Images of Old Hawaiʻi

  • Home
  • About
  • Categories
    • Ali’i / Chiefs / Governance
    • American Protestant Mission
    • Buildings
    • Collections
    • Economy
    • Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings
    • General
    • Hawaiian Traditions
    • Other Summaries
    • Mayflower Summaries
    • Mayflower Full Summaries
    • Military
    • Place Names
    • Prominent People
    • Schools
    • Sailing, Shipping & Shipwrecks
    • Voyage of the Thaddeus
  • Collections
  • Contact
  • Follow

August 17, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Sands of Time

Waikīkī is a ‘built’ beach.

Over the last 100-years it has been built primarily in two ways, (1) construction of walls and groins in the nearshore waters and (2) beach nourishment/replenishment (adding sand to the beach.)

Between 1913-1919, the majority of Waikīkī had seawalls; they were placed to protect roadways and new buildings. The beach was lost fronting Kūhiō and Queen’s Beach.

In 1927, the Territorial Legislature authorized Act 273 allowing the Board of Harbor Commissioners to rebuild the eroded beach at Waikīkī. By 1930, the Board of Harbor Commissioners reported on construction progress, which included 11 groins along a portion of the shoreline.

Then, they started adding sand to Waikīkī Beach.

Reports from the 1920s and 1930s reveal that sand was brought in to Waikīkī Beach, via ship and barge, from Manhattan Beach, California.

As the Manhattan Beach community was developing, it found that excess sand in the beach dunes and it was getting in the way of development there. At the same time, folks in Hawai‘i were in need for sand to cover the rock and coral beach at Waikīkī.

Kuhn Bros. Construction Co supplied the sand; they would haul the sand up from Manhattan Beach, load it onto railroad cars, have it transported to the harbor in San Pedro and shipped by barge or ship to Hawai‘i.

Later, Waikīkī’s sand was trucked from various points around Hawai‘i including O‘ahu’s North Shore – in particular, Waimea Bay Beach, a sand bar off the town of Kahuku and Pāpōhaku Beach on Molokai.

Reportedly, before sand mining operations removed over 200,000 tons of sand at Waimea Bay to fill beaches in Waikīkī and elsewhere, there was so much sand that if you would have tried to jump off Pōhaku Lele, Jump Rock, you would have jumped about six feet down into the sand below.

A formal application for a cooperative study regarding beach erosion in Waikīkī was made by the Board of Harbor Commissioners, Territory of Hawaii in 1948.

The intent of the Waikīkī Beach Erosion Control Project, which was the responsibility of the Army Corps of Engineers, was to increase beach land, improve access to beaches, and to prevent further erosion of beach sand.

The Waikīkī Beach Erosion Control Project was initiated in response. This project initiated what would turn out to be a 50-year series of attempts to restore Waikīkī Beach.

Since 1929, about 616,500 cubic yards of sand have been used to enlarge and replenish Waikīkī Beach between Fort DeRussy and Kūhiō Beach, but every year more erodes away. Little sand has been added since the 1970s, according to the DLNR.

When I was at DLNR, we initiated a demonstration project to move near shore sand back on to the beach.

In 2006, DLNR spent $500,000 to siphon 10,000 cubic yards of offshore sand – this was the largest replenishment effort of Waikīkī’s beaches in more than 30 years.

It worked; then, a larger project was implemented.

Early in 2012, a larger-scale replenishment project pumped sand from 2,000 feet off Waikīkī to fill in the shrinking beach.

