Swastikas … to Waikiki Surf-Boards

Founded in 1908 by William Butte, Pacific Ready-cut Homes, later Pacific System Homes, made ’kit’ homes.  When the Stock Market crashed in October of 1929, Butte’s son Meyers convinced the family that manufacturing surfboards would be a good way to diversify the business. He began to change a small part of the production of Pacific System to surfboards.

At first, the company logo was a swastika on the deck; the boards became known as ‘Swastika’ models. “The Swastika boards were droolers … people really wanted a Pacific System.”  However, with the rise of Nazi Germany, in about 1938, the swastika name and logos were dropped and the boards became known as ‘Waikiki Surf-Boards.’

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Walter Chamberlain Peacock

Walter Chamberlain (WC) Peacock was born in in 1858 in Lancaster, England.  After a short stay in New Zealand, he arrived in the Islands in about 1881. He operated the Royal Saloon; it’s now home to Murphy’s.

In the 1890s, Walter joined other Honolulu elite who constructed mansions along the Waikīkī shoreline; he built his own a pier (Peacock Pier.)  In 1896, Peacock proposed to build Waikīkī’s first major resort - the Moana Hotel opened on March 11, 1901.  In 1909, Peacock died at the age of 51.

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Lalani Village

"In this idyllic setting, you will thrill to the romance of Island yesterdays.  Delicious foods of the lūʻau will please the discriminating, Ancient Hula ... native maids ... weird chanting ... thumping gourds ... strumming ukulele ... plaintive Island melodies ... majestic palms ... quaint grass huts."

In 1932 George Paele Mossman opened the Lalani Hawaiian Village in Waikiki with demonstrations of traditional crafts, music and lūʻau as a way of preserving and teaching what he termed “Hawaiian lore that is fast vanishing.”

The village, conceived of as living museum, archive, school and tourist entertainment center, of 8-grass houses was erected on 1-acre and a program of classes (in Hawaiian language, hula, music, food preparation, surfing and fishing.)

For $2, the visitor received a 1-hour lecture on village life, followed by a lūʻau and a show, with performances led by the Mossman family.

Born March 28, 1891, Mossman was one of 11 children.  His father was Scottish and his mother, Nahua Kealoha, was Hawaiian. George grew up fluent in Hawaiian culture.  On January 21, 1910, Mossman married Rebecca G Kainapau.

The earliest written account of the life of George Mossman appeared in a Time magazine article describing a teenage Mossman’s attempt at the craft of violin making in 1908.

But it was not the violin that became Mossman’s musical instrument; Mossman turned his craftwork efforts to building ukuleles.

Mossman entered the ukulele business the year before the 1915 Pan Pacific International Exposition, in San Francisco.  The Exposition featured Hawaiian culture of music and dance - including a new and curious instrument, the ukulele.

As an ukulele maker, Mossman was a major influence during the golden era of ukulele popularity and innovation.  In 1927, he claimed to have perfected a ukulele which could be heard from half a mile away and yet still retain its clarity and tonal sweetness (he called it the Bell Tone.)

By 1933, he suspended the manufacture of ukuleles and devoted his time to Lalani Village.  Lalani Village was designed to look and feel like an ancient Hawaiian community, one that had existed before western contact and long before the development of Waikiki as a visitor destination.

Lalani Village was the first of its kind and “probably the first ‘Hawaiian cultural center’” ever “for what (Mossman) hoped would be a great cultural awakening”.  (Kealoha)

The Village, situated at the corner of Kalākaua and Paoakalani Streets (where the family was residing and now is the present site of the Waikiki Beach Marriott,) conducted hula and musical performances, featuring the entire Mossman family dressed in the fashion of the ancient aliʻi; Mossman himself in a loincloth and feather cape.

The family operation included every member of Mossman’s immediate family: his wife, Emma; several sons; and three daughters: Leilani, Piʻilani and Pualani.

Pualani was known for her “Volcano hula” dance, the highlight of the show. She would dance alone on a raised platform with another performer blowing fire and lighting a model of a volcano.   (Pualani later performed at the Hawaiian Room in the Hotel Lexington.)

It was “called the last stronghold of real Hawaiian culture. It is encircled by a high wail and every day a cross-section of life as lived by Hawaiians 200 years ago is reenacted. There are grass huts for the men and grass huts for the women.”

“The native dances, the language, the customs are taught and preserved. There is a heiau (temple), and an imu (underground oven) where pigs are roasted.”

“Guides take you from point to point, lecturing on a picturesque form of living that has practically disappeared. It is Mossman's idea to a preserve this culture through education.  (The News, Frederick Maryland, August 11, 1938)

In 1934 the hula teachers, kapa makers, and canoe builders were joined by the 87-year-old Kuluwaimaka, who became a resident of the village; Kuluwaimaka was court chanter for the King David Kalākaua.

There were also afternoon shows targeting the regularly arriving ocean liner passengers, where a presumably less elegant show that could be enjoyed for a mere 50 cents.  Also, for those who were residents or staying for a while, 40 hula lessons cost $10. Ukulele and language lessons were also available.

The Lalani village provided a restaurant, Lalani’s Poi Inn, where the visitors would adventure and where the kamaʻāina would savor genuine tradition.

A Lalani Village was considered for New York, as well.  An August 24, 1938 newspaper article noted, "Yes, I like this.  It will do.  I don't know just where it will be, but New York is the right place for it."  (Mossman quoted in the Free Lance-Star after a driving and aerial tour of Manhattan.)

During World War II, the military took over the property and used it for army bathhouses and a post exchange. The Mossmans finally reopened the village in 1946, and it stayed open until 1955 (the year Mossman died.)  (Lots of information here is from Imada, Tucker, Desmond, Reynolds and King.)

The image shows a Hula Show at Lalani Hawaiian Village. (ca. 1935) (Bishop Museum)   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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“The sound of the waves on the beach at Waikiki”

Webley Edwards was born November 11, 1902 in Corvallis, Oregon.  He attended Oregon Agricultural College (OAC – it was later named Oregon State University) where he became the first student manager of campus radio, KOAC.

As an OAC student, Webley “made good grades, was a popular athlete, and became the best ukulele player on campus, in an era when skill with the instrument was considered a sure way to a woman's heart.”  (Corvallis Gazette-Times)

After graduating from OAC in 1927, Webley moved to Hawaiʻi in 1928 to work as a car salesman and play semi-pro football. Fascinated with the local music, in 1935, he arranged for a two-week trial run for a radio show of “authentic” Hawaiian music.

On July 3, 1935, Edwards created and first aired a radio program called “Hawaiʻi Calls” featuring Hawaiian music and entertainment.

The first show reached the West Coast of the continental US through shortwave radio.  Although the program enjoyed a growing popularity on the mainland, Edwards initially had a hard time making ends meet and solicited support from the Hawaiʻi Tourist Bureau.

Hawaiʻi was calling, he seemed to suggest, and to the home-bound listener freezing through an Iowa or Montana winter, making a vow to one day visit the Islands became irresistible.

From about 40,000 visitors annually in the 1930s, the number had grown to 500,000 by the time the show ended its run more than 35 years later.  (Corvallis Gazette-Times)

Except for an apparent break during World War II, the radio program aired continuously since its inception.

Edwards was the first to broadcast news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.  In his own words, “the real McCoy. All army, navy and marine personnel report to duty.”  (Corvallis Gazette-Times)

During the war, Edwards worked as a reporter for CBS Radio and landed exclusives including an interview with Colonel Paul W Tibbetts (the pilot of the B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay, who dropped the atomic bomb over Hiroshima.)

He had been chosen by lottery to be the chief announcer for the shipboard ceremony that ended hostilities between the United States and Japan and aboard the USS Missouri reported on the surrender ceremony that brought the conflict to its close.  (Ankeny)

“Attention, peoples of the world! World War II is about to come to its official closing, three years, eight months and 25 days since the attack on Pearl Harbor.  The Japanese delegation has just arrived.”

“Lined up before us are officers and men with high-ranking stars and gold braid. The deck of the Missouri stretches out before us … its great guns pointed skyward to allow for more room …”   (Corvallis Gazette-Times)

From the time of inception until January of 1972, Webley Edwards was Hawaiʻi Calls’ announcer and leading personality.

Each show opened with the sounds of the pounding surf and the enthusiastic bounding voice of Webley Edwards proclaiming “The sound of the waves on the beach at Waikiki.”

Usually that radio program was broadcast to the Mainland at about sundown. The announcer always described the beautiful sunset including the words, “and now the beautiful sun is a ball of fire, sinking, sinking, ever so slowly over the edge of the ocean--there it goes.”    (Green)

The weekly program was typically taped before a live audience at the Moana Hotel in Waikiki.  Periodically, they took the show on the road and broadcast from a neighbor island.

