Friday, May 31, 2013

Mid-Pacific Institute


Mid-Pacific traces its beginnings to 1864; the present school was established in 1908 with the merger of Kawaiahaʻo Seminary (1864) and Mills School for Boys (1892.)

In 1863, Mr. and Mrs. Luther Gulick started a boarding school for girls in Kaʻū. This was continued at Waiohinu for two years, but was moved to Oʻahu.

The Gulicks' school was established "to teach the principles of Christianity, domestic science, and the ways and usages of western civilization."

Mrs. Gulick felt that her opportunity had come. No one else could begin the school. She had been longing for more missionary work to do, and now the door was open.  She writes: "Opened school this morning with eight scholars."  (The Friend)

Mrs. Gulick's school was the humble beginning of Kawaiahaʻo Seminary.  From month-to-month the numbers increased, boarders were received and aid in teaching was rendered by neighbors.

The school continued to grow, when, in 1867, the need for permanent help became imperative and Miss Lydia Bingham (daughter of Hiram Bingham - and my great-great-great Aunt) was invited to become its Principal.

“Every Sunday one of the teachers accompanied the Girls to Kawaiahaʻo Church diagonally across the street to the morning service.”  (Sutherland Journal)

Lydia Bingham left the school in 1873 when she married Reverend Titus Coan of Hilo.  She was followed by her sister, Miss Lizzie Bingham, who was principal for nearly seven years.

Kawaiahaʻo Seminary continued to grow over the years and the student body was drawn from all over the islands and from all racial groups; some of the scholars included members of the royal family.  (Attendance averaged over a hundred per year, with the largest number of pupils appears to have been in 1889, when 144 names were on the rolls.)

Then, in 1892, Mr. and Mrs. Francis Damon opened their home to six Chinese boys to teach them English and some of the fundamentals of Christianity (their home was on the edge of Honolulu's Chinatown.)

Damon (fluent in Chinese) recognized the need for special educational opportunities for the young Chinese, who were barred from public schools because of their inability to speak English.

This new school was named Mills Institute (named after Samuel J Mills, a founder of the American Board of Foreign Missions.)  Among the Chinese, it was known as Chum Chun Shu Shat (The Searching after Truth Institute.)

Later, because of growing enrollment by Japanese and Korean boys, courses in Japanese and Korean were added to the curriculum.

Kawaiahaʻo Seminary and Mills School had much in common - they were home schools; founded by missionary couples; and had boarding of students.

With these commonalities, in 1905, a merger of the two was suggested, forming a co-educational institution in the same facility.

In order to accommodate a combined school, the Hawaiian Board of Foreign Missions purchased the Kidwell estate, about 35-acres of land in Mānoa valley.

"The site forms an ideal location within one block of the Rapid Transit line. The ground commands a beautiful view of mountain and sea, and there is ample room for the agricultural features which have been planned. The land contains a fine spring of water yielding some 100,000 gallons a day, and is further supplied with the use of an auwai for part of the time." (Hawaiian Mission Children's Society)

Through gifts by GN Wilcox, JB Atherton and others, on May 31, 1906, a ceremony was held in Mānoa Valley for the new school campus - just above what is now the University of Hawaiʻi (the UH campus was not started in the Mānoa location until 1912.)

By 1908, the first building was completed and the school was officially operated as Mid-Pacific Institute, consisting of Kawaiahaʻo School for Girls and Damon School for Boys.

Initially, while the two schools moved to the same campus, they essentially went their separate ways there for years; they had different curricula, different academic standards and different policies.

Finally, in the fall of 1922, a new coeducational plan went into effect - likewise, 'Mills' and 'Kawaiahaʻo' were dropped and by June 1923, Mid-Pacific became the common, shared name.

In November 2003, the school decided to terminate its on-campus dormitory (which had existed since 1908).

Epiphany School, established in 1937 as a small mission school by the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany, merged with Mid-Pacific Institute in 2004.

Mid-Pacific introduced a one-to-one all-school technology program designed to foster creativity, global awareness, critical thinking and collaboration.

During the 2012-2013 school year iPads were distributed to every student from grades 3-12; students in Kindergarten and grades 1-2 had access to iPad carts during the school day (the One-to-One program was covered in Mid-Pacific Institute’s Tuition and Fees.)

The image shows the existing Mid-Pacific Institute overlooking the beginning of the University of Hawaiʻi-Mānoa campus in 1912.  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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Thursday, May 30, 2013

St. Andrew's Priory


At the invitation of King Kamehameha IV, the Anglican Church mission came to Hawaiʻi in 1862; the invitation was extended to both the Church of England and the Episcopal Church in the Unites States.  The Church of England gave a favorable response.

At the time, the American Protestants, through the Congregational Church, and Roman Catholic Church were established and active in the islands.  Each had also established schools within the islands.

Queen Emma recognized the educational needs of the young women of her island nation. Her mission of establishing a girls' school in Honolulu took her to England to seek the counsel of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Under his authority, the Sisters of the Church of England returned to Hawai'i with Queen Emma to begin their work.