The 2006 demonstration project and recent (2012) larger scale replenishment were really recycling projects, because the sand now settled offshore was brought in years ago to fill out the beach.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook 

Follow Peter T Young on Google+ 

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn  

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

© 2019 Hoʻokuleana LLC

  • Waikiki-fronting_old-Seaside_Hotel-seawall-1915
  • Waikiki with Diamond Head in the background-hawaii-gov-1934
  • Waikiki_and_Helumoa_Coconut-(from_Ewa_end_of_Helumoa)-1870
  • Waikiki_Beach_Houses_(UH_Manoa)-1924
  • Waikiki-Moana_Hotel-1920
  • Waikiki-Kalia_to_Moana-1920

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Hawaii, Waikiki, Sand Replenishment, Beach

July 19, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Rice

Rice production was not a major contributor to Hawaiʻi’s economy until the latter half of the nineteenth century. As whaling declined in importance, greater emphasis was placed on agricultural production, primarily sugar and rice.

It was in 1850 when the Royal Hawaiian Agricultural Society was formed to develop Hawaiʻi’s agricultural resources that rice made its mark in the Hawaiʻi economy. The group purchased land in the Nuʻuanu Valley and rice seed from China and planted in a former taro patch.

At first the Society offered the rice seed to anyone in Hawaiʻi who wanted to plant it. King Kamehameha IV also offered land grants for cultivation of rice. Because there were no proper milling facilities in Hawaiʻi, it didn’t take off as a viable crop right away.

Then, in 1860, imported rice seed from South Carolina proved very successful and yielded a fair amount of crop. This, combined with the collapse of the taro industry in 1861-1862 (as the Hawaiian population declined, the demand for taro also declined,) added value to the numerous vacant taro patches and a boom in the rice industry.

From 1860 to the 1920s, Rice was raised in the islands of Hawaiʻi, particularly in Kauai and Oʻahu, because of their abundance of rain.

The Hanalei Valley of Kauai led all other single geographic units in the amount of acreage planted in rice. The valley was one of the first areas converted to this use and continued to produce well into the 1960s.

The Commercial Pacific Advertiser noted on October 3, 1861, “Everybody and his wife (including defunct government employees) are into rice – sugar is nowhere and cotton is no longer king. Taro patches are held at fabulous valuations, and among the thoughtful the query is being propounded, where is our taro to come from?”

During the 1860s and 1870s, the production of rice increased substantially. It was consumed domestically by the burgeoning numbers of Chinese brought to the Islands as agricultural laborers.

In 1862, the first rice mill in the Hawaiian Islands was constructed in Honolulu (prior to that it was sent unhulled and uncleaned to be milled in San Francisco.) By 1887 over 13 million pounds of rice were exported.

A particularly important stimulus for the increased demand for rice was the Reciprocity Treaty of 1876. This treaty between the United States and the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi granted duty-free status to certain items of trade between the two countries, including rice.

Thomas Thrum wrote in 1877 that Kamehameha V and other landowners had “planted a large tract of land in rice (in Moanalua,) and even went so far as to pull up and destroy large patches of growing taro to plant rice.”

In 1899, Hawaiʻi’s rice production had expanded so that it placed third in production of rice behind Louisiana and South Carolina.

Much of this rice acreage was worked initially by Chinese immigrants, who first arrived as contract laborers in 1852. By 1860 this immigrant population totaled 1,200. Chinese immigration continued at a rapid pace until 1884, when the official census estimated the number of Chinese at 18,254.

In 1882 the US Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act; then, Japanese workers were brought in to take their place. Within only five years the Japanese constituted more than forty-two percent of the plantation work force and one-seventh of the total population.

Ironically, this influx of Japanese immigrants accelerated Hawaiʻi’s decline in rice production. Japanese preferred short grain rice rather than the long grain rice the Chinese were used to eating. So rice began to be imported from California for the Japanese.

California’s success would ultimately mean the end of the rice industry in Hawaiʻi. Furthermore, the hand labor techniques of Hawaiʻi’s Chinese and Japanese rice farmers could not compete with California’s mechanized production technology.

Additional problems with the rice bird and rice borer, as well as the lack of interest on the part of the younger generation to continue rice farming, eventually meant the end of a once prosperous industry.

Attempts to revive rice production by the Agricultural Extension Service of the University of Hawaiʻi were made in 1906 and 1933, primarily in Hanalei.