In its heyday, the show was heard on over 600 radio stations in North America and scores of others in Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, South America, Africa and the Far East.  It was also heard on the Voice of Freedom (the predecessor to the Voice of America) and on Armed Forces Radio throughout the world.    (Hula Records)

Throughout the 1950s, Edwards compiled and produced a series of Hawaiian music collections for Capitol Records.  He even wrote songs under a pseudonym, John Kalapana.

In all, Hawaiʻi Calls spanned 40-years, along the way popularizing tunes including “Lovely Hula Hands,” “Beyond the Reef,” “Little Brown Gal” and “The Hawaiian Wedding Song.”

“Sweet Leilani,” which Edwards debuted in 1936, won an Academy Award after Bing Crosby’s powerful, yet gentle, rendition from the movie 'Waikiki Wedding' thrilled people throughout the world.  (Hula Records)

In addition, he helped promote local performers, including Alfred Apaka, George Kainapau, Haleloke, and Simeon and Andy Bright.  (Ankeny)  In addition, Al Jolson and Arthur Godfrey were among the many guests featured on the program.

After Edwards left the program, Danny Kaleikini, a well-known Hawaiʻi entertainer and singer, was the announcer and a performer for the program.  (US District Court Records)  The program ended August 16, 1975.

Late in his career, Edwards made a successful run at politics, serving for more than 14-years in Hawaiʻi’s territorial legislature and then the state legislature.

Spending his last few months in a Honolulu assisted-living facility, he died October 5, 1977, after suffering a heart attack.

On October 3, 1992 there was a temporary return of Hawaiʻi Calls, taped at the Hilton Hawaiian Village's beachside Tropics Showroom, then transmitted via satellite to affiliates.  It ran for about a year, but it failed to attract enough financial support to continue.

A one-night “Hawaiʻi Calls” show that combined live performances and archival audio and video material was presented at the Hawaiʻi Theatre on November 14, 2008. (Chicago Tribune)

The image shows Hawaiʻi Calls from the Moana.  In addition, I have included other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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“Kidnap and Rape” - “Kidnap and Murder”

On the night of Saturday, September 12, 1931, Navy Lt. Tommie and Thalia Massie went with some of their friends to the Ala Wai Inn, a restaurant overlooking the drainage canal that marked the boundary of the Waikīkī resort area.

"The truth of what transpired on the night of September 12, 1931, at the Ala Wai Inn on the way to Waikīkī or on the Ala Moana Road (which paralleled the shore on the way to downtown Honolulu) will probably never be known."  (Hunter)

Two dramatic criminal trials, one for rape and one for murder and both involving multiple defendants, called attention to race relations and politics.  No trials ever had a more significant effect on a state's history than those that shocked and shook Hawaiʻi in 1931 and 1932.  (Linder)

They are:
Territory of Hawaiʻi v. Ben Ahakuelo, Horace Ida, Joseph Kahahawai, Henry Chang and David Takai; 1931 (Rape trial) (also known as the “Ala Moana trial;” the name of the street where the assault allegedly took place)
Territory of Hawaiʻi v. Grace Fortescue, Thomas Massie, Edward Lord and Deacon Jones; 1932 (Murder trial)

"That the wife of Lieutenant Thomas Massie, United States Navy, was beaten, was evident; that she was raped was not clearly shown; that the five Hawaiian youths indicted for rape were not guilty was probable; and that she had asked for trouble the evidence shows."   (Hunter)

Back to the night of September 12 at Waikīkī … Thalia left her husband behind and walked out of the Ala Wai Inn, and when she returned home early the next morning ... “Something terrible has happened.” (She claimed she had been abducted and raped by five young Hawaiian men.)

The case for the prosecution was shaky.  Neither Mrs Massie’s body or her clothes showed that she had been raped.  Likewise, after a thorough physical examination of their bodies and the clothes they were wearing that night when they were arrested, the defendants showed no sign that they had had sexual intercourse.

The jury stayed out from the afternoon of Wednesday, December 2, until the afternoon of Saturday, December 5.  It was a hung jury (seven for not guilty and five for guilty;) the judge declared a mistrial December 6, 1931.  It was the longest jury deliberation in Hawaiʻi’s history.  (Hannon) The defendants were released to await a second trial.

The aftermath of the Ala Moana trial reverberated throughout Honolulu and the mainland. The mistrial outraged Navy personnel, the business community and white citizens in Hawaiʻi and government officials throughout the US.  (Hannon)

Instead of sticking to the facts, the white press in Hawaiʻi and the mainland press played the race card, which only served to further anger whites. Numerous newspapers and magazines added to the misinformation, hysteria and racial atmosphere surrounding the situation in Hawaiʻi.

Time Magazine reported in an article titled ‘Lust in Paradise’ a few weeks after the mistrial:  “Honolulu, paradisaic melting pot of East & West, was tense with trouble last week. Yellow men's lust for white women had broken bounds. … A tremor of apprehension ran through Hawaiʻi’s motley population…”  (Hannon)

Joseph Kahahawai had been released; while out on bail the defendant was required to report in court every morning about nine o’clock.

Fortescue (Thalia’s mother) had a plan ... with help, she would pick up Kahahawai at the courthouse after he had reported in and take him to a cottage, about 2-miles away.  She wanted to get a confession.  She let Tommie in on the plan, as well as a couple Sailors.

Lieutenant Massie, Fortescue and two non-commissioned sailors, Albert ‘Deacon’ Jones and Edward Lord, collaborated on the scheme.   Fortescue faked a subpoena addressed to Kahahawai, commanding him to appear before the high sheriff of the island of Oʻahu.

January 8, 1932, Massie and Lord drove to the Judiciary Building in a rented Buick; Fortescue and Jones followed in Massie's roadster. When Kahahawai came out of the courthouse, Jones waved the fake summons at him, pushed him into the Buick, and they drove off.

In the back of Mānoa Valley, they threatened Kahahawai if he did not admit to the rape.  The pistol they brought went off and Kahahawai later died with a gunshot through the chest.

The four were put on trial for murder.

The most notorious trial in the history of Hawaiʻi began on April 4, 1932 and was titled Territory of Hawaiʻi vs. Grace Fortescue, et al., Crim. No. 11891. The trial would be presided over by forty-two year old Judge Charles “Skinner” Davis.  (Honnon)

Noted criminal trial lawyer, Clarence Darrow, was hired by the defense.  The defense argued the killing was justified under the “unwritten law” - a defense usually used by a husband who kills a man immediately after catching him having relations with his wife or raping her.  (Hannon)

The courtroom was jammed with anxious listeners, day after day, many waiting outside all night so they would be sure to get in when the case opened in the morning. The Honolulu papers carried a full stenographic report of the case, and the daily press on the mainland gave almost as full an account.

The main interest of the trial was the testimony of Lieutenant Massie and that of his wife; each of these witnesses was on the stand for two days.   No others who were at the cottage testified.

Massie told the jury of his emotions when the man had ravished his wife sat there in front of him, how it called all the anxiety and trouble he and his wife had through for two or three months, and that he proposed to have the matter settled now.  (Darrow)

Darrow gave his closing argument on Wednesday, April 27, 1932. The last major courtroom argument of his career, it was heard live on radio stations across the country. Anxious to hear Darrow speak, many people waited in line the night before and some places in line were bought and sold.  (Hannon)

The jury returned a verdict of manslaughter, leniency recommended.

The guilty verdicts inflamed the already caustic political atmosphere. Mainland politicians saw it as continued miscarriage of justice in the whole sordid case. They were already angry that Hawaiʻi’s justice system had failed to convict in the Thalia Massie case.  The White House was flooded with telegrams protesting the verdict and asking President Hoover to issue immediate pardons. (Hannon)

All four were sentenced to ten years imprisonment. Amid a storm of protest, the Governor of Hawaiʻi, Lawrence Judd, immediately commuted their sentences to one hour in the sheriff’s office.

Thalia and Tommie, along with Mrs. Fortescue, left Hawaiʻi at once and returned to the mainland. (The couple found no peace; they were divorced soon after the trial.)

A couple of years later, Thalia in an unsuccessful attempt at suicide, slashed her wrists during a transatlantic cruise. Tommie left the Navy, took a second wife, and established a career in business. Thalia married a second time, and on July 2, 1963, she died in West Palm Beach from an overdose of barbiturates.  (Riccio)

The surviving four Hawaiians defendants in the Thalia Massie rape case (the Ala Moana trial) were never retried.

