, providing calm water within the bay and protection for mooring and operating in the bay; it was not built as a tsunami protection barrier for Hilo.

In fact, in 1946, Hilo was struck by a tsunami generated by an earthquake in the Aleutian Islands; it was struck again in 1960 by a tsunami generated by the great Chilean earthquake – both tsunami overtopped the breakwater and Hilo sustained significant damage, including to the breakwater.

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January 29, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Public Clocks

The first timepieces seen by the Islanders were those brought in 1778-1779 by Captain James Cook and his officers. These instruments included “the same Watch Machine that was out with me last voyage,” “Another Watch Machine . . . put on board the Discovery,” an astronomical Clock,” an “Alarum D°,” and a “Pinchback pocket Watch with a second hand & Ruby Cylinder.”

The “watch machine,” or marine chronometer, was an extremely accurate and sophisticated timepiece, essential for determining longitude, that had only recently been perfected by John Harrison; tested on Cook’s second voyage, it had “performed magnificently.”

The first direct evidence of a clock on Island soil appears in a list of goods received by Kamehameha I at Lahaina in 1812, in return for a shipload of sandalwood. Well down an accounting of such items as clothing, swords, mirrors, saddles, casks, lamps, fishing rods, and rockets appears the entry, “1 large clock for the house.” (Schmitt & Cox)

“Large public clocks first appeared in the 1840s and 1850s. In 1842, James Hunnewell presented Kawaiahaʻo Church with the large church clock on the gallery wall below the new organ.”

The public clock served the functional purpose of telling passers-by the time. But it also served as a village landmark, a reference point, and a symbol of civic pride. Indeed, public clocks were something of a status symbol for a community, a sign that a town had reached a certain level of prosperity, that there was action there.

A clock was ordered from France soon after the dedication of the Our Lady of Peace Catholic Cathedral. Bishop Maigret sent the order through the office of the superior of the Sacred Hearts Fathers and Brothers in Valparaiso, Chile.

It was sent there for inspection before it was forwarded to Hawai‘i. For some unknown reason, it was switched with an older clock in Chile. (Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace) This ‘second-hand’ clock was installed in the Church’s original tower in about 1846. (Historic Hawaii Foundation) It is the oldest tower clock in Hawai‘i.

Kawaiahaʻo Church, designed by Hiram Bingham and constructed between 1836 and 1842, was in the New England style of the Protestant missionaries. Its tower clock is commonly referred to as the Kauikeaouli clock (four faces,) in memory of King Kamehameha III, its donor.

It was made by the Howard & Davis Clock Makers of Boston, Massachusetts. Mechanics arrived with the clock in 1850 and preparations were made for its installation – King Kamehameha III was selected to supervise the task. The clock, which tolls the hours, still operates on its original machinery.

Down on the Honolulu Harbor waterfront, Lucas’ Honolulu Planing Mill building served a couple critical purposes. First, the clock tower served as a range marker for ships aligning to enter/leave the harbor. (“The line of the harbor light (red) and the clock tower of the Honolulu Planing Mill on Fort … just touches the west side of this channel at the outer end.”) (Hawaii Bureau of Customs)

In addition, the clock served as a local time piece, as well as the official time to mariners. “Time-Signal at Planing Mill … a time-signal has been established at the Honolulu steam-planing mill, Honolulu, Sandwich islands. The signal is a whistle, which is sounded twice daily by electric signal from the survey office; … (giving time associated with) Greenwich mean time. (Nautical Magazine, January 1890)

The Lucas clock didn’t always work; “Lucas’ clock … At 7 this morning the clock was of the opinion that 10:45 was about the correct time.” (Hawaiian Star, October 25, 1895)

“Lucas’ clock on the Esplanade has been groggy for some time lately but repairs are being made. It’s a godsend to the waterfront people and the government should keep it in repair.” (Evening Bulletin, July 12, 1897)

Others wanted to be different, “Maui wants to adopt the Government time on Lucas’ clock with five minutes added, but some few will not agree to it. The result is a great uncertainty in times. (Maui, June 28)” (Hawaiian Gazette, July 1, 1890)

Another Harbor timepiece (and still keeping time) are the four clocks on Aloha Tower (construction began in 1924.) It was completed in a year and a half and became the landmark of Honolulu.

At 10 stories and 184 feet of height topped with 40 feet of flag mast, for four decades the Aloha Tower was the tallest structure in Hawaii. It was built in the Hawaiian Gothic architectural style.

The 4 clocks, each face 12 feet in diameter (by far the biggest clock in the Territory of Hawai‘i and one of the largest in the United States at the time) and facing different directions, were made of bronze and weighed 7 tons each.

If a ship or person was too far away to read the clock, two other means of time synchronization were provided. A time ball was lowered to the bottom of the forty-foot mast atop the tower each day at noon, and the blast of a siren was sounded at 7 am, noon and 4 pm.

Aloha Tower was built as a control tower for the Honolulu harbormaster and a lighthouse as part of a modern freight and passenger terminal at piers 8, 9 and 10.

In addition, it provided offices for the harbor master, pilots and customs officials. The eleventh floor of the tower served as a lookout for the harbor pilots, with balconies on all four sides.

The Kaʻahumanu Church began on August 19, 1832; the first services were held under a thatched roof. The present Kaʻahumanu Church is actually the fourth place of worship for the Wailuku congregation. The original congregation, under the leadership of the Reverend Jonathan S Green, was forced to hold their meetings in a shed.

Active fundraising under Pastor William Pulepule Kahale led to the opportunity to finally build a permanent church. Under the direction of Reverend Edward Bailey, in May, 1876, the new church, finally named the Kaʻahumanu Church, was completed.