As a result the acreage planted in rice on the island rose from 759 acres in 1933 to 1,058 in 1934. For areas like Hanalei Valley, such efforts, coupled with the valley’s general remoteness and absence of competing demands for the land, allowed rice cultivation to continue as a regional activity long after it had been abandoned throughout the rest of Hawaiʻi.

Today, there is no trace of the rice fields in Hawaiʻi. However, Hoʻopulapula Haraguchi Rice Mill museum in Hanalei Valley provides a remnant look at the once prospering agricultural venture.

It was built by the Chinese and purchased by the Haraguchi family in 1924. The Haraguchi family has restored the mill three times; after a fire in 1930, then again after Hurricane Iwa in 1982 and Hurricane Iniki in 1992.

The mill ceased operating in 1960 when Kauai’s rice industry collapsed. A nonprofit organization was formed to preserve and interpret the mill, which has been visited by thousands of school children and adults in the past 29 years.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook 

Follow Peter T Young on Google+ 

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn  

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

© 2019 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Rice
Rice
Rice
Rice
View of rice fields towards Pālolo Valley from the back of Waikīkī, Hawai`i, ca. 1910
View of rice fields towards Pālolo Valley from the back of Waikīkī, Hawai`i, ca. 1910
Rice
Rice
Windward_Rice_Planting
Windward_Rice_Planting
Rice_fields_workers_beneath_Punchbowl_Crater,_Honolulu,_in_1900
Rice_fields_workers_beneath_Punchbowl_Crater,_Honolulu,_in_1900
Rice-aep-his290
Rice-aep-his290
Rice-aep-his291
Rice-aep-his291
The Iron Horse Comes to Hawaii-Peter Hurd-1889
The Iron Horse Comes to Hawaii-Peter Hurd-1889
Chinese water buffalo plowing rice field Hawaii Tai Sing Loo-(KSBE)=
Chinese water buffalo plowing rice field Hawaii Tai Sing Loo-(KSBE)=
Chinese-Waterbuffalo-Rice
Chinese-Waterbuffalo-Rice
Rice
Rice
Windward_Rice_Farmers
Windward_Rice_Farmers

Filed Under: Economy Tagged With: Hawaii, Waikiki, Kaneohe, Rice, Hanalei

July 18, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Lēʻahi

Lēʻahi, also known as Diamond Head, is a nearly circular crater of approximately two-thirds of a mile in diameter.

Diamond Head is different things to different people:
• Homes of Hawai‘i’s Kings, Queens and Royal Families were in its shadow
• It’s an internationally-recognized visitor industry icon
• It’s the backdrop to the famous Waikīkī Beach
• It served an integral role in the island military defenses
• It is present home and command center for State Civil Defense
• It’s an easy walk to the summit for spectacular views of the ocean and coastline
• It is a backdrop to a transformation of social, political and religious events

Diamond Head was given its name by British sailors who found natural calcite crystals on the slopes of the mountain and mistook them for diamonds. Hawaiians called the volcanic cone Lēʻahi, Laeʻahi or Lae-ahi. Translations include: “brow of the ʻahi” and “cape of fire.”

In the legend of Pele and Hi‘iaka, Hi‘iaka is said to have compared Diamond Head to the brow of the ‘ahi: Me he i‘a la ka Lae o Ahi; E kalali au ae nei i ke kai – Like a fish is the Brow-of-the-ahi Resting high above the sea.

Other names for Diamond Head include Point Rose (given to the geologic feature in 1786 by Captain Nathaniel Portlock in honor of the secretary of the British treasury), Diamond Hill and Conical Mountain.

Geologically speaking, Diamond Head is a dormant volcanic tuff cone, with a variable-height rim surrounding the recessed interior area; the eruption of Diamond Head took place well over 150,000-years ago.

The highest point (at 761-feet) on the southwest rim of Diamond Head is known as Lēʻahi Summit (most of the rim is between 400-500-feet.) The crater is on the southern coastline of Oʻahu, approximately one-and-a-half miles south of the Koʻolau range.