Queen Emma was raised in the Anglican faith and envisioned a school where Hawaiian girls would receive an education equivalent to the education that was traditionally offered only to boys.

St. Andrew's Priory School was founded on Ascension Day, May 30, 1867, by Queen Emma, wife of King Kamehameha IV, and Mother Priscilla Lydia Sellon of the Society of the Most Holy Trinity of Devonport, England.

St. Andrews Priory was named in honor of St. Andrew, which was also the dedication of the Cathedral.  This name had been chosen for the Cathedral because St. Andrews Day, November 30, was the anniversary of the death of Kamehameha IV, for whom the building was a memorial.

The Society of the Most Holy Trinity used the Benedictine terminology, whereby the mother house of a religious order was called an abbey and a branch house a priory.  Therefore, the school became St. Andrew's Priory School for Girls.

The school opened with 11-boarders and a few day students; by the end of the year, 17-boarders had registered.  Most of the boarders were aliʻi.

Priory was eligible and received government grants; in doing so, it had to follow government regulations.  As such, curriculum included the required reading in English or Hawaiian, writing, arithmetic grammar, geography and training in industrial work,

Good English was the Priory's chief objective, so all instruction was in English and the girls were not allowed to speak Hawaiian, even on the playground. The girls learned sewing and embroidery, music, drawing, in addition to the academic subjects.  Religious classes were part of the school curriculum.  (Heyes)

The Board of Education encouraged early entrance, before age 10, to English schools, so that students may learn English in their formative years.  The Priory's first 17-boarders ranged in age from four 1/2 to sixteen.  In 1871, a 2 1/2-year old Kauaʻi student (McBryde) was admitted with her two older sisters.

The girls slept in dormitories (they furnished their own beds and bedding.)  The girls had poi every day.  Initially, the girls wore their own clothes, there was no uniform (however, every girl had a white dress for Sundays and special occasions - uniforms started sometime after 1918.)

By 1876, the school was well established; dormitory space had been almost doubled, making room for forty boarders.  The number of day students also increased and in that year to a total of 118-students.

In the 1880s, the Royal Hawaiian Band played concerts twice a week in Queen Emma Square.  “One of our pleasant diversions was to go to and hear Captain Berger’s band play at Emma Square every Saturday afternoon.  … we all went and sat in the carriage just outside the park.  There was usually a crowd there, as it was very popular."  (Sutherland Journal)

With the formation of the Republic of Hawaiʻi, the educational policy favored establishing the American system of free public schools for everyone.  Government aid to private schools was forbidden.  (However, private schools continued to flourish.)

In 1902, the school transferred to the jurisdiction of the Episcopal Church of the United States and was run by the Sisters of the American Order of the Transfiguration.  The school was then dependent financially on tuition and gifts from friends.

Even with these changes, there was no basic change in the purpose of the school.  An education suited for the "probable life circumstances" of the girls still placed high emphasis on the homemaking arts, as well as preparing the girls for teaching, nursing and secretarial work.  (Heyes)

In 1903, a high school department was opened offering the girls an opportunity to receive secondary education, placing the Priory at the forefront of the secondary school movement in Hawaiʻi.  At the time, the only other secondary education options for girls were Honolulu High School (later known as McKinley) and Punahou.

There was significant new construction between 1906 and 1914; in 1909 the cornerstone for the new Dickey-designed Priory was laid for a two-story building made of steel and concrete (the first of its kind in the islands.)

The Sisters of the American Order of the Transfiguration operated the school until 1969. Since that time, the school has been under the leadership of a head of school.

In 1976, the Priory became a non-profit corporation with a Board of Trustees and a charter of incorporation that continues to provide an official link with the Episcopal Church.

Founded as a school for girls, the Priory remains dedicated to this legacy.  Today, the Priory provides girls in grades K-12 a college preparatory education within a Christian environment so that in any future community they will be self-confident, capable, participating members.  (Lots of information here from Heyes.)

The image shows a portion of the existing St. Andrews Priory.  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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Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Ke Awa Lau O Puʻuloa


During ancient times, various land divisions were used to divide and identify areas of control.  Islands were divided into moku; moku were divided into ahupuaʻa.  A common feature in each ahupuaʻa was water, typically in the form of a stream or spring.

The Island of O’ahu had six Moku: Kona, Koʻolaupoko, Koʻolauloa Waialua, Waiʻanae and ʻEwa.

ʻEwa was comprised of twelve ahupuaʻa.  Some stories, when first recorded in the 19th- Century, refer to ʻEwa as the first area populated on Oʻahu by the immigrant Polynesians.

Puʻuloa or Ke Awa Lau O Puʻuloa (the many harbored-sea of Puʻuloa) is situated here.

All water sources in each of the twelve ahupuaʻa of ʻEwa met in Puʻuloa.  This was the only moku in all the islands where all waters from its ahupuaʻa did this.

