Kauai’s South Shore

“The history of Kōloa is in many ways Hawai‘i’s history in microcosm.”  (Wilcox, Kauai Album)  The native Hawaiians along the Kōloa shore were the first to see the white man in Hawaiʻi.  It was in 1778, along Kauai’s South Shore, that Captain James Cook first traveled, landed and made "contact".

One of the first exports from Hawaiʻi was sandalwood trees; Hawai‘i’s whaling era began in 1819 and replaced the sandalwood trade.  In 1835, the first commercially-viable sugar plantation was started in Hawaiʻi at Kōloa.  When Hawaiʻi became a US territory, tourism boomed, hotels blossomed.  Kōloa-Poʻipū hosts an organized, supportive Poʻipū Beach Resort Association.

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Daniel Dole

Daniel Dole was born in Bloomfield (now Skowhegan,) Maine, September 9, 1808. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1836 and Bangor Theological Seminary in 1839, and then married Emily Hoyt Ballard (1807-1844,) October 2, 1840 in Gardiner, Maine.

Daniel and Emily Dole sailed from Boston aboard the Gloucester, with the Ninth Company of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) and arrived in Honolulu May 21, 1841.

Dole was a teacher and first principal of Punahou School; when the school was incorporated as Oʻahu College, he was appointed its president.

The site of Punahou School was given to Reverend Hiram Bingham, by Governor Boki and his wife Liliha, in 1829; in August 1840, on his return to the continent, Bingham left it to the ABCFM.

An associate for many years writes of Dole, "Many pupils scattered over the world will learn of his death with unfeigned sorrow. He was a pure-minded, thoughtful, scholarly, devout Christian missionary, whom we truly loved and who enjoyed the esteem of all missionary associates and the respect of the public. He will be remembered not only as a teacher, but as an acceptable preacher. His sermons were thoughtfully and carefully prepared, and enforced by a pure and holy example as a minister of the gospel."

Founded in 1841, Punahou School was originally designed to provide a quality education for the children of Congregational missionaries, allowing them to stay in Hawai'i with their families, instead of being sent away to school.  (Punahou)

The education of their children was a concern of missionaries.  There were two major dilemmas, (1) there were a limited number of missionary children and (2) existing schools (which the missionaries taught) served adult Hawaiians (who were taught from a limited curriculum in the Hawaiian language.)

During the first 21-years of the missionary period (1820-1863,) no fewer than 33 children were either taken back to the continent by their parents.  (Seven-year-old Sophia Bingham, the first Caucasian girl born on Oʻahu, daughter of Hiram and Sybil, was sent to the continent in 1828.  She is my great-great-grandmother.)

On July 11, 1842, fifteen children met for the first time in Punahou’s original E-shaped building.  The first Board of Trustees (1841) included Rev. Daniel Dole, Rev. Richard Armstrong, Levi Chamberlain, Rev. John S Emerson and Gerrit P Judd.  (Hawaiian Gazette, June 17, 1916)

By the end of that first year, 34-children from Sandwich Islands and Oregon missions were enrolled, only one over 12-years old. Tuition was $12 per term, and the school year covered three terms.  (Punahou)

By 1851, Punahou officially opened its doors to all races and religions.  (Students from Oregon, California and Tahiti were welcomed from 1841 – 1849.)

December 15 of that year, Old School Hall, "the new spacious school house," opened officially to receive its first students.  The building is still there and in use by the school.

“The founding of Punahou as a school for missionary children not only provided means of instruction for the children, of the Mission, but also gave a trend to the education and history of the Islands. In 1841, at Punahou the Mission established this school and built for it simple halls of adobe. From this unpretentious beginning, the school has grown to its present prosperous condition.” (Report of the Superintendent of Public Education, 1900)

The curriculum at Punahou under Dole combined the elements of a classical education with a strong emphasis on manual labor in the school’s fields for the boys, and in domestic matters for the girls.  The school raised much of its own food.  (Burlin)

Some of Punahou’s early buildings include, Old School Hall (1852,) music studios; Bingham Hall (1882,) Bishop Hall of Science (1884,) Pauahi Hall (1894,) Charles R. Bishop Hall (1902,) recitation halls; Dole Hall and Rice Hall (1906,) dormitories; Cooke Library (1908) and Castle Hall (1913,) dormitory.

Dole Street, laid out in 1880 and part of the development of the lower Punahou pasture was named after Daniel Dole (other nearby streets were named after other Punahou presidents.)

Emily died on April 27, 1844 in Honolulu; Daniel Dole married Charlotte Close Knapp (1813-1874) June 22, 1846 in Honolulu, Oʻahu.