From at least the 15th century, chiefly residences lined the shore of Waikīkī, and cultivated fields spread across the Waikīkī plain to the foot of the crater and inland to the Ko‘olau valleys. There were several heiau in Waikīkī, of which several were located around Diamond Head.

One of Kamehameha’s main heiau (also suggested as a surfing heiau,) Papaʻenaʻena (also called Lēʻahi Heiau,) was situated at the base of the southern slopes.

Other heiau in the vicinity include Kupalaha Heiau, which may have been connected with Papaʻenaʻena, Pahu-a-Maui Heiau on the crater’s eastern cliffs overlooking the ocean (the site of the present Diamond Head lighthouse), Kapua Heiau near the present Kapiʻolani Park, and Ahi Heiau on the peak of Diamond Head.

In the early years of the 19th century, people tended gardens in the crater and one visitor described finding “an abundance of melons and watermelons growing wild, upon which we feasted”.

In 1831, the botanist, Dr. FJF Meyen, noted the crater contained a small pool of water “which was completely covered with plants”. (The crater pond was filled-in by military bulldozing; now, there is a seasonally-moist wetland where standing water can occasionally be seen.)

Some have suggested there is little likelihood for archaeological sites of pre-contact Hawaiian or early post-contact origin in the crater. The archival research suggests that the only Hawaiian activity that might have taken place in the crater was dryland farming (dating to 1822.)

In the Great Māhele division of lands between the king and his high chiefs, Diamond Head, which lies within the ¬ʻili of Kapahulu in the ahupua¬ʻa of Waikīkī, was awarded to William C. Lunalilo, the future king of Hawaiʻi (1873-1874).

In the early 1860s, Mark Twain commented, “On the seventh day out we saw a dim vast bulk standing up out of the wastes of the Pacific and knew that that spectral promontory was Diamond Head, a piece of this world which I had not seen before for twenty-nine years.”

“So we were nearing Honolulu, the capital city of the Sandwich Islands – those islands which to me were Paradise; a Paradise which I had been longing all those years to see again. Not any other thing in the world could have stirred me as the sight of that great rock did.”

In 1884, the Kapahulu portion of Lunalilo’s Māhele award was subdivided by the Lunalilo Estate. Diamond Head was transferred from the estate to the Hawaiian Government.

The summit of Lēʻahi affords an excellent and unobstructed view of the ocean from Koko Head in the east, to beyond the ʻEwa Plain to Wai‘anae in the west. The utility of Diamond Head did not go unnoticed by the U.S. Army.

In 1906, the US government acquired the 729-acres of Lunalilo’s property from the Hawaiian Government, as well as other adjacent lands (including Black Point), to create Fort Ruger Military Reservation, the easternmost of the coastal defense forts.

From 1963 to 2001, the FAA had its air traffic control facilities in Diamond Head crater, which guided Hawai‘i-bound aircraft from 250 miles outside the Islands to within 20 miles of their intended airport.

Diamond Head State Monument was first officially established under an Executive Order by Hawaiʻi’s Governor Quinn in 1962; nearly 500-acres of land now make up the Monument.

This early designation covered about 145-acres in a horseshoe configuration preserving the famous profile and the south and west exterior slopes from the crater rim down to Diamond Head Road. Subsequently, Executive Orders have added additional lands to the Monument.

The interior of the crater had been closed to the public from 1906 until 1968. (Remember the Sunshine Festivals back then?) In 1976, DLNR’s Division of State Parks became the agency responsible for the planning and management of the Monument – it is now open every day.

Two major tunnels (Kāhala Tunnel and Kapahulu Tunnel) provide pedestrian and vehicular access into the crater.