Puʻuloa and Ke Awa Lau O Puʻuloa are just a couple of its traditional names.  It was also known as Awawalei (“garland (lei) of harbors,”) Awalau (“leaf-shaped lagoon”) and Huhui na ʻōpua i Awalau (The clouds met at Awalau.)

Today, we generally call this place Pearl Harbor.

The name Pearl Harbor is one of the few English place names in Hawaiʻi that is a close translation of another of its traditional Hawaiian names, Wai Momi (“Pearl Water.”)

Some of the traditional themes associated with this area include connections with Kahiki (Tahiti,) the traditional homeland of Hawaiians.

Legend tells that Kanekuaʻana (a moʻo, or water lizard) came from Kahiki and brought with her the pipi, or pearl oyster.  The harbor was teeming with pearl-producing oysters until the late-1800s.  (The general belief is that runoff sedimentation eventually smothered the oyster habitat.)

The pipi was called the "iʻa hamau leo" or "fish with a silenced voice." It was not the pipi that was silent but the people who gathered them (if they spoke, wind would ripple the water and the oysters would vanish.)

There are several versions of the chief Kahaʻi leaving from Kalaeloa (Barber's Point) for a trip to Kahiki; on his return to the Hawaiian Islands, he brought back the first breadfruit and planted it at Puʻuloa.

Traditional accounts indicate several of the fishponds in the Puʻuloa area were believed to have been constructed by Kāne and Kanaloa.  Directing the menehune, they made the pond Kapākule (aka Pākule,) which they stocked with all manner of fish.

Puʻuloa Salt Works (property of JI Dowsett) “are at the west side of the entrance to Pearl River, and the windmill is a prominent object in the landscape as we enter. It is also one of the guides in steeling vessels inward.  On the eastern side and opposite to the Puʻuloa buildings, is the fishery, where are a number of buildings inhabited by Chinamen.”  (Daily Bulletin, January 6, 1889)

Puʻuloa was originally an extensive, shallow embayment.  Keaunui, the head of the powerful and celebrated ʻEwa chiefs, is attributed for having cut a navigable channel near the Puʻuloa saltworks, by which the great estuary, known as "Pearl River," was for the first time rendered accessible to navigation.

Puʻuloa was regarded as the home of the shark goddess Kaʻahupahau and her brother Kahiʻuka in Hawaiian legends.  They were said to live in a cave at the entrance to Puʻuloa and guarded the waters against man-eating sharks.

“There is ample evidence that the lonely scenes, upon which we now gaze with wondering curiosity, were once thickly peopled; and at that period the gospel had not reached Pearl River.  Among the objects of their heathen worship was the shark, whoso numbers at Pearl River in those days were very abundant.”  (Daily Bulletin, January 6, 1889)

Moku‘ume‘ume (meaning “island of strife”) is a small island located in Pearl Harbor on the Island of Oʻahu.  It is entirely surrounded by water deep enough to accommodate deep draft ocean-going vessels.  We now call it Ford Island.

The first known foreigner to enter the channel of the Pearl Harbor area, Captain George Vancouver, started to explore the area, but stopped when he realized that the entrance was not deep enough for large ships to pass through.

“If the water upon the bar should be deepened, which I doubt not can be effected, it would afford the best and most capacious harbor in the Pacific.” (Commodore Charles Wilkes, 1840)

In the nineteenth century, the peninsula between Middle Loch and East Loch (part of the Mānana ahupuaʻa) had numerous fishponds, some rice fields, pasture land at the tip, and oyster beds offshore.

As a means of solidifying a site in the central Pacific, the US negotiated an amendment to the Treaty of Reciprocity in 1887.  King Kalākaua in his speech before the opening session of the 1887 Hawaiian Legislature stated (November 3, 1887:)
"I take great pleasure in informing you that the Treaty of Reciprocity with the United States of America has been definitely extended for seven years upon the same terms as those in the original treaty, with the addition of a clause granting to national vessels of the United States the exclusive privilege of entering Pearl River Harbor and establishing there a coaling and repair station. This has been done after mature deliberation and the interchange between my Government and that of the United States of an interpretation of the said clause whereby it is agreed and understood that it does not cede any territory or part with or impair any right of sovereignty or jurisdiction on the part of the Hawaiian Kingdom and that such privilege is coterminous with the treaty.”

“I regard this as one of the most important events of my reign, and I sincerely believe that it will re-establish the commercial progress and prosperity which began with the Reciprocity Treaty."  (Kalākaua)

In 1890 some of the Mānana lands became the first planned subdivision outside of urban Honolulu (Pearl City, named in a contest and developed by Benjamin F Dillingham as a way to increase passenger traffic on his Oahu Railway and Land Company (OR&L) trains.)

The image shows an 1873 map of Puʻuloa (Pearl Harbor.)  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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Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Lawrence McCully


Lawrence McCully was born in New York City on May 28, 1831; two years later, the family moved to Oswego, New York.  He attended Courtlandt Academy and graduated from Yale in 1852; he was a tutor for a family in New Orleans and later taught school In Kentucky.