“Many times I have been asked why I went to Honolulu. I was not sure then, and am not sure now. I had never been to that part of the Pacific … But the more I thought of those islands in the Pacific that I had so long wanted to see, and the more I investigated the strange and puzzling case, the more I felt that I had better go.”  (Clarence Darrow)

"The old man (Darrow) came down to the Islands believing his personal presence and his known tolerance and understanding of human suffering would help smooth over any racial problems that might exist. When he left the Islands two months later the racial issues were more deeply graven than ever."  (Theon Wight, Rape in Paradise)  (Lots of information here from Darrow and Hannon.)

The image shows (L2R) Clarence Darrow; EJ Lord and AO Jones; Maj. Gordon Ross, Grace Fortescue; Thalia and Lt. Thomas Massie; and George Leisure.  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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Pālolo

Waikīkī (“water spurting from many sources”) ahupuaʻa lies between Honolulu (from the west side of Makiki Valley) and Maunalua (the east side of Wailupe) - essentially from Piʻikoi Street to the ʻĀina Haina/Niu Valley boundary.

Three main valleys Makiki, Mānoa, and Pālolo are mauka of Waikīkī and through them their respective streams (and springs in Mānoa (Punahou and Kānewai)) watered the marshland below.

As they entered the flat Waikīkī Plain (and merge and separate,) the names of the streams changed; the Mānoa became the Kālia and the Pālolo became the Pāhoa (they joined near Hamohamo (now an area mauka of the Kapahulu Library.))

While at the upper elevations, the streams have the ahupuaʻa names, at lower elevations, after merging/dividing, they have different names, as they enter the ocean, Pi‘inaio, ‘Āpuakēhau and Kuekaunahi.

The Pi‘inaio (Makiki) entered the sea at Kālia (near what is now Fort DeRussy as a wide delta (kahawai.))  The ‘Āpuakēhau (Mānoa and Kālia,) also called the Muliwai o Kawehewehe (“the stream that opens the way” on some maps,) emptied in the ocean at Helumoa (between the Royal Hawaiian and Moana Hotels.)

The Kuekaunahi (Pālolo) once emptied into the sea at Hamohamo (near the intersection of ‘Ōhua and Kalākaua Avenues.)  The land between these three streams was called Waikolu, meaning “three waters.”

Pālolo valley, within the ahupuaʻa of Waikīkī, has ʻili for kalo (taro loʻi) and forest products that benefitted other portions of the ahupuaʻa (such as ʻĀina Haina, Wailupe, Niu and areas near the beach) – they are essentially ʻili lele (jumping ʻili) that provide these resource lands (wetland for kalo and mauka forest lands) to the other areas of the ahupuaʻa that do not have them.

According to legend, Kākuhihewa, Māʻilikūkahi’s descendent six generations later, encountered the supernatural rooster, “Kaʻauhelemoa” who flew from Pālolo valley and landed at Waikīkī to challenge Kākuhihewa by scratching the ground.  The place was then named "Helumoa" which means "chicken scratch."

Kākuhihewa felt that the appearance of the supernatural rooster was an omen, so he planted a grove of trees, which later multiplied into an estimated 10,000-coconut trees (this is the area in and around the Sheraton Waikīkī hotel.)

Fast forward a few centuries.

Pālolo Valley was once home to a golf course, rock quarry, two dairies and, during World War II, an airfield.

Pālolo Elementary School first opened its doors in September 1921 under the leadership of Principal William Kekepa. Its first buildings were converted military barracks and the school was next to a golf course.

Opened in 1931, the nine-hole Pālolo course was first one open to the masses (the Islands’ first course, Moanalua Valley course, opened in 1898; Oʻahu Country Club opened in 1906, Waiʻalae in 1928.)  Later, that golf course was turned into a public housing project that is now Pālolo Valley Homes.

A May 1941 article in the Honolulu Advertiser titled "Army Maps Areas to Be Evacuated in Event of Emergency" informed civilians that 86,000-persons living in Honolulu resided in danger zones, and that half would have to evacuate in the event of a war.  (Johnson)

The Pālolo evacuation camp, which the Office of Civilian Defense had erected in case of another Japanese attack, was later turned over to the Hawaiʻi Housing Authority (HHA) and converted into wartime public housing for several hundred families.  (HHF)

Additional shelters for evacuees were built in Pālolo; however, they were "held in readiness for evacuees in connection with (another) attack."  The Pālolo Valley Camp never accommodated Islanders displaced after the initial attack on December 7. A memorandum written in February 1942 confirmed that Pālolo remained unoccupied.

The HHA also developed public housing.  Members of a Congressional subcommittee, which came to investigate Honolulu’s housing situation (in Pālolo and elsewhere) in March 1945, learned of “hot bed apartments” where as many as eighteen men occupied one room in three shifts.

With the conclusion of World War II, the Pālolo School Camp was closed as they were deemed unsatisfactory for occupancy.  The Pālolo Evacuation Camp adjacent to the 362-unit emergency housing project in Pālolo remained in operation.

Pālolo provided post-war housing opportunities; a three-bedroom home in 1950 cost about $11,500.  In 1955, the Pālolo Golf Course was replaced by Jarrett Middle School and the Pālolo Valley District Park.  More housing was also provided.

Jarrett Middle School was established in 1955. The school was named in honor of William Paul Jarrett (1877-1929,) who was a delegate to the US Congress when Hawaiʻi was a Territory. Mr Jarrett gained national and international recognition for his efforts as a humanitarian.

After it closed in 1951, the rock quarry became a 200-home residential subdivision and the airfield was developed into Pālolo Valley Housing.  (Shellabarger)  (Lots of information here from Green and Johnson.)

The image shows a map of Pālolo in 1881.  In addition, I have added other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Historic Homes of Waikīkī

A Waikīkī historic home walking tour from the Historic Hawaiʻi Foundation is a self-guided itinerary, suitable for individual travelers, and focuses on sites of historic or cultural significance that are either open to the public or visible from the public way.

The Historic Homes in Waikīkī Walking Tour takes 45-minutes or more. The tour starts at the War Memorial Natatorium, then head towards Diamond Head to the Tahitienne apartment.

The traveler then weaves in between the Honolulu Tudor/ French Norman Cottages and other charming historic residential homes. At the end of the tour, the traveler will finish off with the Mediterranean inspired La Pietra School for girls.

1.  The War Memorial Natatorium is significant as a major social and recreational local landmark and for its association with the history of competitive swimming. The swimming complex was rendered in a Beaux-Arts style and was finished in the summer of 1927, the first "living" was memorial in the United States.

The property contains a 100 meter saltwater swimming pool, concrete bleachers that rises 13-levels high, and a main entryway that includes an elaborate sculpture and triumphal arch entablature. The memorial is dedicated to those from Hawai‘i who served in World War I.

2.  The Tahitienne is a nine-story apartment building rendered in a 1950 modern, utilitarian style. The Tahitienne was planned and built by California architects Bob Fraser and Paul Hammarbarg. Local Architect, Edwin L Bauer, helped design the layout and interiors of the apartments.

This building is associated with the commercial development of real estate in Hawaiʻi, and specifically with the co-operative apartments in Honolulu.  There are approximately 50 co-operative apartments which appeared during the 1950s and early 1960s in Honolulu, which remain functioning as a co-op.

3.  The Egholm Residence was built in 1926 in the Diamond Head Terraces subdivision.  It is significant as one of the few examples of small cottages in the Spanish Colonial Revival style popular in Hawai‘i in the 1920s and early 1930s. The hipped red clay tile roof, stucco exterior and arcaded entrance are characteristic features of this style.

The residence is the work of notable architect and builder Carl William Winstedt. The modest scale of this house is rare compared to the other palatial residences built in the Spanish Colonial Revival style during this time period in Hawai‘i.

4.  The Honolulu Tudor/French Norman Cottages Thematic Group are made up of fifteen different residences, built between 1923 and 1932. These homes display a high degree of craftsmanship and design detail and include the work of several local architects and builders, including: Earl Williams, Hart Wood, John Morley, Theo Davies & Co., and J Alvin Shadinger.

5.  The James JC Haynes Residence, built in 1926, is a two story, shingle sided house facing south. The house stands out as a well-constructed house, having been built by Lewers & Cooke, rendered in a distinctive colonial style distinguished by its high pitched, front facing gable roofs clad with cut shingles and closed eaves with 4" beaded tongue and groove soffits.

The house is also significant for its adaptation of this colonial revival form to Hawai‘i’s climate. Its easy access to the outdoors bespeaks a Hawai‘i architectural tradition for informal living.

6.  The CW Dickey Residence, built in 1926, is associated with the well-known local architect, Charles William Dickey, and the development of the Hawaiian style of architecture. This cottage, with its prominent double-pitched hipped roof, became the prototype for numerous modest cottages built in the Islands during the late 1920s and 1930s.

