A Glimpse of Hawaii

If you go to the movies at any Consolidated Theatre in Hawaii, you will see this trailer. This gem captures Hawaii in less than a minute and a half. It is an example of commercialism meeting culture. It was only going to be played in theaters for one year and it’s still being played more than twenty-five years later. For the story of this gem, click here.

Iolani Palace about 1882 shortly after its completion; The grounds are being developed but the flagpoles are not yet on the towers; To the right is Hale Kinau the old private (home where Kalakaua & Queen lived so long)

Photograph circa 1882, courtesy the Hawai’i State Archives, from the Lorraine Kuck Collection. Reference PPWD-1-8-011. Link

This photo is dated November 20, 1886. Henri Berger’s band (The Royal Hawaiian Band) is leading King Kalakaua’s Jubilee parade. At King and Fort Streets.

“King David Kalākaua commemorated his 50th birthday with a two-week celebration of Hawaiian culture on the ʻIolani Palace grounds. Known as the “Silver Jubilee,” the 1886 festivities featured hoʻopaʻa (chanters) and ʻōlapa (dancers) performing in public for the first time in years.” The link to the full article can be found HERE.

Photo courtesy of the Hawaii State Archives, Call Number PP-36-9-005, Title Henri Berger’s band leading King Kalakaua’s Jubilee parade. Website Link

This is Kamoiliili Church in the Moiliili area of Honolulu. It was located where the Contessa condiminium is now located. The burials at the cemetery at this church were removed ard re-buried at Kawaiahao Church’s cemetery near where the bell is located. There are stories that say not all the bones were removed and that the property is now haunted. So the story goes, sometimes when the elevator reaches the ground floor, a group of people with no feet drifts out into the lobby.

• Description – Moiliili, Honolulu; Part Stone, Part Wood; Restored in 1900 – Called Rice Memorial Church. Built around 1846 -; Photo 1898 – -99? [from the front]: 100 Kamoiliili Church. Hawaii State Archives Photograph Collection PPWD-2-9-025 The photo can be found online at this link.

Fort Street, Downtown Honolulu, Circa 1865

Courtesy Hawaii State Archives, Photograph Collection, PP-38-2-006 Photo may be found here.

This is the description from the Hawaii State Archives entry:

Ichabod Bartlett’s Family Grocery and Feed store is shown at the left. This store is located on the main floor of the Odd Fellow’s Building, which was erected in 1860. The Lodge used the upper floor. The corner stone of this building was laid with appropriate ceremonies April 29, 1859. About the middle of the year 1860 the building was completed. The Odd Fellows continued to meet at this hall from 1860 to 1902, a period of 42 years. In the later part of 1901 the Lodge received notice from the Territorial Government of its intention to widen Fort street. Albion F. Clark was authorized by the Lodge to sell the land needed by the government. It was considered impractical to build another front on the building. The Government paid the Lodge $5516. for the land it took for street widening. The Lodge then demolished the building, purchased a small piece of land from the James Campbell estate, and put up a new building, which was dedicated August 1, 1904. The property was eventually sold, July, 1924, for $150,000. Now (1952) occupied by the Liberty House. I. Bartlett’s store advertised a long list of groceries and feed. On December 1, 1870 Mr. Bartlett sold out his interests in the store to Judd & Layton. Bartlett appears to have gone to California, for he died in Oakland February 27, 1874. J. O’Neill’s Tavern was located at the Corner of Fort and King streets, the edge of the building shows at the extreme left of the picture. McIntyre’s grocery was located on the right corner of King Street. Steeple of the Fort street church is shown in the distance.

The photo credit is: original – Chase, Henry L. (1831-1901); copy – Baker, Ray Jerome (1880-1972)

This is a photograph of the dredging of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, circa 1911. Forty years later on December 7, 1941, Japan would bomb this strategic American naval installation in the Pacific – between the continental United States and Asia, drawing the United States into World War II.

Photograph courtesy the Hawaii State Archives. Photograph Collection, PPWD-13-1-001. Photograph may be found here.

Here’s a glimpse of Honolulu when Hawaii was still a sovereign nation. This is Fort Street, Honolulu Hawaii, 1884. Benson, Smith and Hollister & Company were drug stores. Note the horse-drawn street car. David Kalakaua was the reigning monarch in 1884. He was elected the king of Hawaii in 1874 and passed away in 1891. When this photo was taken no one could have foreseen that in nine short years, the Kingdom of Hawaii would be overthrown.

Photo courtesy of the Hawaii State Archives, call number  PP-6-6-006. It may be found at this link.

This was part of Aloha Park, an amusement park in Waikiki. It was located on Kalakaua Avenue opposite MucCully Street. The park opened on September 14, 1922. According to the Hawaii State Archives’ description, “this device was used by a ‘dare devil’ bicycle rider to loop the loop. It was still incomplete in the picture. The Park ran for a few years and finally folded up.” The photo credit is Henry F. Hill (1863-1948) and the photograph was a gift of Ray Jerome Baker (1880-1972). The photograph date is circa 1920s.

Hawaii State Archives, Parks – Aloha, PPWD-12-11-012

Find the photograph online here.