"Without any family, friends or connections in these Islands to call him here, he, as the result of his reading, formed the plan of settling in the Sandwich Islands, and came hither via Panama and California." (star-bulletin)

On December 15, 1854, King Kamehameha III died; shortly after, McCully, a young man of 23 years, arrived in the Islands with the intent of making it his home.

Here he stayed; “he knew the land of his adoption intimately and greatly to the advantage of the public service. [He was] an educated man, with high sentiments and pure character, a well stored mind, cultivated by reading and foreign travel.”  (Chief Justice Judd)

He got a job in 1855 as "Police Justice" in Hilo. A couple years later, he resigned and moved to Kona, where he bought land and began an orange orchard. While on the Big Island, he learned the Hawaiian language.

When he moved to Honolulu in 1858, he studied law in the office of Chief Justice Harris and passed the bar in 1859. In 1860, he was elected to the Hawaii Legislature as a representative of Kohala, then was picked speaker of the House.

Because "the practice of law was not very remunerative in those early days," McCully became, in 1862, an interpreter to the Supreme Court and the Police Court in Honolulu.  He later became Clerk of the Supreme Court; then, he took a position as a deputy attorney general.

McCully was married to Miss Ellen Harvey, at the residence of Chief Justice Allen, May 20, 1866. They had an adopted daughter, Alice.  (Burrage & Stubbs)

In 1877, King Kalākaua appointed McCully as Second Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, then in 1881, to First Associate Justice and a member of the Privy Council.

While on a trip to London in 1891, “he acted as the accredited delegate of the Hawaiian Evangelical Association at the Ecumenical Conference of the Congregational Church. … On his return home he gave an account of the gathering from the pulpit of Central Union Church, holding the intense interest of the congregation as he told his story in graphic language without notes.” (Daily Bulletin)

“Living through the reigns of four successive kings and holding office under all of them, he witnessed the great political and economic changes that have taken place during the past forty years. As Police Justice, Interpreter, Clerk of the Supreme Court, Boundary Commissioner, Deputy Attorney-General and Justice of the Supreme Court.”  (Chief Justice Judd)

“Two important characteristics of Judge McCully [are] his prudent and simple method of life, not savoring of either extravagance or parsimony … [and] his inherent honesty of character. He loved the truth. Policy had no place in his thoughts, and never swerved him in his decision. Sometimes a consideration of policy would have been to his advantage, but he never thought of that “.  (Chief Justice Judd)

“As a Judge I think every one will accord to him honesty of intention and honesty of purpose. I think all recognize the fact that he possessed in a striking degree a love of justice as such. He was just to all; he endeavored in his decisions to do justice. He was possessed also of a sense which is called common, but perhaps it is rather uncommon. He possessed a common sense and clear judgment, a logical mind that enabled him to arrive at conclusions in his decisions which recommended themselves to the Bar, certainly, and I believe to the community as a rule.”   (Castle)

“In social life he shone, for his conversation was always instructive, his words fluent and select. He associated only with the best and purest spirits—nothing low or degrading met with response in him. As a Judge, his work was good. His written opinions are characterized by thoroughness of treatment and sound sense.”  (Chief Justice Judd)

Judge McCully was one of a group of land owners who pooled their resources to bring “Mr. Peirce, a well borer” from California to drill for artesian water on their properties in Honolulu proper, the first of these being bored in 1880 at the Mānoa property of Mr. Augustus Marques “a gentleman not long resident in the kingdom, who had built his house on the dry flat land at the mouth of Manoa Valley.”  (ASCE-Hawaii)

Then, on the 15th September, 1880, another well was drilled on the McCully property and a fine flow was obtained and named the Ontario Well.  It greatly exceeded what had hitherto been got … Being nearer town and directly on the road, and, the volume being larger, this well renewed the public interest and enthusiasm, and hope of a new source of prosperity to the country.  (Thrum, 1882)

McCully had acquired a land grant (3098) and owned about 122 acres makai of Algaroba Street to Kalākaua Avenue.   In 1900, eight years after McCully’s death, a subdivision map and a prospectus for the property was submitted to the authorities.

The property, which extended from South King Street to Waikīkī Road (Kalākaua,) was to be divided into 53-blocks of equal size.  The subdivision was to be serviced from “town” by an electric streetcar line passing through the district.

The main mauka-makai thoroughfare is McCully Street; ‘Ewa-Diamond Head streets are named for trees (Algaroba, Banyan (later called Waiola,) Citron, Date, Fern, Lime and Mango (later turned into Kapiʻolani.)  (Other tree-named streets, Orange, Palm and Tamarind, are no longer there.)