Daniel Dole resigned from Punahou in 1855 to become the pastor and teacher at Kōloa, Kauaʻi. There, he started the Dole School that later became Kōloa School, the first public school on Kaua‘i.  Like Punahou, it filled the need to educate mission children.

The first Kōloa school house was a single room, a clapboard building with bare timbers inside and a thatched roof.  Both missionary children as well as part-Hawaiian children attended the school.  (Joesting)

Due to growing demand, the school was enlarged and boarding students were admitted.  Reverend Elias Bond in Kohala sent his three oldest children to the Kōloa School, as did others from across the islands.  (Joesting)

Charlotte died on Kauaʻi in 1874 and Daniel Dole died August 26, 1878 in Kapaʻa, Kauaʻi.  Dole’s sons include Sanford Ballard Dole (President of the Republic of Hawaiʻi and 1st Territorial Governor of Hawaiʻi.)  Daniel Dole was great uncle to James Dole, the ‘Pineapple King.’

The image shows Daniel Dole in 1874.  In addition, I have added other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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© 2013 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Hawaiian Money

Ancient Hawaiians did not use money.  They provided for themselves or simply traded for the things they needed.

 As commerce came to Hawai‘i, initial transactions included trading – sandalwood became the primary medium of exchange for Ali‘i, who traded it for western goods.

The adoption of a Western style economy created a demand for money.  At first, this money consisted of coins carried in from the variety of countries having interest in the islands.

Coins

This source proved unreliable and coins were in chronically-short supply.

King Kamehameha III set out to rectify the shortage of coinage and currency by including a provision for a Hawaiian monetary system in his new legal code of 1846.

This system provided for a unit known as the dala, which was based on the American dollar.  The dala was divided into 100 keneta (cents.)

Several denominations of fractional silver coins were included in this system, as well as a copper piece to be valued at one keneta.

As prescribed by law, these copper pieces bore on their obverse a facing portrait of Kamehameha III with his name and title Ka Moi (the King).

Hawaii's first coins were issued in 1847.  They were copper cents bearing the portrait of King Kamehameha III.  The coins proved to be unpopular due to the poor quality image of the king.

Although it is claimed the denomination was misspelled (hapa haneri instead of hapa haneli), the spelling "Hapa Haneri" was included until the end the 19th century.

The spelling "Haneri" (Hawaiian for "Hundred") appears on all $100 and $500 Hawaiian bank notes in circulation between 1879 and 1900.

In 1883, silver coins were issued in denominations of one dime (umi keneta), quarter dollar (hapaha), half dollar (hapalua) and one dollar (akahi dala).

The vast majority of these coins were struck to the same specifications as current US coins by the San Francisco Mint.

Hawaiian coins continued to circulate for several years after the 1898 annexation to the United States.

In 1903, an act of Congress demonetized Hawaiian coins, and most were withdrawn and melted, with a sizable percentage of surviving examples made into jewelry.

Paper Money

As early as 1836, with coins in shortage, private Hawaiian firms began to issue paper scrip of their own redeemable by the issuing company in coins or goods.

At Kōloa Sugar Plantation, script was issued in payment for services and redeemable at the plantation store; it started with simply a notation of denomination and signature of the owner on cardboard. 

However, due to counterfeiting, in 1839, script was printed from engraved plates, with intricate waved and networked lines.

This more formal Kōloa Plantation script became the first paper money from Hawai‘i.  Not only was this script accepted at the Plantation store, it became widely accepted by other merchants on the island.

In early 1843, apparently, the Lahainaluna Mission Seminary first issued its own paper money.

The Hawaiian government occasionally issued its own banknotes between 1847 and 1898 in denominations of $10, $20, $50 and $100 Hawaiian Dollars.

However, these notes were only issued in small numbers and US notes made up the bulk of circulating paper money.

In 1895, the newly formed Republic of Hawai‘i issued both gold and silver coin deposit certificates for $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100.  These were the last Hawaiian notes issued.

The image shows printed note from Kōloa Plantation (Ladd & Company.)  In addition, I have included some of the coins and banknotes issued in Hawai‘i in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/peter.t.young.hawaii

Kōloa Field System

               

One of the great achievements of the ancient Hawaiians in this region is evidenced in the agricultural Kōloa Field System on the South Shore of Kaua‘i.

Evidence indicates the Kōloa area was forested to the shore before the arrival of the first Polynesians.  When they started to settle in this area, they cleared the land for agriculture by burning.

Because rainfall is low in this area, the early Hawaiians constructed sophisticated irrigation systems for growing taro and other crops.  Ultimately, the Kōloa Field System of agriculture was established with formal growing areas and irrigation system tapping off of Waikomo Stream.