Through the use of graceful sloping roofs, overhanging eaves, extensive windows and screened openings, and lanai, Dickey said, “I believe I have achieved a distinctive Hawaiian type of architecture” (Honolulu Advertiser, March 14, 1926). The house appears intact and serves as a well-crafted, well-designed statement of Dickey’s development of an exclusive Hawaiian style of architecture.

7.  Doctor Frank and Kathryn Plum Residence was constructed by Rudolph Bukeley in 1929.  It is significant as an example of a Cotswold Cottage style residence constructed in Hawai‘i during the time period of the late 1920s and early 1930s.

It well reflects the style with its romantic asymmetric massing, and its use of such eclectic and picturesque elements as its skewed gable, front bay window, wrought iron mock-balconet in the round arched gable vent, canted walls with their wound arched doors, double pitched roof, and shed roof dormers.

8.  Built in 1923, Fred Harrison Rental Property is a one and a half story, shiplap sided, vernacular style house. It is a good example of a dwelling constructed as a middle class rental property.

Although a modest house, it presents a distinctive appearance to the street with the curved, sweeping roofline; prominent bay window; double gable ends on the west side; and a front doorway that does not face the street.

9.  The Adolph Egholm Kiele Avenue House is a single story, Spanish Mission Revival style cottage that was constructed in 1926. It features stucco walls and a red clay tile, hipped roof with overhanging eaves and exposed rafter tails.

The house sits on a lava rock basement and is distinguished by its centered, outset, flat roofed front porch with its round arched openings.  It is significant as a good exaple of a Spanish Mansion cottage built during the 1920s.

10.  The Mrs. Josephine Ketchum Residence is a Craftsman-style bungalow built in 1931.  It is significant for its architecture as an example of a Craftsman inspired house in Hawai‘i. The naturally-stained board and batten walls and use of heavy timbering are character-defining elements of the building's design.

In addition to these typical craftsman hallmarks, the house features the “Hawaiian” style, double-pitched hipped roof, which was very popular in the Islands during the late 1920s and early 1930s. This further accentuated the horizontal sense of the house, another typical Craftsman characteristic. The screened lanai and exterior bathroom door further fix its location near the beach, where a number of houses from this period featured such doors for use by beach goers.

11.  The Folk Residence, Tavares Residence and Coconut Avenue Residence were built by John Morley for the Pacific Trust Company and are part of the Honolulu (made up of fifteen different residences, built between 1923 and 1932.

These homes display a high degree of craftsmanship and design detail and include the work of several local architects and builders.)

12.  The Helene Morgan Residence is a single story, Hawaiian style duplex with a pair of double-pitched hipped roofs with overhanging eaves and exposed rafter tails.

Presently, the house is a single family dwelling, but originally it was two separate laid out units connected by a passage. The duplex sits on a raised, post and pier, foundation with lava rocks at the base.

13.  The Richard M Botley Residence was built in 1931.  It is significant for its architecture as a good example of a Spanish Mission Revival house built in Hawai‘i during the period 1920-1931.

It is characteristic of the style with its red tile roof and white masonry walls. The two-story, L-shaped house was designed by noted Honolulu architect Robert Miller.

14.  Constructed in 1929, Hibiscus Place is a two-family Mediterranean Revival style residence. The builder, Charles Ingvorsen and his wife, Mary M. Ingvorsen, came to the United States from Denmark. He developed a number of smaller homes in the Diamond Head Terrace subdivision, and retained this property high on the slopes of Diamond Head for his family.

Originally, the Hibiscus Place land consisted of approximately 17,739 square feet but, the property was subdivided in the 1950’s into three separate parcels. The current owner acquired and reassembled two of the three parcels of land into a single property that now consists of 12,495 square feet.

15.  La Pietra, which was constructed in 1921, is an extensive two-story Mediterranean Style building built to resemble an Italian Villa. Its two stories are arranged in a hollow square containing a central rectangular patio. The central patio is lined on all four sides with arcades supported by cut sandstone Doric columns.

La Pietra is significant as a representation of the kind of lifestyle enjoyed by the very wealthy in Hawaiʻi at that time as well as an example of Mediterranean architecture. The building was designed by prominent Chicago-based architect David Adler for Walter F Dillingham, a prominent Honolulu industrialist and businessman known as the Baron of Hawaiʻi Industry.

16.  Kapi‘olani Park was dedicated in 1877 and is a recreational open space of 160 acres. Kapi‘olani Park has an extensive and varied history. The park began as a private preserve that transitioned over the years into the present-day iconic public park. Kapi‘olani Park is historically significant for its past association with indigenous Hawaiian culture and royalty.

King Kalākaua envisioned the park as a place of recreation for all and named it after his famous Queen, Kapi‘olani. Long before the park was established, on Waikīkī/Kapiʻolani park area was the center of Hawaiian culture on Oʻahu. Agricultural cultivation, fishponds, coconut groves and indigenous settlements dotted the area.

17.  The Diamond Head Lighthouse is a 57 foot white concrete pyramidal tower with a red roof. It sits seemingly on the side of a sharp cliff when viewed from seaward, and at night the light can be seen up to 18 miles by the mariner.  It was first established in 1899 to guide mariners into the then budding port of Honolulu.

Constructed in the Monarchy period, the lighthouse and accompanying buildings have not changed since 1917. The lighthouse itself is of the classic lighthouse design - a thick white tower with a barn-red pointed roof.

Heritage Tourism Reminders
Please remember to be respectful and considerate towards the owners of the Historic Homes you are viewing.

• Heed signs and respect the fact that each house is privately owned.
• Please do not trespass.
• Try not to loiter or display suspicious behavior around these houses.
• Do not litter.

Metered parking is available along Kapiʻolani Park on Kalākaua Avenue, at Honolulu Zoo on Kapahulu Avenue.  (The Historic Homes of Waikīkī is a project of Historic Hawaiʻi Foundation (HHF;) the information and images here came from HHF.)

The image shows the location of the respective properties. (HHF) 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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Maluhia

Following the annexation of Hawaiʻi to the United States in 1898, plans evolved for the coastal defense of the island and the Naval station at Pearl Harbor.

The Artillery District of Honolulu was established in 1909 and consisted of Forts Ruger, DeRussy, Kamehameha and Armstrong.  The District was renamed Headquarters Coast Defenses of Oahu sometime between 1911 - 1913.

In 1906, the US War Department acquired more than 70-acres in the Kālia portion of Waikīkī for the establishment of a military reservation; it was designated Kālia Military Reservation, but in 1909 was renamed Fort DeRussy in honor of Brevet Brigadier General Rene Edward DeRussy, a veteran of the War of 1812 and the Civil War.

Back then, nearly 85% of present Waikīkī was in wetland agriculture or aquaculture.  The Army started filling in the fishponds which covered most of the Fort - thus, the Army began the transformation of Waikīkī from wetlands to solid ground.

The post was used almost exclusively as a seacoast defense for Honolulu Harbor during World War I. During World War II it was used for seacoast and antiaircraft defense, as a garrison for troops, headquarters for the Military Police, as a camouflage school, and as Headquarters for the US Armed Forces Institute.

The area also served as a rest and recreation area for personnel in the middle Pacific Area. Fort DeRussy was the biggest recreation center on Oʻahu, providing clubs and overnight accommodations for enlisted men and officers.  In 1949, the post was officially designated an Armed Forces Recreation area.

And, that, in part, is what this summary is about ... the Maluhia Recreation Center.

The area contained a gymnasium, bowling alley, bathhouses and dressing rooms, a snack bar, surfboard lockers, a fully equipped dark room, a studio for making recordings, a library, a hobby shop, a pistol range within the coastal battery, an officers' club, hotel facilities, and bars and restaurants.  A tram shuttle service ran between Maluhia and the bathhouses on the beach.

Before WWII, six different agencies were providing recreation, entertainment, and support services for the US Armed Forces, in addition to their regular services.  These were the Salvation Army, the YMCA, the YWCA, the National Catholic Community Service, the National Jewish Welfare Board and the Travelers' Aid Association.

In early-1941, the groups decided to pool their efforts, and a single group was formed - the United Service Organizations, or USO. The six agencies continued with their other charity efforts, and the USO managed the US Armed Forces work.  The USO was entirely a civilian volunteer operation.

During WWII, the USO used what buildings they could, such as churches, private homes, beach and yacht clubs, commercial businesses, and even railroad cars. Services provided included dances, food, facilities for pressing clothes, showers, reading rooms, games, among others. The most publicized was the live entertainment for the military personnel stationed throughout the world.

It was provided by Camp Shows, Inc., which was a separate organization of professional entertainers and managers set up and supported by the USO.