Two separate trail systems (interior and exterior) address different needs and purposes. The exterior trail system has a dual function as a jogging and bicycle path traversing the mauka end of the Monument and along the existing trail on the lower ʻEwa-makai slopes. The interior trail system leads to the summit of Lē¬ʻahi (1.6-mile round trip.)

Diamond Head is open daily 6 am to 6 pm, every day of the year including holidays, with entrance Fees of $5.00 per car or $1 per person for pedestrians (the money goes to State Parks.) Mountain Biking is not allowed on this trail. No dogs allowed in Diamond Head State Monument.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook 

Follow Peter T Young on Google+ 

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn  

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

© 2019 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Overlooking Waikiki-1929
Overlooking Waikiki-1929
Waikiki-Diamond_Head-1940
Waikiki-Diamond_Head-1940
1935 Chevrolet convertible with Diamond Head and Waikiki Beach in the background
1935 Chevrolet convertible with Diamond Head and Waikiki Beach in the background
Waikiki_Beach-Boats-1935
Waikiki_Beach-Boats-1935
Waikiki with Diamond Head in the background-hawaii-gov-1934
Waikiki with Diamond Head in the background-hawaii-gov-1934
Joseph_Dwight_Strong_-_'View_of_Diamond_Head',_oil_on_canvas-1880s
Joseph_Dwight_Strong_-_’View_of_Diamond_Head’,_oil_on_canvas-1880s
Joseph_Dwight_Strong_-_'Hawaiians_at_Rest,_Waikiki',_oil_on_canvas,_c._1884
Joseph_Dwight_Strong_-_’Hawaiians_at_Rest,_Waikiki’,_oil_on_canvas,_c._1884
From_Mccully_to_Diamond_Head-1900
From_Mccully_to_Diamond_Head-1900
Diamond_Head-LOC-aep-his180
Diamond_Head-LOC-aep-his180
'Diamond_Head_from_Waikiki',_oil_on_canvas_painting_by_Enoch_Wood_Perry,_Jr.,_c._1865
‘Diamond_Head_from_Waikiki’,_oil_on_canvas_painting_by_Enoch_Wood_Perry,_Jr.,_c._1865
Diamond Head & Honolulu from the Punchbowl-(vic&becky)-1953
Diamond Head & Honolulu from the Punchbowl-(vic&becky)-1953
Automobile with Diamond Head and Waikiki in background, 1933
Automobile with Diamond Head and Waikiki in background, 1933
Alexander_Scott_-_Diamond_Head_from_Tantalus',_oil_on_canvas,_c.1906-8
Alexander_Scott_-_Diamond_Head_from_Tantalus’,_oil_on_canvas,_c.1906-8
Clipper plane passes Diamond Head-1935
Clipper plane passes Diamond Head-1935
Diamond_Head_Lighthouse-Transpac_Finish
Diamond_Head_Lighthouse-Transpac_Finish
Diamond Head

 

Filed Under: Place Names Tagged With: Fort Ruger, Sunshine Festival, Crater Festival, Hawaii, Waikiki, Leahi, Diamond Head

June 30, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Duke Kahanamoku

Born in 1890, Duke Paoa Kahinu Makoe Hulikohoa Kahanamoku was one of nine children of a Honolulu policeman.  He was born at Haleʻākala, the “pink house” (home of Bernice Pauahi Bishop) located near ʻIolani Palace (near where Bank of Hawaiʻi now stands on King Street.)

With respect to his name “Duke,” he was named after his father.  The elder Kahanamoku was born during the Duke of Edinburgh’s visit to the islands in 1869.

The elder Duke explains his naming as “after I was washed by Mrs. Bishop she gave me the name “The Duke of Edinburgh.” The Duke heard and was glad and came to house and I was presented to him and tooke [sic] me in his arms. And that is how I got this name.” (Nendel)

Duke lived in interesting times in Hawaiʻi; in his lifetime, Hawaiʻi moved from an independent monarchy to full statehood in the United States of America.

Kahanamoku’s family lived in a small house on the beach at Waikiki where the present day Hawaiian Hilton Village now stands. He would never graduate from High School due to the need to help his family earn enough money to live.