Its elements include parallel and branching ʻauwai (irrigation ditches,) terraced loʻi (taro growing ponds,) and dryland plots. Later intensification includes aqueducted ʻauwai, irrigated mound fields, and subdivision of lo'i and kula plots.

Beginning possibly as early as 1450, the Kōloa Field System was planned and built on the shallow lava soils to the east and west of Waikomo Stream.

It is characterized as a network of fields of both irrigated and dryland crops, built mainly upon one stream system.  Waikomo Stream was adapted into an inverted tree model with smaller branches leading off larger branches.

The associated dispersed housing and field shelters were located among the fields, particularly at junctions of the irrigation ditches (ʻauwai).

In this way, the whole of the field system was contained within the entire makai (seaward) portion of the ahupuaʻa of Kōloa stretching east and west to the ahupuaʻa boundaries.

The field system, with associated clusters of permanent extended family habitations, was in place by the middle of the 16th century and was certainly expanded and intensified continuously from that time. 

Long ʻauwai were constructed along the tops of topographic high points formed by northeast to southwest oriented Kōloa lava flows.   These ʻauwai extended all the way to the sea.

Habitation sites, including small house platforms, enclosures and L-shaped shelters were built in rocky bluff areas which occupied high points in the landscape and were therefore close to ʻauwai, which typically ran along the side of these bluffs.

From A.D. 1650-1795, the Hawaiian Islands were typified by the development of large communal residences, religious structures and an intensification of agriculture.

The Kōloa Field System is unique in a number of ways; its makeup and design tells us much of the pre-contact world and the ingenuity of the ancients with respect to planning, architecture, agriculture and social system.

A complex of wet and dryland agricultural fields and associated habitation sites occur in the lava tablelands of the makai portion of Kōloa ahupua'a on the south coast of Kaua'i.  Although soil deposits are thin and the land is rocky, plentiful irrigation water was available.

This agricultural system which at its peak covered over 1,000 acres extends from the present Kōloa town to the shoreline and includes a complex of wet and dryland agricultural fields and associated habitation sites.

The Kōloa System, at its apex in the early 19th century (probably due to the opportunity for provisioning of the whaling ships,) represents one of the most intensive cultural landscapes in Hawaiʻi.

Kōloa Field System was in use through 1850 AD.  Remnants of this field system still remain in parts of the region. 

The Koloa Field System is a significant Point of Interest in the Holo Holo Kōloa Scenic Byway.  We are working with the Kōloa community in preparing the Corridor Management Plan for this project; one of our recommendations is to restore a portion of the field system.

A special thanks to Hal Hammatt and Cultural Surveys for information and images used here that is based on their extensive research in this area.  In addition, I have added other images and maps of this region in a folder of like name in the Photos section of my Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/peter.t.young.hawaii

Ka Ala Hele Waiwai Hoʻolina o Kōloa - Kōloa Heritage Trail

The Kōloa District is the name of a modern political-judicial district encompassing the south shore of Kauaʻi.

In ancient times, the Kōloa District was part of a larger district called Kona.  The Kōloa Heritage Trail travels through four ahupuaʻa. From east to west, they are: Māhāʻulepu, Paʻa, Weliweli and Kōloa.

Poʻipū is part of the Kōloa ahupua'a.  One meaning of the name Poʻipū is crashing, as in waves crashing.

The Kōloa Heritage Trail is a 10-mile walk, bike ride or drive which includes 14 stops and monuments describing the significance of the location.

 

1. Spouting Horn Park

Spouting Horn Park was called puhi, or blowhole, by early Hawaiians.  Legends tell of a huge mo‘o, or lizard, caught in this puhi, which was formed when waves eroded softer, underlying rock and wore through the harder top rock.  Water rushing into the hole is forced through the narrow opening and shoots skyward.

 

2. Prince Kūhiō Birthplace & Park

Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana‘ole was born in Kōloa in a grass hut near this beach to Princess Kinoike Kekaulike and High Chief David Kahalepouli Pi‘ikoi.  He became a delegate to U.S. Congress after Hawai`i became a Territory in 1900, serving for 19 years.  He worked tirelessly on behalf of the Hawaiian people.

3. Hanakaʻape Bay & Kōloa Landing

Once, Kōloa Landing was the third largest whaling port in all of Hawai`i and the only port of entry for foreign goods.  The Sugar industry increased its use until 1912, when better facilities became available elsewhere.  Goods and people were transferred by hand and small boat to ships in Hanaka‘ape Bay.