Maluhia, which means "haven of rest," was opened on April 27, 1943 as a recreation center for enlisted men.  Although built by the Army on Army land, the building was constructed to serve as a recreation center for the men and women of all of the armed forces, including those stationed in Hawaiʻi and those passing through Hawaii while returning home from the warfront. It was one of the largest of its kind in the world.

The restaurant and terrace provided seating for 1,200 men and women (although on busy days many more were able to pack in.) It also contained the longest bar in the Hawaiian Islands.  The 1944 wing addition on the west side added a hostess office, hostess consultation room, enlisted men's quarters room, an office for the officer in charge and a store room.

“Broad lanais, spaciousness and a feeling of the 'outdoors brought inside' (were) some of the elements that (made) the building characteristically Hawaiian in atmosphere".

During WWII, Maluhia was open seven days a week, from 11 am to 5 pm; typically 1,000 to 2,000 people a day visited Maluhia during the week, with often over 4,000 a day on the weekends.

Music was provided by various service bands throughout the islands. Free entertainment was provided each afternoon, including music, variety shows, movies and sketches. Dances were held at least three to four days a week.

At the end of the war, the troops stationed throughout the Pacific gradually were taken home. The number of military personnel in the Pacific increased due to the Korean Conflict in 1950-53 and the Vietnam Conflict in 1963-73.  Later, demand waned and the Maluhia Hall was eventually torn down.

Recently, the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies celebrated the official opening of a new "Maluhia Hall," a new state-of-the-art learning center at Fort DeRussy. The learning center brings more than 10,000-sq ft of additional classroom space to support the US Department of Defense institute’s security cooperation and executive education programs.

Since it opened in September 24, 1995, more than 13,000 course alumni and workshop participants from 104 countries have benefited from this US Department of Defense institute.   The new wing will provide additional classroom space to support the professional development of future security cooperation professionals.  (Lots of information here is from Maluhia-HABS-NPS.)

The image shows Maluhia Recreational Hall. (Rogelio Alberto Casas) 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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“Reclamation” Projects – Early-1900s

"Whenever in the opinion of the Board of Health any tract or parcel of land situated in the District of Honolulu, Island of Oahu, shall be deleterious to the public health in consequence of being low, and at times covered or partly covered by water, or of being situated between high and low water mark, or of being improperly drained, or incapable by reasonable expenditure of effectual drainage or for other reason in an unsanitary or dangerous condition…”

“… it shall be the duty of the Board of Health to report such fact to the Superintendent of Public Works together with a brief recommendation of the operation deemed advisable to improve such land."  (So stated Section 1025, Revised Laws of the Territory of Hawaiʻi, in 1906.)

That year, Board of Health President, LE Pinkham, stated in a report “for the Making of Honolulu as Beautiful and Unique in Character, as nature has Endowed it in Scenery, Climate and Location:”

“Nature, situation and human circumstance fix world-wide prominence and importance on certain strategic points in commerce, navigation and defense. Human events have moved slowly, but are becoming intensely accelerated, and it would seem Honolulu is now beginning to fulfil her destiny.”

Likewise, laws in place gave the Superintendent of Public Works the right to make Improvements to property which had been condemned as insanitary by the Board of Health.

Also in 1906, the US War Department acquired more than 70-acres in the Kālia portion of Waikīkī for the establishment of a military reservation to be called Fort DeRussy.  Back then, nearly 85% of present Waikīkī was in wetland.

The Army started filling in the fishponds and wetland that covered most of the Fort site - pumping fill from the ocean continuously for nearly a year in order to build up an area on which permanent structures could be built.

Thus, the Army began the transformation of Waikīkī from wetlands to solid ground and it served as a model that others followed.

Back then, much of the makai lands from Honolulu to and including Waikīkī were characterized with lowland marshes, wetlands, coral reef flats and farming of fishponds along with some limited wetland kalo (taro) taro agriculture (and later rice.)

However, they were also characterized as, “stretched useless, unsightly, offensive swamps, perpetually breeding mosquitoes and always a menace to public health and welfare”.

The Territory saw the opportunity to drain and fill the land that “was valueless” to be “available for the growth of the business district of the city” and attain “a valuation greatly in excess of the cost of the filling and draining.”

Likewise, in areas such as Kakaʻako there were practical issues to contend with.   “Calmly wading around in muddy water up to waist, on Tuesday after noon last, a Kakaako housekeeper was busying herself hanging out the family washing to dry. Her clothes basket she towed after her on a raft.”

“None of the neighbors marveled at the strange sight for when it was wash-day at their places they had to do the same. Tied up at the front gates of many of the houses in the block were rafts, upon which the more particular members of the families ferried themselves back and forth from house to street”.  (Hawaiian Gazette, April 3, 1908)

This set into motion a number of reclamation and sanitation projects in Kakaʻako, Honolulu, Waikīkī, Lāhaina, Hilo and others.

The first efforts were concentrated at Kakaʻako – it was then more generally referred to as “Kewalo.”  The Kewalo Reclamation District included the area bounded by South Street, King Street, Ward Avenue and Ala Moana Boulevard.

This area already had a practical demonstration of dredging and filling.  In 1907, the US Army Fort Armstrong was built on fill over Kaʻākaukukui reef to protect the adjoining Honolulu Harbor.

“The plan practically takes in all the land from King street to the sea, and it will be the first step in a general reclamation scheme for the low lying lands of the city.”  (Hawaiian Star, October 24, 1911)

Kapālama Reclamation Project included approximately 60-acres of land between King Street and the main line of Oʻahu Railway and Land Company.  In addition, approximately 11-acres of land were filled from dredge material between Piers 16 and 17.

In 1925, the “practically worthless swamp lands” were converted “into property selling as high as $30,000.00 per acre.”

During this project, Sand Island and Quarantine Island were joined to the Kalihi Kai peninsula. In 1925 and 1926, a channel was dug from the Kalihi Channel into Kapālama Basin creating a true island out of “Sand Island.”

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 Waikīkī wetlands, it was also used to fill in the McKinley High School site.

The initial planning called for the extension of the Ala Wai Canal past its present terminus and excavate along Makee Island in Kapiʻolani Park, connecting the Canal with the ocean on the Lēʻahi side of the project.  However, funds ran short and this extension was contemplated “at some later date, when funds are made available”; however, that never happened.

Eleven-and-a-half acres of Lāhaina “swamp land” (near the National Guard Armory,) drainage canals and storm sewers were part of the Lāhaina Reclamation District.  (1916-1917) Mokuhinia Pond was filled with coral rubble dredged from Lāhaina Harbor.

By Executive Order of the Territory of Hawaiʻi in 1918, the newly-filled pond was turned over to the County of Maui for use as Maluʻuluʻolele Park.

In Hilo, the Waiolama Reclamation Project included the draining and filling of approximately 40-acres in the area between the Hilo Railway tract, Wailoa River, and Baker and Front Streets.  It included diversion of the Alenaio Stream.  (1914-1919)

Generally, the consensus was the reclamation projects were successful in addressing the health concerns; in addition, they made economic sense.

As an example, in Waikīkī, before reclamation assessed values for property were at about $500 per acre and the same property reclaimed at ten cents a foot, making a total cost of $4,350 per acre.  The selling price after reclamation, $6,500 to $7,000 per acre, showed the financial benefit of the reclamation efforts.

The image shows Hawaiian Dredging around the Ala Wai Boat Harbor (and the end of the Ala Wai Canal.)  In addition, I have added related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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“Honolulu’s Tropical Jewel”

This CW Dickey-designed structure was once referred to as “Honolulu’s Tropical Jewel.” (TheatresOfHawaii)

No one man has a more central place in Hawaiʻi's architectural history than Charles William Dickey (1871-1942.) Born of a kamaʻāina family (his maternal grandfather was missionary Rev. William P Alexander,) he grew up on Maui, graduated from MIT in 1895 and practiced architecture in Honolulu from 1895 to 1904 and from 1920 until his death twenty-two years later.  (Neil)

“Previous Waikīkī buildings had divided into two types: the palatial – such as the Moana Hotel and the Castle residence - and the small and informal - such as the beach house of Kamehameha V. … Dickey's 1936 design for the Waikīkī Theater is an extreme contrast.”

“His problem was to design a 1930s movie palace which would be appropriate to Hawaiʻi. He used the expected art deco with such flair and taste that the theater compares favorably with any of the type … He then made the theater appropriate.”  (Charlot)

Its initial design was based on a building at Chicago's moderne 1933 and 1934 ‘A Century of Progress International Exposition,’ but in harmony with its island location.

The final tropical moderne design featured a large garden courtyard between the street and auditorium entrance, with lush plants surrounding a large fountain.