The Kaʻahumanu Church is a large blue stone structure with wall more than two feet thick. It has a high-pitched gable roof with no overhang, but the eave terminates in a small molding adjacent to the top place along the wall.

The exterior is finished in plaster. The church tower was not added until 1884 with a “fine tower clock from the U.S. costing $1,000.” In 1892 the chandeliers were added to the interior.

Hilo’s Waiākea Social Settlement Clock was dedicated in 1939, in memory of Mrs CS Richards. The May 23, 1960 tsunami damaged the clock – it stopped at 1:05 am, when the tsunami struck. It was restored on its original pedestal and reminds all who pass of the timing of the tsunami.

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Our Lady of Peace-Cathedral

Aloha Tower Camouflaged

Aloha_Tower,_Honolulu,_1959

Aloha_Tower-1935

Aloha_Tower-Under_Construction-Star-Bulletin-1925

Kaahumanu Church

Kawaiahao Church in 1885-Look towards Diamond Head

Kawaiahao_Church,_Honolulu,_in_1857

Kawaiahao_Church_at_Honolulu_illustration-Bingham

Lucas Clock Noted-Ships_in_Honolulu_Harbor-1900

Lucas Clock-Looking up Fort St. from Allen St. (later Nimitz – Ala Moana)-PP-38-5-016-1885

Lucas_Tower_in_background-Young Brothers Launch ‘Sea Scout’ in Honolulu Harbor-PPWD-9-3-030-1905

Waiakea Social Settlement Clock

Waiakea Social Settlement Clock-memorial

Waiakea Social Settlement Clock plaque

November 28, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Waiākea Experiment

Toward the end of WWI a unique opportunity presented itself for a major homesteading experiment in Hawai‘i. A number of the long-term, thirty-year leases written during the closing years of King Kalākaua’s reign (1874-1891) were due to expire.

In anticipation of the expiration of these leases, and in keeping with the public land policies of President Wilson’s administration, preparations were undertaken for a large-scale homesteading experiment.

On June 1, 1918, shortly after Governor McCarthy took office, a lease of public land held by the Waiākea Mill Company on 7,261 acres of sugar cane land expired.

The Waiākea plantation had been one of the most profitable sugar corporations in the Islands from its inception until 1918, and there was every promise that homesteading could be successfully undertaken on a portion of the plantation’s land.

In March, 1919, and subsequently in February, 1921, a total of 216 lots in the Waiākea homestead tract were carved out of the plantation’s acreage and were conveyed to individuals under the terms of special homestead agreements.

These lots incorporated an area of 7,261 acres, of which approximately 6,300 acres, or 88 per cent, consisted of cane land. The balance of the acreage was a mixture of various kinds of land, some of which was suitable for other agricultural pursuits. The total appraised value of the land was more than half a million dollars. (LRB)

Applications for homestead lots in the Waiākea tract numbered over 2,000, far more than the number of lots available. To meet this problem, it was determined the homesteads would be awarded by a lottery …”

However, “without reference to whether the prospective homesteaders had any experience in farming, or any of the other qualifications that might have contributed to successful homesteading.”

“Nor did the territorial government plan to assist the homesteaders by providing trained agricultural agents, such as the county extension agents found on the mainland United States; neither did it assist the homesteaders with adequate roads or marketing facilities.”

“In short, virtually nothing was done to create conditions that would contribute to the success of this unique experiment in homesteading.”

“The inevitable outcome, of course, was that the Waiākea homesteading project was an immediate and overwhelming failure.”

“The majority of the Waiākea homesteaders’, unlike its pioneer American prototype, had no intention of tilling the soil. The recollection still lingers in many minds of “Waiākea No.1.” His intentions have been of the best but his agricultural background and qualifications were woefully lacking.”

“Forty percent of these homesteaders forfeited their land through failure to make their payments when due or for other breach of covenant.”

“Sixty percent, either directly or through their successors in interest, were strong enough, many as a result of legislative relief measures, to hold their lots and secure patents.”

“But forfeited or not, we find today nearly ninety percent of the original cane land again in the hands of Waiākea Mill Co. (5537 acres) for the production of sugar, partly as a result of direct leases with the Territory of forfeited lots and partly by direct lease agreements with the owners of the patented lots or lots still held for patent.” (LRB)

“What is considered by the territorial government and the Waiākea Mill Co. to be the only logical solution, under existing conditions, of the acute Waiākea homestead problem, was reached at a conference with Governor Wallace R. Farrington …”

“The Waiākea Mill Co. has agreed to take over the cultivation of the entire area of the Second Series Homesteads of the Waiākea tract, and to cancel all existing contracts with those homesteaders who desire to enter into the new agreement as now proposed.”

“Taking over of the homestead lands by the mill company will relieve the homesteaders of all responsibility with regard to cultivation, fertilization, harvesting, hauling, milling and care of stools.” (Louisiana Planter, 1922)

“The short-term results of the Waiākea experiment, then, were the ruin of many homesteaders, temporary disruption of the efficient functioning of a great and prosperous plantation, which suffered continued, substantial, financial losses until it was able to recapture most of its lost land, and a permanent loss of tax revenue to the territorial government.”

“In an effort to persuade him to resign as governor before the end of his term, some business leaders offered McCarthy an attractive position as general manager of the Hawaiian Dredging Company, even as others fulminated against his policies. He accepted the position, and Wallace Rider Farrington, a Republican, was appointed to succeed him as governor in 1921.” (LRB)

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Waiakea Experiment