 

4. Pa‘u a Laka - Moir Gardens

What began as a hobby garden by the Kōloa Plantation Manager's wife became celebrated as one of the world's best of its kind.  Numerous cactus planted in the 1930s thrived in the arid, rocky soil here.  Many escaped to surrounding areas to become naturalized over time.  You'll also find water lily-filled lava rock ponds, koi and a variety of orchid and cactus species.

 

5. Kihahouna Heiau

The walled heiau (temple) that once stood here was 130 feet by 90 feet; dedicated to Kane, a major god of Hawaii; Hulukoki, a bird god; and Ku-hai-moana and Ka-moho-alii, two shark gods.  Three hala-lihilihi-ula trees situated on the outside of the naupaka hedge mark the heiau perimeter.

6. Po‘ipū Beach Park

Abundant, easy-to-view marine life in calm waters is a major attraction at Po‘ipū Beach.  The endangered native Hawaiian Monk seal and threatened Green sea turtle are frequent visitors.  From November through May, the endangered Humpback whale appears.  Ancient Hawaiians fished and played here and harvested salt in dug-out evaporating pans nearby.

 

7. Keoneloa Bay

Between 200 and 600 A.D., early visitors arrived at Keoneloa Bay, meaning long sand, likely from the Marquesas Islands.  They used the area as a temporary fishing camp, leaving behind stone-age tools, remnants of heiau, or temples, and ahu, or altars.  They prayed to Kane‘aukai, an important fishing god.

8. Makawehi & Pa‘a Dunes

The lithified sand dunes of Makawehi, calm face, and Pa‘a, hard rock, yield fossilized plant roots, bird bones, crab claws and other treasures.  Prior to extensive wave erosion, this prominent limestone ridge extended across Keoneloa Bay.  During March through November, water birds visit and sea birds nest and roost in the dunes.

 

9. Pu‘uwanawana Volcanic Cone

More than 5 million years ago, a hotspot in the earth spewed lava upward to form the volcanic mountain island of Kaua‘i. Nearby Ha‘upu Ridge and Mountain contain some of the oldest geologic formations.  Look for the youngest volcanic cones such as Pu‘uwanawana, within view.  Weathered volcanic material produced rich agricultural plains.

 10. Hapa Road (Hapa Trail)

Lava rock walls near Hapa Road signify Hawaiian habitation ca. 1200 AD, while the road dates to the late 1800s.  Nearby tracks once held trains hauling cane to Kōloa Plantation for milling.  Hapa Road served as a supply and emergency evacuation route during World War II, and at various times a foot- and bicycle path.

 11. Kōloa Jodo Mission

Buddhist temples provided Japanese immigrants a place to worship, study their language, learn martial arts and participate in social events.  This Jodo Mission used a specialist in temple architecture from Japan to build the large temple's interior.  Hand-painted, wooden ceiling tiles were a gift from the Japanese artist who rendered them.

12. Sugar Monument

Ancient Polynesians were the first to bring sugar cane to Hawai'i.  Starting with its first cane seeding in 1835, Kōloa Plantation was the first in Hawai'i to successfully mill cane commercially for export.  It set the precedent for free housing and medical benefits for its immigrant employees from China, Japan, East and West Germany, Portugal and the Philippines.

 

13. Yamamoto Store & Kōloa Hotel

Built at the turn of the 20th century, The Yamamoto Building functioned at various times as a plantation camp store and general store with service station.  Behind it, the Kōloa Hotel offered rooms to traveling salesmen and actors.  The o-furo, or hot tub, provided a relaxing soak to guests.

 

14. Kōloa Missionary Church

Kōloa Missionary Church sanctuary is part of a homestead once owned by Dr. James W. Smith, a medical missionary.  In 1842, he began a practice of over 40 years, later becoming an ordained minister at The Church at Kōloa.  His grandson, Dr. Alfred Herbert Waterhouse, added a clinic to the homestead in 1933.

The Poʻipū Beach Resort Association and its Po‘ipū Beach Foundation are the major sponsors of the trail map and brochures.  You can easily download a descriptive map at:  koloaheritagetrail.info

All of these sites are being included as Points of Interest in the Holo Holo Kōloa Scenic Byway; we are working with the Kōloa and Poʻipū communities in preparing the Corridor Management Plan for the Scenic Byway.

In addition, I have added images of each site on the Kōloa Heritage Trail in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/peter.t.young.hawaii

Holo Holo Kōloa Scenic Byway – Wins Historic Preservation Commendation from Historic Hawaii Foundation

We are proud and honored that the Local Scenic Byway Committee, Mālama Kōloa, Kōloa Community Association, Poʻipū Beach Resort Association and Hoʻokuleana LLC were awarded the 2012 Historic Preservation Commendation for the Holo Holo Kōloa Scenic Byway project from the Historic Hawaiʻi Foundation.

