Kanahā Pond

According to archaeologists Tomonari-Tuggle and Welch, changes shown on various maps suggest that the entire coastal area mauka of Kahului Bay was once marsh land, and could have been a natural formation that was only slightly modified by Hawaiians for fish cultivation.

Though their early history and even the actual boundaries of the wetlands to which they belonged are uncertain, we know that the swampy Kahului of old came to an end with the harbor dredging. A network of canals still drains groundwater from beneath the town’s coral-fill foundation.

A pair of fishponds, Kanahā and Mauoni, were located near the coastal area of Kahului Bay (between the present harbor and the airport.) Both Mauoni and Kanahā were naturally occurring, inland freshwater ponds whose shapes were altered by early Hawaiian fishpond builders.

The ponds were used for storing and fattening fish, because Hawaiian kapu prohibited catching or eating fish from the sea during the yearly spawning season. It was permissible, however, to eat fish taken from freshwater ponds.

Mauoni extended to the old County Fairgrounds area, near the present Safeway.  Just east of the current harbor facilities is the Kanahā Fishpond, which is said to have been built by Chief Kihapiʻilani, brother-in-law of ‘Umi.

Kihapi‘ilani, a ruling chief of Maui in the early 1700s, was living at Kahului where he “began the transporting of the stones for the walls of the ponds Manoni [Mau‘oni] and Kanahā. He is the one who separated the water of the pond, giving it two names” (Dye).

“The kuapā is still there to this day, but a large portion of it has been lost, covered under the sands flying in the winds.”  (Manu in Nupepa Ku Okoa, August 23, 1884, Maly)

According to another tradition, Kapiiohookalani, King of O‘ahu and half of Moloka‘i, “built the banks of kuapa of Kanahā and Mauoni, known as the twin ponds of Kapiioho—for the purpose he used men from Oʻahu and Molokaʻi, as well as those of Maui under his aunt Papaikaniau. “ (Dye)

“Tradition relates that the laborers stood so closely together that they passed the stones from hand to hand ... Before the ponds were finished, Kapiioho had been killed by Alapainui of Hawaii at the battle of Kawela, Molokai. He was survived by a daughter Kahamaluihiikeaoihilani and son Kanahāokalani.” (Dye)

During King Kamehameha’s campaign to unify the Hawaiian Islands, the principal military encounter on Maui took place within Kahului Bay, in the area around the pond.  For two days, there was constant fighting between the two sides until Kamehameha conquered them with the help of the military expertise and cannons of his western advisors, John Young and Isaac Davis.

It was a bloody battle and by the time it was over, the beach between Kahului and Pāʻia was covered with the canoes and bodies of fallen warriors.

When Kahului Bay was dredged in the early 1900s to deepen the harbor, the material that was removed was dumped on low-lying ground along the shore. In the process, the remains of an ancient fishpond disappeared (like most of the large ponds in the Hawaiian Islands that have been degraded or filled for development.)

Over the years, the Fairgrounds, the Kahului Industrial Area, parts of Dream City and much of commercial Kahului were filled in or dried out - or both - leaving Kanahā Pond just a small patch of a extensive wetland that extended to where Queen Ka'ahumanu Center was built.

Since the turn of the twentieth century, the pond has functioned primarily as a waterfowl and shorebird sanctuary.

Before the Second World War, Kanahā Pond was owned by the Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company. During the War, the HC&S donated the land, which included Kanahā Pond, to the US Navy.

In 1951 the Hawaiian government formally designated the pond as a bird refuge. The pond is home to two endangered species - the Hawaiian Stilt and the Hawaiian Coot, as well as providing sanctuary to many migrant shorebirds and waterfowl.

In 1959 the state legislature appropriated funds to improve the habitat and the Maui County government appointed a Citizens Advisory Committee.

More funding was obtained, and in 1961 the state legislature made long-term plans which included bird-feeding stations, observation areas and a picnic area, as well as an experimental dredging to try to eliminate the offensive odor, which manifested itself during the summer months.

Due to the continued destruction of many of Hawai'i's wetland areas Kanahā Pond was designated a registered natural landmark in late 1971 by the Department of the Interior, one of only two such sites registered at the time.