What became known as the “McCully Tract” was developed as a residential area in about 1901.  Sales stalled, in part, because the declaration in the prospectus said deeds would not be transferred until lands were filled to government grade, something that did not happen until undertaken as part of the Waikiki Reclamation Project.  (Stephenson)

From 1925 to 1927, the Ala Wai dredge material was used to fill and raise the surface levels of the McCully area. Walter Dillingham’s Hawaiian Dredging Company was the contractor for the canal project and he had an interest in the McCully property through the Guardian Trust Company.  (Stephenson)

Lawrence McCully died at his residence on April 10, 1892.  A district on Oʻahu, a major roadway (and bridge) and others are named after him.

Today, McCully is a well-established residential community generally Koko Head side of Kalākaua Avenue, between King Street and the Ala Wai, generally surrounding McCully Street (one of the neighborhood’s major mauka-makai arterial roadways.)  (C&C Honolulu)

It has the highest median household income within the Honolulu Urban Core and has the lowest individual poverty rate among the Urban Core neighborhoods.  (C&C Honolulu)

The image shows a map of Grant 3098, noted on an 1888 map of the area.  (Lots of information here from the Daily Bulletin)

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Sunday, May 26, 2013

Saint Louis School


On June 17, 1839, King Kamehameha III issued the Edict of Toleration permitting religious freedom for Catholics in the same way as it had been granted to the Protestants.

In 1841, Father Louis Maigret, the Vicar delegate, divided Oʻahu into missionary districts. Father Martial Jan was assigned to supervise the Koʻolau district. By the early 1850s, the windward coast of Oʻahu was dotted with chapels.

The Sacred Hearts Father’s College of Ahuimanu was founded on the Windward side of Oʻahu in 1846 by the Catholic Mission under the direction of the Fathers of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

One of its students, Damien (born as Jozef de Veuster,) arrived in Hawaiʻi on March 9, 1864, at the time a 24-year-old choirboy.  Determined to become a priest, he had the remainder of his schooling the College of Ahuimanu.

On May 21, Damien was ordained a priest at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in downtown Honolulu; he spent the rest of his life in Hawaiʻi.  In 2009, Father Damien was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI.

The College of Ahuimanu flourished; as reported by the Bishop in 1865, “The college and the schools are doing well. But as the number of pupils is continually on the increase, it has become necessary to enlarge the college. First we have added a story and a top floor with an attic; then we have been obliged to construct a new building. And yet we are lacking room.”

In 1881, the school moved to its second location in former Rev. Richard Armstrong’s home, ”Stonehouse” (named after the residence of Admiral Richard Thomas in England,) on 91 Beretania Street adjoining Washington Place. At that time, the name “College of St. Louis” was given to the institution in honor of Bishop Louis Maigret’s patron Saint, Louis IX.

Pacific Commercial Advertiser noted that “The College of St. Louis, an Hawaiian Commercial and Business Academy, offering Classical, Scientific and Commercial courses,” also offered in its curriculum courses in Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, German, and Italian. An evening session offered adults “theoretical and, practical knowledge of commercial and business transactions.” (Soong)

Growing enrollment soon required the Mission Fathers to relocate the school, again; this time, they found a site on the banks of Nuʻuanu Stream.  The College at Aʻala was placed under the direction of five pioneer Brothers of Mary who arrived from Dayton, Ohio in 1883.

St Louis continued to be affiliated with the Society of Mary, a religious order of brothers and priests called Marianists.  The Society was founded by Blessed William Joseph Chaminade, a priest who survived the anti-clerical persecution during the French Revolution.

The Nuʻuanu Stream front campus was accessed via “College Walk” street; it’s now a linear mall/park fronting the stream (however, no school or college is there anymore.)

In the years following, it became evident that the elementary and high school departments were in need of still larger quarters. Encouraged by parents and alumni, the Marianists laid plans for a greater St. Louis College.

In 1923, they purchased 205 acres at Kalaepōhaku in Kaimuki; classes began there in 1928.

December 8, 1941 the US Government commandeered the campus for the use of the 147th General Hospital.  Elementary students attended classes at Saint Patrick School and high school classes co-located at McKinley High School.

Sharing a campus by the high schools led to a fierce rivalry. To ease some of the tension, reportedly, Saint Louis football coach (later Honolulu Mayor) Neal Blaisdell created the “poi pounder trophy,” to go to the winner of the annual Saint Louis/McKinley football game (this continued from 1942 to 1969.)

After sixty-seven-years of providing education at grade levels one through twelve, the elementary and intermediate grades were withdrawn one-grade-a-year, beginning in 1950.

In 1955, the Marianists established Chaminade College on the east end of the Kalaepōhaku campus (it was initially named the Saint Louis Junior College; with it, Saint Louis College was renamed to Saint Louis High School.)

In 1957, Saint Louis Junior College became co-educational and a four-year college and the school was renamed to Chaminade College of Honolulu (named after the Society of Mary (Marianists) founder.)

St. Louis’ high school classes continued on campus until 1979, when the school's Board of Trustees voted to re-incorporate intermediate grades seven and eight, beginning in fall, 1980. A sixth grade was added and the intermediate grades were then converted to a middle school beginning with the fall semester of 1990.