Holo Holo Kōloa Scenic Byway is situated on the South Shore of the island of Kauaʻi (in the Old Kōloa Town, running down and through the Poʻipū Beach resort area - out through Māhāʻulepu.)

Here, there are many scenic, natural and recreational qualities that travelers along the Byway may experience and enjoy.  Along the coastal area of Poʻipū there are popular beaches for swimming, surfing, snorkeling, scuba or sunset watching. 

But the focus of interest along the Holo Holo Kōloa corridor is the region‘s history and the role this area played in helping to shape Hawaiʻi‘s socio-economic past, present and future.

As noted in Carol Wilcox’s book, The Kauaʻi Album, “The history of Kōloa is in many ways Hawai‘i’s history in microcosm.”

Holo Holo Kōloa gives the traveler a look at the historic and socio-economic evolution of the Hawaiian Islands.  Here many "firsts" took place that ultimately guided this transformation.

This is a corridor with many stories to tell, under the backdrop of its impressive scenic beauty.

Last year, the State Department of Transportation designated Holo Holo Kōloa as a State Scenic Byway.

We assisted in the designation process and are now working with the community in preparing the Corridor Management Plan (CMP) for the project.

The CMP is prepared to address issues related to management of the corridor, but, more importantly, is used to submit the application to Federal Highways for National designation.

State and National Scenic Byways designations recognize roads that exhibit one or more six core intrinsic qualities - scenic, natural, historic, recreational, archaeological or cultural - contributing towards a unique travel experience.

Overall, the Scenic Byways Program is for:

• roads that tell a special story;
• roads with outstanding intrinsic qualities that need recognition or protection; and
• roads that will benefit from a coordinated strategy for tourism and economic development

 There are over 20 primary Points of Interest along the corridor, including Tree Tunnel, Kōloa Sugar Monument, Old Kōloa Town, Kōloa Sugar Mill, several Churches, National Tropical Botanical Garden, various Puʻu and Bays.

Archaeological and Historic sites include Kāneiolouma, Kōloa Field System, Luahinealapiʻi (Hapa Road,) Prince Kuhio Park/Hoʻia Heiau, Kihahouna Heiau, Makauwahi Cave, Waiʻōpili Heiau and Keolewa Heiau.

This is our second Scenic Byway and Corridor Management Plan assignment.  We previously prepared the Plan for Royal Footsteps Along the Kona Coast, on Ali’i Drive on the Big Island (the first CMP to be approved in the State.)

We are also very proud of that project; Royal Footsteps received several awards, including Historic Preservation Commendation from Historic Hawaii Foundation; Environment/Preservation award from the American Planning Association-Hawai‘i Chapter; and Pualu Award for Culture and Heritage from the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce.

In the coming weeks, I will be sharing some of the highlights on some of the Point of Interest sites that are included in the Scenic Byway.

Holo Holo Kōloa Scenic Byway - Preservation Commendation

I am honored and proud to share with you some great news we just received concerning a project we are working on.

Holo Holo Kōloa Scenic Byway will be recognized with a Preservation Commendation from Historic Hawai‘i Foundation at its 2012 Preservation Honor Awards ceremony for outstanding efforts in preservation through planning and designation of the Holo Holo Kōloa Scenic Byway.

This award is being given to Kōloa Community Association, Mālama Koloa, Po‘ipū Beach Resort Association, HDOT Hawai'i Scenic Byways Program and Ho‘okuleana LLC.

Holo Holo Kōloa Scenic Byway, recently designated a State Scenic Byway, is situated in the historic

Old Kōloa Town and runs down and through the Po'ipu Beach resort area on Kaua‘i’s South Shore.

This region is steeped in history and its various points of interest tell the stories of Hawaii’s people and its evolving socio-economic past.

Along this corridor are significant historic, archaeological, cultural, natural, recreational and scenic resources.

Holo Holo Kōloa gives the traveler a look at the historic and socio-economic evolution of the Hawaiian Islands.

Here many "firsts" took place that ultimately guided this transformation.  This is a corridor with many stories to tell, under the backdrop of its impressive scenic and natural beauty.

We have been assisting Holo Holo Kōloa Scenic Byway in the State designation process, as well as preparing the Corridor Management Plan for the Scenic Byway.

This is our second Scenic Byway project.  We also prepared the Corridor Management Plan for the Royal Footsteps Along The Kona Coast.

Royal Footsteps also received a Historic Hawai‘i Foundation Preservation Commendation, as well as an APA-Hawai‘i Environment-Preservation Award and a Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce Pualu Award for Culture & Heritage.