Kanahā Pond provides one of the most important waterbird habitat in Hawaiʻi. It is one of the few remaining brackish-water ecosystems, providing refuge for both resident and migratory bird populations.

The pond and surrounding area are within the Kahului Airport jurisdiction.  DOT has set the land aside for public recreation and wildlife purposes.  Even though it is habitat for local and migratory birds (not the best of neighbors of airports,) since 1973, DOT and FAA have allowed construction of protective moats and nesting places, improvement of observation shelters and occasional dredging.

Today, the pond provides opportunities to see Hawaiian Stilts and Hawaiian Coots and other waterbirds from a small concrete observation area, which is located just off from the parking lot. The refuge is open all year and there are no entrance fees.

The image shows Kanahā Pond as it generally looks today (WC-Starr;) 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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© 2013 Hoʻokuleana LLC

After December 7, 1941 - Submarines Continue Attack on Hawaiʻi

Most are very aware of the December 7, 1941 attacks by the Japanese on military installations on Oʻahu.

Their targets were Pearl Harbor; Hickam, Wheeler and Bellows airfields; Ewa Marine Corps Air Station; Kaneohe Bay Naval Air Station and Schofield Barracks.

However, the attacks by the Japanese on Hawaiʻi did not end on December 7th.

A group of about nine Japanese submarines were kept in the vicinity of Hawaiʻi until mid-January - they were stationed there to find out just how much damage had been done to the American military.

In addition, they tried to do what damage they could, as well as stir up concern in the civilian population about the war.

Before December was over, the Japanese submarines brought war home to the neighbor islands.  Not by air attacks, but with periodic shelling from their submarines.

Over the next few weeks, on several occasions, they shelled more targets in Hawaiʻi - and, those attacks were not isolated to military targets; later in the month, civilian facilities were the intended targets.

Just before dusk on December 15th, a submarine lobbed about ten shells into the harbor area of Kahului on Maui, and three that hit a pineapple cannery caused limited damage.

Over a 2½-hour period during the night of December 30 - 31, submarines engaged in similar and nearly simultaneous shellings of Nawiliwili on Kauaʻi, again on Kahului, Maui and Hilo on the Big Island.

Damage at all three points was slight, and no one was hurt. The principal result of these shellings was to stir up the war consciousness of all the Hawaiian Islands.

A report of the Kauaʻi shelling states, "At around 1:30 a.m. on the moonlit night of December 30, 1941, an enemy Japanese submarine estimated to be about 4 miles offshore shelled Nawiliwili Harbor with least 15 three-inch shells in what was the only attack on Kauai during WWII."  (kalapakibeach-org)

"The shrapnel from one shell riddled every room in the home of CL Shannon, which was located over the Kauaʻi Marine & Machine Works, Shannon's business, then situated along the stretch of harbor between what are today the Matson and Young Brothers terminals."

On the bluff above the harbor, where the bulk sugar storage warehouse stands today, a shell started a small cane fire.  Most of the shells were duds. One punctured a gasoline storage tank, others created water plumes in the bay.

Merchant Marine William S. Chambers, on a cargo ship docked in Kahului, noted. "We were shelled by a Japanese submarine in Kahului Harbor on December 30th, 1941, shortly before we left for San Francisco."  No damage was reported at Kahului.

Ten rounds were fired at ships docked at Kahului piers.  Two shells fell harmlessly into the harbor. Four rounds hit the Maui Pineapple Company cannery, doing some damage to the roof and smokestack. One fell on the driveway of the Maui Vocational School, another in a waste lumber pile on Pier I, and one broke a few windows at the Pacific Guano and Fertilizer building. Army guns unsuccessfully returned fire.

The second attack on Kahului, on December 31, took place after General Order No. 14 established wartime censorship in Hawai'i and therefore received limited coverage.

The News did, however, mention in its first edition of 1942 that Maui police, navy and marine forces, as well as "HC & S Co. cowboys," were patrolling on horseback to prevent looting. The death toll from the attacks: one unfortunate chicken.

None of the damage was considered major. Some frightened Kahului residents started to flee, but police and Boy Scouts persuaded them to return home.