Today, Saint Louis is an all-boys private Catholic school, grades six through twelve; they note it is a school "Where Boys Who Want to Change the World Become the Men Who Do."

The image shows St Louis College at its Aʻala facility at College Walk on Nuʻuanu Stream.  In addition, I have added some related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Saturday, May 25, 2013

Tree of Life


“If a man plant ten breadfruit trees in his life, which he can do in about an hour, he would completely fulfil his duty to his own as well as future generations.” (Joseph Banks, 1769)

Banks had been on the Endeavour with Captain Cook on his first voyage to the South Pacific in 1768-1771.  William Bligh was part of the Cook’s crew on its third voyage when it made contact with Hawaiʻi in 1778.

Bligh later captained the Bounty on a voyage to gather breadfruit trees from Tahiti and take them to Jamaica in the Caribbean. There, the trees would be planted to provide food for slaves.

Bligh didn’t make it back on the Bounty, his crew mutinied (April 28, 1789;) one reason for the mutiny was that the crew believed Bligh cared more about the breadfruit than them (he cut water rationing to the crew in favor of providing water for the breadfruit plants.)  Bligh’s tombstone, in part, reads he was the “first (who) transplanted the bread fruit tree.”

For thousands of years, Ulu (Breadfruit) was a staple food in Oceania.  It is believed to have originated in New Guinea and the Indo-Malay region and was spread throughout the vast Pacific by voyaging islanders.

According to a legend, the chief Kahai brought the breadfruit tree to Hawaiʻi from Samoa in the twelfth century and first planted it at Kualoa, Oʻahu. Only one variety was known in Hawaiʻi, while more than 24 were distinguished by native names in the South Seas.  (CTAHR)

It was a canoe crop – one of around 30 plants brought to the Hawaiian Islands by the Polynesians when they first arrived in Hawaiʻi.

“This tree, whose fruit is so useful, if not necessary, to the inhabitants of most of the islands of the South Seas, has been chiefly celebrated as a production of the Sandwich Islands; it is not confined to these alone, but is also found in all the countries bordering on the Pacific Ocean.”  (Book of Trees, 1837)

Known as ‘Ulu’ in Hawaiʻi and Samoa, ‘Uru’ is the Tahitian word for the tree, ‘Kuru’ in the Cook Islands, and ‘Mei’ in the Marquesas, Tonga and Gambier Islands, scientifically, it’s known as Artocarpus altilis.

William Dampier, claims credit for giving the fruit its English name, breadfruit. His description of it, from his 1688 Voyage Round the World, notes:
“The Bread-fruit (as we call it) grows on a large Tree, as big and high as our largest Apple trees. It hath a spreading head full of branches, and dark leaves. … When the fruit is ripe it is yellow and soft; and the taste is sweet and pleasant. The Natives of this Island use it for bread: they gather it when full grown, while it is green and hard; then they bake it in an Oven, which scorcheth the rind and makes it black: but they scrape off the outside black crust, and there remains a tender thin crust, and the inside is soft, tender and white like the crumb of a Penny Loaf. There is neither seed nor stone in the inside, but it is all of a pure substance like Bread; it must be eaten new; for if its kept above 24 hours, it becomes dry, and eats harsh and choaky; but 'tis very pleasant before it is too stale. The fruit lasts in season 8 months in the year, during which time the Natives eat no other sort of food of Bread kind.”  (Smith)

The breadfruit is multipurpose, it may be eaten ripe as a fruit or under-ripe as a vegetable – it is roasted, baked, boiled, fried, pickled, fermented, frozen, mashed into a puree, and dried and ground into meal or flour.

The Breadfruit Institute at the National Tropical Botanical Garden, Hawai‘i, is engaged in a Global Hunger Initiative to expand plantings of good quality breadfruit varieties in tropical regions.  The institute’s director is Diane Ragone, PhD.

Click here for a link to the NTBG Breadfruit Institute.

More than 80% of the world’s hungry live in tropical and subtropical regions – this is where breadfruit thrives.  The trees require little attention or care, producing an abundance of fruit with minimal inputs of labor or materials.

Trees begin to bear fruit in three to five years, producing for many decades.  Crop yields are superior to other starchy staples. An average-sized tree will readily produce 100-200 fruit per year.

The Breadfruit Institute manages the world’s largest collection of breadfruit, conserving over 120 varieties. The Institute has developed effective methods to propagate and distribute millions of plants of productive nutrient-rich varieties.

This initiative aims to disseminate breadfruit plants to alleviate hunger and support sustainable agriculture, agroforestry and reforestation in the tropics.

The same can hold true, here at home.

Centuries ago, the Hawaiians recognized breadfruit’s benefit and brought it with them to Hawaiʻi – we can learn from that.

The image shows a drawing of Ulu (breadfruit) by John Ellis, 1775.  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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Friday, May 24, 2013

Whose Footprints Are These?