Duke Kahanamoku had a very normal upbringing for a young boy his age in Waikiki. He swam, surfed, fished, did odd jobs such as selling newspapers and went to school at Waikiki grammar school.

For fun and extra money he and others would greet the boatloads of tourists coming to and from Honolulu Harbor. They would dive for coins tossed into the water by the visitors, perform acrobatic displays of diving from towers on boat days, and explore the crop of newcomers for potential students to teach surfing and canoeing lessons to on the beach.

He earned his living as a beachboy and stevedore at the Honolulu Harbor docks. Growing up on the beach in Waikiki, Duke surfed with his brothers and entertained tourists with tandem rides.

By the time that Kahanamoku burst upon the world scene in 1911 (at the age of 21,) shattering American and world records in the one hundred and fifty yard freestyle swimming races at an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) sanctioned meet in Honolulu Harbor, sport had become a tool of nationalism used by countries around the world to demonstrate modern manliness and vigor.  (Nendel)

He later won an Olympic gold medal in 1912 – a feat he repeated eight years later at the age of 30. In 1924, he won the silver.  Overall he won five medals at the various Olympic Games.

Returning to Hawaiʻi as a hero, yet unable to find a suitable job, Duke took his swimming ability abroad through exhibition swimming competitions – he also used every opportunity to introduce the world to surfing (he even appeared in 28-films as a bit-part actor, with such stars as John Wayne.)

However, fame brought him into politics and he served as Sheriff for thirteen consecutive 2-year terms.  He initially ran as a democrat, but later switched and served as a Republican.  After the office was eliminated, he became the city’s official greeter.

However impressive these feats are, it was his love of surfing that Duke is most remembered.  He used surfing to promote Hawaiian culture to visitors who wanted to fully experience the islands.

Through his many travels, Duke Kahanamoku introduced surfing to the rest of the world and was regarded as the father of international surfing.  On one trip to Australia in 1914-15, Kahanamoku demonstrated surfing and made such an impression that the Australians erected a statue of him.  (Nendel)

British royal, Prince Edward asked Kahanamoku to teach him to surf. Duke heartily agreed.

Focusing surfing at home – and at Waikiki – the Outrigger Canoe and Surfboard Club was formed in 1908 in order “to give an added and permanent attraction to Hawaii and make Waikiki always the Home of the Surfer.”  (Nendel)  Duke joined the club in 1917.

Duke is credited for writing an article “Riding the Surfboard” in the January, 1911 edition of ‘The Mid-Pacific Magazine.’  It notes, “How would you like to stand like a god before the crest of a monster billow, always rushing to the bottom of a hill and never reaching its base, and to come rushing in for half a mile at express speed, in graceful attitude, of course, until you reach the beach and step easily from the wave to the sand? “

“Find the locality, as we Hawaiians did, here the rollers are long in forming, slow to break, and then run for a great distance over a flat, level bottom, and the rest is possible.  Perhaps the ideal surfing stretch in all the world is at Waikiki beach, near Honolulu, Hawaii.”

On August 2, 1940, he married, Nadine Alexander, a girl from the mainland.

At the Huntington Beach Surfing Walk of Fame, Kahanamoku was the first ‘Surf Pioneer’ inductee in 1994.  In 1999, Surfer magazine honored Duke as the century’s most influential surfer and placed his portrait on the cover of its annual collector’s edition.

In its December 27, 1999 issue, Sports Illustrated named Duke Kahanamoku the top athlete in the list of the top 50 greatest 20th-century athletes in Hawaiʻi.

On August 24, 2002, the United States Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp in honor of the man whom Robert Rider, Chairman of the Postal Service Board of Governors, called “a hero in every sense of the word.” The stamp honored Duke Kahanamoku, a man regarded with the reverence bestowed upon a legendary figure in his home State of Hawaiʻi.