This is the historic Moana Hotel shortly after it’s opening on March 11, 1901

Photo of the Moana Hotel courtesy the Hawaii State Archives. Reference PP-42-2-011. The photo can be found at this link.

This photo of downtown Honolulu was taken in 1884. The description says “Up Nuuanu St. from Waterfron.t About 1884. This photo is from the Hawaii State Archives. The title is “Honolulu” and the reference is PP-38-4-001. This is the link.

‘Iolani Palace

Iolani Palace, about 1883; Original Photo By: Photographer Unknown; When Copied: About 1946; Data: Iolani Palace was built during the years 1880-1881; The corner stone was laid December 31, 1879; The building cost $350,000; Between 1883 and 1887 Lanai lamps changed-1887; Bartgas ? 1975. (wall taken down in 1889)

Hawaii State Archives, Title – Buildings, Government – Iolani Palace, Series – PPWD, Box # – 1, Folder # – 8, Image # – 018

The Alexander Young Hotel

The Alexander Young Hotel was built by Scottish immigrant Alexander Young. The 192-room hotel opened its doors in 1902. Alexander Young would go on to own the Moana Hotel and the original Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

In the years between World War I and World War II, the Alexander Young Hotel’s Roof Garden was one of Honolulu’s most fashionable social venues.

During World War I, the United States Army used the second floor of the hotel while Fort Shafter was being completed. During World War II, the United States military occupied most of the hotel. In 1964, the building was converted to an office building. Some of the Alexander Young Building’s tenants were doctors and dentists. One of the first temporary jobs I had after moving to Honolulu in 1979 was for a dentist in the Alexander Young Building.

Sadly, the building was demolished in 1981 to make way for Tamarind Park and the Pauahi Tower.

For further reading about Alexander Young, see Peter T. Young’s Ho’okuleana.

James Campbell Building

The first photograph is of the James Campbell Building on the corner of Fort Street and Hotel Street in 1919. In those days, Fort Street was open to vehicular traffic. It did not become a pedestrian mall until 1968.

The second photo is the same building in 2021. I took This photograph on May 12, 2021. Those of you who are familiar with downtown Honolulu will recognize it as the building where Fisher Hawaii ‘s downtown store is located.

Here is some up-close detail on the building.

Th eagle on the corner about the top window:

The decoration below the top window on the corner:

For some background on the building, see Peter T. Young’s article on the James Campbell Building.

See Dai Do Society

What is the See Dai Doo Society? Read about this benevolent society here.

The summary from the Library of Congress for this photo is: “Photograph shows Hawaiian swimmer and surfer Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku (1890-1968) and swimmer Vincent “Zen” Genoves with their manager, Lew Henderson and E.K. “Dude” Miller. The Hawaiian swimmers came to New York for the Olympic trials in 1912. (Source: Flickr Commons project, 2012.”

The United States competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. Duke Kahanamoku won a Gold Medal for the Men’s 100 Meter Free-Style event. It took place from Saturday, July 6, 1912 to Wednesday, July 10, 1912. He would go on win two more Gold Medals in 1920 and two Silver Medals one in 1912 and the second in 1924.

Photograph Credit: Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print. Call Number: LC-B2- 2371-6 [P&P].

Haleiwa Hotel

The Haleiwa Hotel opened it’s doors on August 5, 1899. Each room had a telephone connection to the front desk and a bathroom with hot and cold running water. Benjamin Dillingham developed this luxurious hotel to entice passengers to take the three-hour, fifty-six mile rail journey from Honolulu to Haleiwa. Mr. Dillingham built the Oahu Railway & Land Company to transport sugar from the North Shore to Honolulu Harbor, And with the opening of the hotel, he transported people as well. Weekend getaways to Haleiwa became very popular with Honolulu’s affluent population.

Photo courtesy of Hawaii State Archives Call Number – PP-41-10-009. Historical information derived from Waikiki Time Machine.

Aloha Tower, one of O’ahu’s iconic landmarks, is a retired lighthouse. It opened its doors on September 11, 1926. The ten-story building topped with a flag mast was the tallest building in Hawaii for four decades. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, it was painted in camouflage so that it would disappear at night. 

Although it’s no longer a lighthouse, it still welcomes vessels  into Honolulu Harbor. 

Honolulu Harbor before Aloha Tower.

This is Fort Street in downtown Honolulu sometime between 1900 and 1915. At one time, Fort Street was the shopping district in Honolulu.

During the 1800s and into the 1950s, Fort Street was home to some of the largest department stores in Hawaii. Then Ala Moana Center opened in 1959 and the department stores migrated to what was at one time one of the largest outdoor shopping malls in the United States. In 1968, Fort Street was converted into a pedestrian mall. Source: Fort Street Mall

The following photo is the way it looks today (photo was taken on November 21, 2020).

Fort Street from South King Street ca. 1911.

Where I live, there are rainbows.

This view is looking toward the mountains from Downtown Honolulu.

Photograph © 2021 Jeanne Alice Moore

One of these days, COVID will pass and things will open up again. Then we’ll be able to get out and socials the way we once did.

At the Makai Market Food Court at Ala Moana Center, Honolulu, Hawaii.