In Hilo, residents were roused when a submarine surfaced about three miles offshore and open fired on Hilo Bay.  Ten rounds, with high explosive shells hit a seaplane tender, the pier and started a small fire in the vicinity of Hilo Airport.

In addition, I have added a few other images and maps of the areas targeted by the Japanese submarines in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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

http://plus.google.com/108947657421184863425

© 2012 Hoʻokuleana LLC

"Dream City"

In 1843, as kids, Samuel Thomas Alexander and Henry Perrine Baldwin, sons of pioneer missionaries, met in Lahainā, Maui. They grew up together, became close friends and went on to develop a sugar-growing partnership that spanned generations and left an indelible mark on Hawaiʻi.

Fast forward 100-years to 1949, Alexander & Baldwin formed Kahului Development Co., Ltd. (KDCo) (the predecessor of A&B Properties, Inc.) to serve as a development arm of the agricultural-based entity.

This timing coincided with the sugar company's plan to close down some plantation camps.  To provide for housing for its sugar workers, as well as meet post-WWII housing demand, KDCo announced a new residential development in Central Maui, in the area we now refer to as Kahului.

"Dream City," a planned residential community was launched and over the next couple decades 3,500+ fee simple homes were offered for sale in 14-increments of the new development.

While the community originally was planned to house the company’s workers from Hawai‘i Commercial and Sugar (mills and plantations) and Kahului Railroad Co., the company decided to not limit ownership to their own employees.

Part of the prior plantation philosophy was to house imported laborers in camps, usually segregated by ethnic groups.  However, one goal of Dream City was to bring together the then-existing 25 plantation communities into a single planned modern urban setting.

Planning for the project took 2-years, under the services of Harland Bartholomew of Harland Bartholomew & Associates, St. Louis - a nationally recognized planning firm.

The first task was to identify the housing and living problems in central Maui, then develop a master plan on how best a new community could be designed.

Under this 25-year plan, Kahului quickly became one of the first and most successful planned towns west of the Rockies - and the first in Hawai‘i.

The homes were concrete and hollow-tile construction and thoroughly modern.  There are 17 different designs available. Each had three bedrooms and a floor space of 1,090 square feet, plus a garage.

The price (generally $6,000 to $9,200 - with terms of $600 down and payments of $50 per month) included all the bathroom fixtures, the kitchen sink, laundry trays, clothesline, all the fixtures, including switches and floor plugs.

The price did not include the landscape or furniture or kitchen appliances. The landscape work was to be done under the direction of the University of Hawaiʻi agricultural extension service, Maui branch.

The plan for Kahului included spaces for modern business and shopping centers, schools, churches, playgrounds and recreation facilities.  In 1951, the company built and opened the Kahului Shopping Center - Hawaiʻi's third shopping center (behind Aloha (in Waipahu) and ʻĀina Haina.)

In January of 1948, Franklin D Richards, Director of the Federal Housing Administration described the new Kahului town housing project as the Nation's "outstanding" development.

Mr. Richards said, "That house in Kahului is absolutely the best of its kind I have seen in 15 years' experience as head of the FHA. I sincerely believe the Kahului home to represent the maximum in low-cost housing. There is nothing better in my experience in the continental United States, Alaska, Puerto Rico, or Hawaii."

Reportedly, on July 25, 1950, Masaru Omuri carried his wife Evelyn over the threshold of their new home. It made the headlines in the local paper. The Omuris were the first of many residents to move into the Dream City (the "new Kahului.")

As the development proceeded, the plantation villages were closed down, one by one, according to a schedule that gave the workers and the workers unions ten years' advance notice.

It was announced that the plantation planned to be out of the housing business within ten years of the start of the project, and February 1, 1963, was the date it was all supposed to shut down. It took a little longer than that, but the schedule was implemented pretty much as planned.

The first homes were built along each side of Puʻunene Avenue on lots between 9,000 and 10,000 square feet.  The average price of these homes, as announced in July, 1949, was $7,250 each.

The development outpaced all of the planners' expectations. At its peak, it was reported, houses and lots were being sold every two minutes.

The image shows the Dream City Master Plan Map in 1947.  In addition, I have added some other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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

http://plus.google.com/108947657421184863425

© 2012 Hoʻokuleana LLC