“Kahanamoku represented a link to old Hawai`i and its monarchy and proud people as well as serving as the emerging image of modern Hawaiʻi as depicted in travelogues and television advertisements. There is no question that Kahanamoku is a symbol of the old and new Hawaiʻi.” (Nendel)

At his funeral services in 1968, Reverend Abraham Akaka said, “Duke Kahanamoku represented the aliʻi nobility in the highest and truest sense – concern for others, humility in victory, courage in adversity, good sportsmanship in defeat. He had a quality of life we are all challenged and inspired to emulate.”

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook 

Follow Peter T Young on Google+ 

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn  

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

© 2019 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Nadine_and_Duke_Kahanamoku-(Star-Bulletin)
Duke_Kahanamoku_in_his_late_teens-(WC)-1900s
Duke_P._Kahanamoku_(LOC)
Duke_Kahanamoku-1930
Duke_Kahanamoku_at_Log_Angeles-(WC)-1920
Duke Paoa Kahanamoku with his surfboard-(WC)-c. 1910-1915
Duke Kahanamoku for Sheriff
David_Kahanamoku,_Lord_Louis_Mountbatten,_Prince_Edward,_and_Duke_Kahanamoku,_c.1920
7 Jul-12 Sep 1920: Duke Paoa Kahanamoku (Lane #5) of the USA preparing to start a race in a Swimming event at the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium. Kahanamoku won gold medals in the 100 Metres Freestyle and the 4 x 200 Metres Freestyle events. Mandatory Credit: IOC Olympic Museum /Allsport
7 Jul-12 Sep 1920: Duke Paoa Kahanamoku (Lane #5) of the USA preparing to start a race in a Swimming event at the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium. Kahanamoku won gold medals in the 100 Metres Freestyle and the 4 x 200 Metres Freestyle events. Mandatory Credit: IOC Olympic Museum /Allsport
Duke_Kahanamoku_accepting_the_Olympic_Gold_Medal_from_King_Gustav,_Stockholm,_Sweden-(WC)-1912
Kahanamoku_in_Olympic_Parade-(LOC)
Bernice Pauahi's residence at Haleʻākala-the building itself is called Aikupika - near what is now the intersection of Bishop and King streets

Filed Under: Prominent People Tagged With: Hawaii, Waikiki, Surfing, Duke Kahanamoku

June 18, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Aloha Amusement Park

An amusement park for the city of Honolulu was a long contemplated project by a number of prominent citizens, and various sites convenient to the public traffic were considered.

The “official” opening of Aloha Amusement Park on Kalākaua Avenue in Waikīkī was September 14, 1922.  (Although the American Legion held a 4th of July carnival there as its first use (even though the park was not completed, they used the partially completed facility for the celebration.)

The three-day 4th of July celebration attracted nearly 25,000 paid admissions to the park; of this number, 16,395 attended on the closing day.

That year’s annual report of the Honolulu Rapid Transit and Land Company noted the opening of the park “resulted in a considerable increase in night travel.  This attraction in its present location will no doubt stimulate travel on the cars.”  (In part, the siting of the facility was due to the accessibility over the transit line.)

Reportedly, the Advertiser described it as “another laurel to the wreath of Honolulu’s progressiveness.”

The reception was not all good.  Apparently, the Outdoor Circle and many residents called it an “atrocious ballyhoo bazaar”.  There were complaints of commercialization of Waikīkī.

Likewise, a petition, signed by property owners in the area, said the park was misrepresented when the permit was granted, would lead to immorality. RA Vitousek, attorney, represented the park and its manager, WA Cory.

City Supervisors said they cannot revoke the permit but feel it should be investigated.  (Krauss)  (The City’s 1922 financial report notes a $50 expense, for “Aloha Amusement Park Investigation”.)

The operator noted the complaints were coming from people who are already operating hotels, bath houses and dancing places – all of which were catering to the rich. He noted that the rest of the people should have a place in the same area.  (He had considered and decided against siting the Park in Pālama.)