Inside, past fresco murals on the walls and ceiling, the atmospheric auditorium was flanked by lush artificial plants with the proscenium in the form of a rainbow, and tall artificial coconut palms on each side.  (TheatresOfHawaii)

No expense was spared in its construction and furnishings.  This was intended to be owner’s (Consolidated Amusement) deluxe flagship theater.

The 1,353-seat Waikīkī Theater opened with great fanfare on August 20, 1936.  “This first-class theatre survived as a single-screen house its entire life.”  (TheatresOfHawaii)   Dickey created an environment as charming and artificial as the image on the screen.  (Charlot)

In 1939, the Waikīkī Theatre was equipped with a Robert Morton theatre organ, which had originally been installed (with a twin console) in the Hawaiʻi Theatre in 1929.  (Peterson)

“No theater in the world has a more picturesque setting than Waikīkī.  Situated on the beach at Waikīkī, it stands on the site where once Hawaiʻi’s royalty played.  The playhouse now becomes a glorious new addition to the beach made famous in song and story.  It is the new center of activity of that district which long been the mecca of travelers from the world over.”  (Honolulu Advertiser; Alder)

“The auditorium is a revelation in theatrical architecture. Spacious, cool, it is acoustically correct in every detail. Perfect hearing and vision are available from every seat of the huge auditorium.”

“One of the most unique ideas in theatre ‘atmosphere’ has been incorporated in the decorations. The ceiling, done in soft blue, becomes a replica of the heavens through special lighting effects.”

“Stars twinkle, soft, fleecy clouds float about, the planets send off their soft light. The Waikīkī theatre is one of the few in the world in which this unusual lighting feature has been installed.”

“Through this lighting the great rainbow that spans the proscenium becomes a soft, misty, fairy arch rivaling in loveliness the great rainbows that arch Hawaiʻi’s skies.”  (Honolulu Advertiser, August 20, 1936; Del Valle)

“Inside the theater, it felt as if you were in a tropical paradise. A full-colored rainbow arched over the curtains that hid the screen. Along the side walls, there were palm trees that reached from floor to ceiling and lush jungle plants, which appeared absolutely real to my child’s eyes.”

“Then, a distinguished gentleman named Ed Sawtelle would appear and sit down at a large organ console, located just below and in front of the stage, and begin a concert that filled the hall with rolling music that vibrated off the walls.”

“About that time, with the house lights dimmed, someone would flip a switch and magical images of moving clouds would be projected onto the arched, midnight-blue ceiling, completing the illusion of having landed in the middle of a tropical jungle on a remote Pacific island.”

“Finally, the curtains would part and the show would start with a short cartoon and the Fox Movietone News. The ‘news’ events shown were about four weeks old by the time they got to Hawaiʻi, but that’s how we would find out what was happening in the world in those pre-television days.”  (Richard Kelley)

After successfully celebrating its first 30+years, and as the multiplex made movie-going more competitive, in 1969 the Waikīkī Theater name was relegated to Waikīkī #3 (following the construction of the Waikīkī #1 & #2 nearby.)

Renovations in the late-60s, and remodeling a decade or so later kept the theater on life support.   An expanded concession area replaced most of the forecourt, the interior decoration was removed and the auditorium draped.

“Imagine how much half an acre on Kalākaua Avenue is worth. By then, Consolidated was paying half a million dollars per year in property taxes - you have to sell a lot of popcorn to cover that.” (Lowell Angell, Theatre Historical Society of America; Hana Hou)

Waikīkī Theater (Waikīkī #3) remained a single screen theatre until it closed in late-November 2002; Waikīkī #1 & #2 closed at the same time.  They demolished all three in 2005 (the demolition started about 9-years ago, today.)

“Over the years, the movie business has changed dramatically. …  Multiplex theaters offer a variety of features almost any time of the day or night. Cartoons are now feature films. The news of the day is seen on one’s TV, laptop or cell phone.”

“The gracious theater usherettes have long since retired and have not been replaced. The guy at the door who takes your ticket is often dressed in a baggy T-shirt and jeans and barely looks up as he says, ’Your film will be shown in theater seven, second on the right.’”  (Richard Kelley)

The image shows the Waikīkī Theater in her early years.  I have added other images to a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Waikīkī Ranch and Dairy

Jay P Graves, son of John James Graves (who made his fortune in mining, streetcar and railroad on the continent) purchased about 1,000-acres of land in 1904 and started Waikīkī Ranch.

Like others with means in the day, he built a mansion; it was designed by architect Kirtland Cutter.  The Olmstead Brothers of Boston designed the gardens and water system, and the interiors were done by Elsie de Wolfe, America’s first well-known decorator.

Graves wanted the mansion to have a joyous atmosphere, which significantly influenced the Cutter design. The house has beautiful oak and maple floors, and unique molded-plaster ceilings.

Newspaper accounts note that a construction camp had been established on the property for the 25-100 workmen who were engaged in construction of the mansion. The camp was complete with a bunkhouse, commissary and mess tent.

The 23-room mansion and a number of smaller buildings were constructed at a cost of approximately $175,000 for construction and furnishings in 1911-1913.

Waikīkī Ranch had its own water system, which included a storage system of 100,000-gallons, as well as its own hydro-electric system, which provided all of the electrical requirements.

The beautiful staircase featured rare tigerwood and benches to sit.  The one-piece carved alabaster light fixture was of exceptional size and typical of Cutters details; leaded glass was throughout the home.

For nearly twenty-five years Graves continued to make additions and alterations to the property, often with Cutter designs.

The Graves entertained many of the nation's financial leaders and even royalty. Prince Albert, later King Albert of Belgium, was a visitor.

Waikīkī Ranch was said to have had the largest herd of thoroughbred Jersey Cattle in the Pacific. The dairy was well known throughout the world with breeding stock shipped as far away as China.

The Jersey was bred on the British Channel Island of Jersey. It apparently descended from cattle stock brought over from the nearby Norman mainland, and was first recorded as a separate breed around 1700.

Adaptable to hot climates, these are smaller cows are a popular breed due to the ability to carry a larger number of effective milking cows per unit area due to lower body weight, hence lower maintenance requirements and superior grazing ability (also the high butterfat content of its milk.)

The Waikīkī Dairy, founded in 1914, had its own special bottling, with bottles bearing in brilliant red lettering and around the bottom: “For the exclusive use of Waikīkī Dairy”.

In 1936, the mansion and remaining ranch property was sold to Mr. & Mrs. Charles E. Marr for $175,000. The Graves moved to Pasadena, California.

OK, before you exhaust yourself racking your brain trying to figure out where this 1,000-acre dairy/ranch was in Waikīkī … it wasn’t in Hawaiʻi, it was in Spokane, Washington.

But there are Hawaiʻi ties to the place.

Obviously the name, Waikīkī Ranch, is one.  Graves had visited Waikīkī and noted the meaning of its name, ‘spouting waters.’  Since the ranch had 24-natural springs, Graves thought it an appropriate name for his property.

There’s more.

Lots of Hawaiʻi students go to college on the former ranch property.

Gonzaga University purchased the Waikīkī Mansion and 9-acres of land in 1964 for $500,000 with the intention of using it for retreats and other events.

In 1983, the Waikīkī mansion was renamed the Bozarth Mansion and Retreat Center in honor of area wheat farmer, Horace and Christine Bozarth, who gave a substantial gift to renovate the mansion and pay off the remaining debt.

Gonzaga students formed the Hawaiʻi-Pacific Islanders Club and host an annual lūʻau for students and area residents.  The 45th annual lūʻau is held Saturday, March 29, 2014.

Another Spokane school has Waikīkī Ranch ties; the ranch originally included the land on which Whitworth University is presently located.

The Whitworth Hawaiian Club, Na Puʻuwai o Hawaiʻi (The Heart of Hawai’i), shares food and culture with the Whitworth and Spokane folks at its 44th annual lūʻau, Saturday, April 12, 2014.

The image shows the Waikīkī dairy milk bottle (ebay.)   In addition, I have added other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Waikīkī's Construction Evolution

The present Waikīkī has a land area of approximately 500-acres; it once was a vast marshland whose boundaries encompassed more than 2,000-acres.  Consistent with the character of the watered wetland of ancient Waikīkī, where water from the upland valleys would gush forth from underground, the name Waikīkī, which means “water spurting from many sources.”

Three main valleys Makiki, Mānoa and Pālolo are mauka of Waikīkī and through them their respective streams (and springs in Mānoa (Punahou and Kānewai)) watered the marshland below.

Since Maʻilikūkahi founded Waikīkī as a Royal Center of Oʻahu in the 1400s, Waikīkī served as the site of the royal residence and center of governance until 1809 (when Kamehameha I moved the government to Honolulu Harbor.)