Geologic evidence suggests that the modern caldera of Kīlauea formed shortly before 1500 AD. Repeated small collapses may have affected parts of the caldera floor, possibly as late as 1790. For over 300-400 years, the caldera was below the water table.

Kilauea is an explosive volcano; several phreatic eruptions have occurred in the past 1,200 years.  (Phreatic eruptions, also called phreatic explosions, occur when magma heats ground or surface water.)  The extreme temperature of the magma (from 932 to 2,138 °F) causes near-instantaneous evaporation to steam, resulting in an explosion of steam, water, ash and rock – the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens was a phreatic eruption.

The 1924 eruption at Halemaʻumaʻu documents and illustrates the explosive nature of Kilauea.  However, the 1924 explosions were small by geologic standards and by the standards of some past Kilauea explosions. The hazards of larger explosions, such as those that took place multiple times between about AD 1500 and 1790, are far worse than those associated with the 1924 series.  (USGS)

There were explosions in 1790, the most lethal known eruption of any volcano in the present United States. The 1790 explosions, however, simply culminated (or at least occurred near the end of) a 300-year period of frequent explosions, some quite powerful.  (USGS)

Keonehelelei is the name given by Hawaiians to the explosive eruption of Kilauea in 1790.  It is probably so named “the falling sands” because the eruption involved an explosion of hot gas, ash and sand that rained down across the Kaʻu Desert.  The character of the eruption was likely distinct enough to warrant a special name.  (Moniz-Nakamura)

The 1790 explosion led to the death of one-third of the warrior party of Kaʻū Chief Keōuakūʻahuʻula (Keōua.)  At the time Keōua was the only remaining rival of Kamehameha the Great for control of the Island of Hawaiʻi; Keōua ruled half of Hāmākua and all of Puna and Kaʻū Districts.  They were passing through the Kilauea area at the time of the eruption.  (Moniz-Nakamura)

Camped in Hilo, Keōua learned of an invasion of his home district of Kaʻū by warriors of Kamehameha. To reach Kaʻū from Hilo, Keōua had a choice of two routes one was the usually traveled coastal route, at sea level, but it was longer, hot, shadeless and without potable water for long distances.  (NPS)

The other route was shorter, but passed over the summit and through the lee of Kilauea volcano, an area sacred to, and the home of, the Hawaiian volcano goddess Pele. Keōua chose the volcano route, perhaps because it was shorter and quicker, with water available frequently.  (NPS)

In 1919, Ruy Finch, a geologist at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory discovered human footprints fossilized in the Kaʻū desert ash. Soon, this area of the desert became known as "Footprints."

Barefoot walkers left thousands of footprints in wet volcanic ash within a few miles southwest of Kīlauea’s summit.

Many historians and Hawaiians believe the footprints were made by Keōua and his warriors.  Keōua was known to be in the area at the time, and previous thought suggested this part of the desert did not have pre-contact use, so it was narrowed down to them.

Scientists later investigated – one approach was to look deeper at the evidence.

Forensic studies indicate that the length of a human foot is about 15% of an individual's height. A man's foot may be slightly more that 15%, a woman's slightly less, but it is possible to estimate the height to a couple of inches.  (USGS)

They measured 405-footprints to determine how tall the walkers were.  The average calculated height is only 4-feet 11-inches, and few footprints were made by people 5-feet 9-inches or more tall. Early Europeans described Hawaiian warriors as tall; one missionary estimated an average height of 5-feet 10-inches. Many now believe that most of the footprints were made by women and children, not by men, much less warriors.  (USGS)

Meanwhile, Keōua’s party was camped on the upwind side of Kīlauea’s summit - perhaps on Steaming Flat - waiting for Pele's anger to subside. They saw the sky clear after the ash eruption and began walking southwestward between today's Volcano Observatory and Nāmakanipaio.  (USGS)

Suddenly, the most powerful part of the eruption began, developing a high column and sending surges at hurricane velocities across the path of the doomed group. Later, survivors and rescuers made no footprints in the once wet ash, which had dried.  (USGS)

Then, archaeologists looked for other evidence to help identify who the footprints may have belonged to.  Contrary to general thought that the area was not used by the Hawaiians, archaeological investigations discovered structures, trails and historic artifacts in the area.  (Moniz-Nakamura)

Most of the features were along the edge of the Keʻāmoku lava flow.  Several of the trails converge south of the flow, suggesting a major transportation network.  The structures are likely temporary, used as people were traversing through the desert on their way to/from Kaʻū and Hilo.  (Moniz-Nakamura)

The sheer number of temporary shelters along the Keʻāmoku flow, as well as the trail systems and quarry sites, strongly suggest that this area was frequently used by Hawaiians travelling to and through the area - before and after the 1790 eruption.  (Moniz-Nakamura)

If the footprints aren’t Keōua’s warriors, then how did one-third of his warriors die?