Aloha Park was adjacent to Fort DeRussy, an American army base and was opened by the Aloha Amusement Company, a group of local investors. They invested $250,000 to build and equip the park with modern rides. They hired Los Angeles resident Cory to manage the park and gave him a stake in the new company.

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.

Although its proximity to the army base was helpful, the five-acre site required extensive filling and dredging to make it into an amusement resort. Two acres were set aside as sunken gardens and grass lawns.

Technical director Mark Hanna was in charge of the park’s construction. 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.

Electric lights at light brightly lit up the grounds and rides. Free daily entertainment was provided. Oscar V. Babcock performed his thrilling bicycle loop-the-loop during the park’s opening weeks.

Running into financial difficulties, the Park went into bankruptcy in 1924.  New investment came in and the park was renamed Waikiki Park.  It is believed the park lasted until the 1930 Depression.

The Park played a role in the Massie case in 1931.  Five young men who had been charged with rape of Thalia Massie, as she walked home from a Waikiki nightclub, had reportedly been at a dance at the Aloha Amusement Park (and used that as an explanation in their defense.)

Lots of information here from National Amusement Park Historical Association and Bob Krauss’s newspaper notes.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook 

Follow Peter T Young on Google+ 

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn  

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

© 2019 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Aloha Park-Hnl SB-Sept 14, 1922
1925 Entrance to the Waikiki Amusement Park-Ilikai
Aloha Amusement Park-Hnl SB-Sept 14, 1922
Aloha Park-Hnl Adv, August 20, 1922
Big Dipper-Hnl SB, Oct 14, 1922
Big Dipper-Hnl SB, Sept 14, 1922-page 2
Big Dipper-Hnl SB, Sept 14, 1922-page 8
Waikiki Amusement Park-Ilikai
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: General Tagged With: Waikiki, Honolulu Rapid Transit, Waikiki Park, Aloha Amusement Park, Hawaii

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • …
  • 16
  • Next Page »

Images of Old Hawaiʻi

People, places, and events in Hawaiʻi’s past come alive through text and media in “Images of Old Hawaiʻi.” These posts are informal historic summaries presented for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes.

Info@Hookuleana.com

Connect with Us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

  • Charles Furneaux
  • Koʻanakoʻa
  • About 250 Years Ago … Committee of Correspondence
  • Chiefess Kapiʻolani
  • Scariest Story I Know
  • Kaʻohe
  • Sarah Rhodes von Pfister

Categories

  • Military
  • Place Names
  • Prominent People
  • Schools
  • Sailing, Shipping & Shipwrecks
  • Economy
  • Voyage of the Thaddeus
  • Mayflower Summaries
  • American Revolution
  • General
  • Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance
  • Buildings
  • Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings
  • Hawaiian Traditions

Tags

Albatross Al Capone Ane Keohokalole Archibald Campbell Bernice Pauahi Bishop Charles Reed Bishop Downtown Honolulu Eruption Founder's Day George Patton Great Wall of Kuakini Green Sea Turtle Hawaii Hawaii Island Hermes Hilo Holoikauaua Honolulu Isaac Davis James Robinson Kamae Kamaeokalani Kamanawa Kameeiamoku Kamehameha Schools Lalani Village Lava Flow Lelia Byrd Liliuokalani Mao Math Mauna Loa Midway Monk Seal Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Oahu Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument Pearl Pualani Mossman Queen Liliuokalani Thomas Jaggar Volcano Waikiki Wake Wisdom

Hoʻokuleana LLC

Hoʻokuleana LLC is a Planning and Consulting firm assisting property owners with Land Use Planning efforts, including Environmental Review, Entitlement Process, Permitting, Community Outreach, etc. We are uniquely positioned to assist you in a variety of needs.

Info@Hookuleana.com

Copyright © 2012-2024 Peter T Young, Hoʻokuleana LLC

 

Loading Comments...