Subsequent Kings and Queens visited and stayed in royal beach cottages in Waikīkī.  Mid- and late-19th century Hawaiian royalty were prominent among the first of the new wave to permanently settle in Waikīkī.  It was a place to escape to, as well as a pleasant location to entertain.

In 1877, Kapiʻolani Park was dedicated; its initial intent, through a 30-year lease, was to make available a limited number of beachfront cottage sites and a race track as an attraction.  In 1896, the Honolulu Park Commission took over management of the park and began to operate the park land and "permanently set (it) aside as a free public park and recreation ground forever."  (In 1913, the City and County of Honolulu took over the management and operation of the park.)

In the 1890s, Waikīkī drew the elite who constructed Victorian mansions.  Starting with James Campbell, Frank Hustace and WC Peacock, larger mansions began to be constructed in Waikīkī.  The later homes of William Irwin (1899) and James Campbell ("Kainalu," in 1899) epitomized the extravagance of luxury living.  The wealthy discovered the ultimate destination of Waikīkī.

Starting on a small scale, Waikīkī had a number of small residential tracks.  In February 1895 a small subdivision (13-lots, each approximately 5,000-square feet in size) was developed makai of Waikīkī Road (Kalākaua Avenue) and mauka of the John ‘Ena Road intersection.

Then, in 1897, a subdivision map for the Kekio tract was recorded.  The Kekio Tract, shaped somewhat like a triangle, was bounded by Lili‘uokalani Avenue, Waikīkī Road (Kalākaua Avenue), Makee Road (Kapahulu Avenue) and the lands of Kāneloa (Thomas Jefferson Elementary School).

As time went on, the royal estates were sold and subdivided on the dry areas of Waikīkī.  In 1921 the former estates of James Campbell and George Beckley were offered to perspective buyers by developer Waterhouse Trust Company.  With this subdivision the last of the large, readily-developable landholdings in Waikīkī had been broken up.

Further residential development would have to wait for the drainage of the area by the Ala Wai Canal.  Then, they started “land reclamation” projects on the coastal wetlands.

Back then, nearly 85% of present Waikīkī was in wetland.  The Army began the transformation of Waikīkī from wetlands to solid ground at Fort DeRussy and it served as a model that others followed (1909.)

The Waikīkī wetlands were characterized as, “stretched useless, unsightly, offensive swamps, perpetually breeding mosquitoes and always a menace to public health and welfare”.  The Territory saw the opportunity to drain and fill the land that “was valueless” to be “available for the growth of the business district of the city” and attain “a valuation greatly in excess of the cost of the filling and draining.”

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, all of the streams were diverted into the canal and stopped flowing through Waikīkī.)

Walter Dillingham's Hawaiian Dredging Company dredged the canal and sold the material he had dredged to create the canal to build up the newly created land.  (The canal is still routinely dredged, most recently in 2003.)

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 created the opportunity for the development of Waikīkī as Hawai‘i’s primary visitor destination, but also expanded the district’s potential for residential use.

Before reclamation, assessed values for property were at about $500-per acre and the same property was reclaimed at ten cents per square foot, making a total cost of $4,350-per acre.  The selling price after reclamation, $6,500 to $7,000-per acre, showed the financial benefit of the reclamation efforts.

In 1924, the first post-canal residential venture, the McCarthy Subdivision, owned by and named for the Territory’s Governor McCarthy, was makai of what would become Ala Wai Boulevard.  The property, roughly triangular in shape and widest on the Diamond Head side, was bisected by Lili‘uokalani, ‘Ōhua and Paoakalani Avenues.

The mid- and late-1920s saw more and more of Waikīkī being subdivided into residential lots until most of the area was gridded into residential plots.  Before and during this time of residential development, there were hotels.

Hawai‘i's first accommodations for transients were established sometime after 1810, when Don Francisco de Paula Marin “opened his home and table to visitors on a commercial basis ... Closely arranged around the Marin home were the grass houses of his workers and the ‘guest houses’ of the ship captains who boarded with him while their vessels were in port.”

By 1820, Anthony D Allen (a former slave from the continent) owned a dozen houses, “within the enclosure were his dwelling, eating and cooking houses, with many more for a numerous train of dependents. There was also a well, a garden containing principally squashes, and in one part, a sheepfold in which was one cow, several sheep, and three hundred goats.”  (Sybil Bingham Journal)

Reverend Charles Stewart notes of Allen’s place in his journal, “… it is a favourite resort of the more respectable of the seamen who visit Honoruru. …”

While these were part of the first hotel uses in the islands, as time went on, downtown Honolulu had the core of the hotel supply, and Waikīkī, two-miles away by foot over dirt roads, was not considered in the accommodation business.

But that changed.

Sans Souci Hotel, a Waikīkī beachfront resort that opened in 1884 and offered private cottages and bathing facilities, turned it into an internationally-known resort after it hosted writer Robert Louis Stevenson, who wrote about staying there for five weeks in 1893.

In the late-1890s, with additional steamships to Honolulu, the visitor arrivals to Oʻahu were increasing.  When Hawaiʻi became a US territory (June 14, 1900,) it was drawing cruise ship travelers to the islands; they needed a place to stay.  Hotels blossomed, including Waikīkī’s oldest surviving hotel, the Moana Hotel. Often called the "First Lady of Waikīkī," the Moana Hotel has been a Hawaiʻi icon since its opening opened on March 11, 1901.

By 1918, Hawai‘i had 8,000 visitors annually, and by the 1920s Matson Navigation Company ships were bringing an increasing number of wealthy visitors.  This prompted a massive addition to the Moana.  In 1918, two floors were added along with concrete wings on each side, doubling the size of the hotel.

On February 1, 1927, the Royal Hawaiian (nicknamed The Pink Palace) was officially opened with the gala event of the decade.  Over 1,200-guests were invited for the celebration that started at 6:30 pm and lasted until 2 am.  Over the subsequent decades, promotional efforts grew and so did the number of visitors.

1955 saw the first of a new wave of hotel construction.  Three high-rise hotels opened in Waikīkī that year: the Princess Kaʻiulani, the Reef Hotel and the Waikīkī Biltmore (which itself became a victim of progress and was imploded to make room for what is now the Hyatt Regency Waikīkī.)  Another hotel - Henry Kaiser's Hawaiian Village, which was not yet a high-rise, opened its first 70-rooms.

Between 1950 and 1974, domestic and international visitor numbers shot up to more than 2-million from less than 50,000.  Statehood and the arrival of jet-liner air travel brought unprecedented expansion and construction, in Waikīkī and across the Islands.

Construction’s dominant role in the state’s economy dates back to Statehood in 1959, which focused tremendous investment interest, as well as visitor interest, in Hawai‘i. Construction activity accelerated in the mid-1960s, and accounted for 8.2% of the State’s Gross State Product in 1970.  The driving force in this increase in construction was the post-statehood tourism boom and related investment activity.  The industry hit post-statehood peaks in 1960, 1970, 1975, 1980, and 1992. (DBEDT)

The image shows locations and dates of Waikīkī construction evolution (over Google Earth.)

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March 6, 1899

"It has been a strange life, really, and a very romantic one."

On October 16, 1875, a child was born to Princess Miriam Likelike (the youngest sister of King Kalākaua) and Archibald Cleghorn.  The child, the only direct descendant of the Kalākaua dynasty, was named Victoria Kawekiu Kaʻiulani Lunalilo Kalaninui Ahilapalapa.

On March 9, 1891, Princess Victoria Kaʻiulani Cleghorn was duly appointed and proclaimed heir apparent to the Hawaiian throne.

Kaʻiulani inherited 10-acres of land in Waikīkī from her godmother, Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani.  Originally called Auaukai, Princess Likelike (Kaʻiulani's mother) named it ʻĀinahau; Princess Kaʻiulani spent most of her life there.

The stream that flowed through ʻĀinahau and emptied into the ocean between the Moana and Royal Hawaiian Hotels (where the present Outrigger Hotel is located,) was called ʻApuakehau (the middle of three rivers that used to run through Waikīkī.)

The family built a two-story home on the estate.  At first the home was used only as a country estate, but Princess Kaʻiulani's family loved it so much, it soon became their full time residence.

Sadly, Kaʻiulani died, March 6, 1899.

The New York Times obituary (March 18, 1899) read, “Princess Kaʻiulani died March 6 of inflammatory rheumatism contracted several weeks ago while of a visit to the Island of Hawaii.”

“The funeral of the Princess will occur on Sunday, March 12, from the old native church (Kawaiahaʻo,) and will be under the direction for the Government. The ceremonies will be on a scale befitting the rank of the young Princess.”

“The body is lying in state at ʻĀinahau, the Princess’s old home. Thousands of persons, both native and white, have gone out to the place, and the whole town is in mourning. Flags on the Government buildings are at half mast, as are those on the residences of the foreign Consuls.”

Kaʻiulani had gone to the Waimea on the Big Island to visit Helen and Eva Parker, daughters of Samuel “Kamuela” Parker (1853–1920,) grandson of John Parker (founder of the Parker Ranch.)  (When his grandfather died, in 1868, Samuel (at the age of 15) inherited half the Parker Ranch, with his uncle John Palmer Parker II (1827–1891) inheriting the other half.)

While attending a wedding at the ranch, Princess Kaʻiulani and the girls had gone out riding horseback on Parker Ranch; they encountered a rainstorm.  Kaʻiulani became ill; she and her family returned to O‘ahu.

Tragically, after a two-month illness, Kaʻiulani died at ʻĀinahau, at age 23.

Kaʻiulani became a friend of author Robert Louis Stevenson.  He had come to Hawaiʻi due to ill health.  In his writings, Robert Louis Stevenson endearingly recalled that Princess Victoria Kaʻiulani was "...more beautiful than the fairest flower."

He was a frequent guest and used to read passages of poetry to the young Princess under the banyan tree.  Reportedly, the first banyan tree in Hawaiʻi was planted on the grounds of ʻĀinahau.

As many as fifty peacocks, favorites of the young Princess, were allowed to roam freely on the grounds.

Prior to her departure to study abroad, Stevenson wrote a farewell poem to the princess in her autograph book:

“Forth from her land to mine she goes,
The Island maid, the Island rose;
Light of heart and bright of face:
The daughter of a double race.

Her islands here, in Southern sun,
Shall mourn their Kaʻiulani gone,
And I, in her dear banyan shade,
Look vainly for my little maid.

But our Scots islands far away
Shall glitter with unwonted day,
And cast for once their tempests by
To smile in Kaʻiulani’s eye.”

A notation in Stevenson’s poem book further noted, “Written in April in the April of her age; and at Waikīkī, within easy walk of Kaʻiulani’s banyan!  When she comes to my land and her father’s, and the rain beats upon the window (as I fear it will,) let her look at this page; it will be like a weed gathered and pressed at home; and she will remember her own islands, and the shadow of the mighty tree; and she will hear the peacocks screaming in the dusk and the wind blowing in the palms; and she will think of her father sitting there alone.”

It is said that the night Kaʻiulani died, her peacocks screamed so loud that people could hear them miles away and knew that she had died.

The image shows Princess Kaʻiulani in the 1890s.  In addition, I have included other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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John Ena

Shortly after the arrival of Captain James Cook and his crews in 1778, the Chinese found their way to Hawaiʻi.  Some suggest Cook’s crew gave information about the “Sandwich Islands” when they stopped in Macao in December 1779, near the end of the third voyage.

As more ships came, crewmen from China were employed as cooks, carpenters and artisans; and Chinese businessmen sailed as passengers to America. Some of these men disembarked in Hawaiʻi and remained as new settlers.

The growth of the Sandalwood trade with the Chinese market (where mainland merchants brought cotton, cloth and other goods for trade with the Hawaiians for their sandalwood – who would then trade the sandalwood in China) opened the eyes and doors to Hawaiʻi.  The sandalwood trade lasted for nearly half a century – 1792 to 1843.  (Nordyke & Lee)

The Chinese pioneered another Hawaiʻi industry – sugar.  Starting in the 1850s, when the Hawaiian Legislature passed "An Act for the Governance of Masters and Servants," a section of which provided the legal basis for contract-labor system, labor shortages were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America.

Among the Chinese in the Hawaiian Islands before the importation of sugar labor in 1852, there was a group who settled in Hilo. They were all sugar manufacturers or "sugar masters"; they all married Hawaiian women.

The Chinese names of the men in this group were Hawaiianized; one of them, Zane (or Tseng) Shang Hsien (pronounced In) became known as John Ena.  (Chinese 'Shang' sounds like John; the last name Ena is pronounced as a long e; he also went by Keoni Ina and a couple other variations of the name.)

John Ena was one of the group of Chinese men who had a sugar plantation and mill on Ponahawai hill; he may have been in Kohala before coming to Hilo.

This early sugar mill was started in 1839 by Lau Fai (AL Hapai,) Zane Shang Hsien (John Ena Sr) and Tang Chow (Akau) along Alenaio stream by today’s Hilo Central Fire Station. Zane Moi (Amoi) had the plantation producing 20,000-lbs of sugar by 1851. But the mill burned down in 1855 and they abandoned the property.  (Narimatsu)

In addition to John Ena's association with the other Chinese in the Ponahawai sugar plantation, he was also associated at various times with Chinese groups in the plantations at Paukaʻa, Pāpaʻikou and Amauʻulu. (Kai)

It is not known how much influence these early sugar plantations had upon the later development of the sugar industry in Hawaiʻi, but it is known that they were the pioneers, struggling with the problems of labor, droughts, fluctuating prices, water supplies, and probably insects, rats and other difficulties that plague the commercial growing of sugar.  (Kai)

Sometime before 1842, Ena married Kaikilani "Aliʻi Wahine O Puna;" she is said to be part of the Kamehameha line, going back to Lonoikamakahiki.  The Enas had three children: daughters, Amoe Ululani Kapukalakala, born in 1842 (later married to High Chief Levi Haʻalelea and Laura Amoy Kekukapuokekuaokalani, born in 1844 or 1845 (later, Laura Coney.)

An interesting insight into John Ena’s attitude toward the education of his children is noted in a letter written by the Reverend Titus Coan to Dr Charles H Wetmore in 1850, when Dr Wetmore was away from Hilo: "Keoni Ina is anxious to get a strip of land 8 fathoms wide on the makai side of your makai field running from Punahoa Street (formerly Church Street, now Haili) to More's fence. He says he only wishes to put a dwelling house … (so) that his children may be nearer school."  (Kai)

Dr. Wetmore was apparently not interested in selling this land, but John Ena did get land near to the school. In 1851, he leased almost an acre from a Hawaiian man named Kalakuaioha for twenty years. This was on the Puna side of the present Haili Street, between Kinoʻole and Kilauea Streets.  (Kai)

These Chinese settlers were written about by the editor of the Polynesian in 1858 (possibly referring to Amoe Ululani Ena):  “In Hilo, I was told, over and over again, the girls of half-Chinese and half-Hawaiian origin were the best educated, the most fluent in the English language, the neatest housewives, and the most likely young ladies. …”

“One young lady of such origin … was married just before I arrived to a chief of considerable wealth, and if all that is said about her is true, he ought to be looking upon himself as one of the happiest and luckiest of men, for besides being possessed of the usual attractions, the bride, they say, is sensible.”

“The gossip in the village Hilo … was that she laid down some most excellent conditions, and only upon receiving a promise that they would be observed, did she consent to renounce her parents care. … But fancy a young country girl, whose world had been the village of Hilo, with an ardent, not to say remarkably well-off lover at her feet, dictating the terms upon which she would consent to become rich, dress handsomely and live in a large house in the metropolis! Ah, John Chinaman, your pains were not thrown away." (Kai)

A son to John Ena Sr and Kaikilani, John Ena Jr, was born November 18 1845 in Hilo.  He is the subject of the rest of this summary.

John Ena Jr worked at various trades until at the age of thirty-four he became a clerk for TR Foster & Co of Honolulu. This firm owned a fleet of seven schooners plying among the islands and soon acquired its first steamer in 1883 as the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Co, and Ena invested heavily in the stock.  He became president of Inter-Island Steam Navigation Co in 1899.

Inter-Island’s ships traveled to Kauaʻi and the Kona and Kaʻū Coasts of the island of Hawai‘i.  The Wilder Company served the island of Maui and the windward port of Hilo.  In 1905, Ena merged Inter-Island with the Wilder Company, under the Inter-Island name.  (Later, Inter-Island became Inter-Island Airways (1941,) then Hawaiian Airlines (1947.))

Ena was a member of the House of Nobles and the Privy Council under the Kalākaua and Liliʻuokalani and was decorated in 1888 by King Kalākaua.

He served with the Board of Health under the Provisional Government and was a member of the constitutional convention that set up the Republic of Hawaiʻi.  He reportedly circulated and published the newspaper Ka Naʻi Aupuni in 1905.

Ena died on December 12, 1906 in Long Beach, California.

When Henry J Kaiser planned and developed his Waikīkī resort in 1954, he and his partner purchased 7.7-acres of Waikīkī beachfront property from the John Ena Estate and several adjoining properties.

In mid-1955 the first increment of what is now the Hilton Hawaiian Village opened for business; the first self-contained visitor resort in Waikīkī.  A nearby road, Ena Road, was named after John Ena (Jr.)

The image shows John Ena Jr.  I have added other images to a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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