Several suggestions have been made: suffocation due to ash; lava, stones, ash and other volcanic material; or strong winds produced by the eruption, asphyxiation and burning killed them.  (Moniz-Nakamura)

A more recent suggestion is that a “hot base surge, composed primarily of superheated steam … (traveling at) hurricane velocity” was the cause of death.  The wind velocity prevented the people from running away; they probably huddled together, then “hot gases seared their lungs.”  (Moniz-Nakamura)

Some now suggest that, if these observations and ideas are correct, the footprints were made in 1790, but not by members of Keōua’s group.  (USGS)

A reconstruction of events suggests that wet ash, containing small pellets, fell early in the eruption, blown southwestward into areas where family groups, mainly women and children, were chipping glass from old pāhoehoe. They probably sought shelter while the ash was falling. Once the air cleared, they slogged across the muddy ash, leaving footprints in the 1-inch thick deposit.  (USGS)

On August 1, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the country’s 13th national park into existence – Hawaiʻi National Park.  At first, the park consisted of only the summits of Kilauea and Mauna Loa on Hawaiʻi and Haleakalā on Maui.

Eventually, Kilauea Caldera was added to the park, followed by the forests of Mauna Loa, the Kaʻū Desert, the rain forest of Olaʻa and the Kalapana archaeological area of the Puna/Kaʻū Historic District.  (In 1961, Hawaiʻi National Park’s units were separated and re-designated as Haleakalā National Park and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.)

(Lots of good information here is from USGS, NPS and Jade Moniz-Nakamura)  The image shows the 1924 eruption column rising from Halemaʻumaʻu near the end of the explosion, taken from outside Volcano House (Tai Sing Loo, USGS.)  I added a couple of other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Thursday, May 23, 2013

Hilo Bay and Breakwater


Legendary sources indicate that Hilo (‘to braid’) was, among other things, renowned for its rain and fertility.  Hilo is likely to have been one of the first Polynesian settlement areas on Hawai‘i Island; oral history and local legend indicate that Polynesians first settled Hilo Harbor around 1100 AD.

Early settlers would have found a protected bay, surrounded by fertile lands for agriculture, and well watered by regular rainfall and natural springs.  Natural waterways and wetlands were modified to create fishponds and planting areas.

Early accounts of Hilo Bay describe a long black sand beach stretching along present day Bay Front from the Wailuku River to the Wailoa River. Coconut Island is just east of the Wailoa River, and Reed’s Bay and Kūhiō Bay are just east of Coconut Island.

"The romantic might easily imagine Hilo to be a very inviting location ... on account of the beauty, grandeur, and wonders of nature, which are there so interesting. ... even by the sober, pious mind, to be now a desirable residence, because the wonders of nature and the wonders of grace are there united and so distinguished."  (Hiram Bingham)

Hilo was a Royal Center for many of the early chiefs.

When Captain George Vancouver arrived at Hilo Bay in 1794, Kamehameha was living at Waiākea and preparing his fleet of war canoes for his coming conquest of the other Hawaiian Islands, which ultimately led to the consolidation of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

Vancouver's crew surveyed Hilo as a potential anchorage, but found the surf too problematic to effect a landing and declared the bay only marginally sufficient for anchorage.

Missionary William Ellis arrived in Hilo Harbor in 1823, when the main settlement there was called Waiākea. Christian missionaries continued to come to Hilo Harbor until the mid-19th Century. The missionaries were followed by trade ships and whalers that used the Hilo Harbor port.

Hilo Bay is partially protected by a reef located in 10 to 20 feet of water (later named Blonde Reef after Lord Byron's vessel, HMS Blonde, which successfully anchored there in 1825.)  (The Blonde had carried the bodies of Liholiho (who was born in Hilo) and Kamāmalu back from London, where they died from measles during a visit there.)

Between 1824 and 1848 Hilo became a significant center for foreign activities, primarily as a result of the establishment of religious mission stations by American missionaries.

By 1874, Hilo ranked as the second largest population center in the islands, and within a few years shortly thereafter Hilo with its fertile uplands, plentiful water supply, and good port became a major center for sugarcane production and export.

Passengers and cargo landed at Hilo in the surf along the beach until about 1863, when a wharf was constructed at the base of present day Waiānuenue Street.

At one time both cargo and passengers were hoisted in a basket-like sling out to a waiting row boat which took the goods or passengers to the waiting ship. If the weather was rough, landing took place on the beach.

The wooden wharf was replaced by an iron pile wharf in 1865, and was extended between 1889 and 1890. Raw sugar was brought by inter-island steamships from the Hāmākua coast to Hilo before being shipped overseas.

The northern side of the bay became a focal point for the community's trade and commerce.  During this time, Hilo was ranked as the third most frequented port for whaling vessels in need of repair and re-provisioning.

With its foundations in the missionary Hilo Boarding School, commercial sugarcane cultivation and sugar production became the central economic focus for the Hilo area lasting until the 1970s.

The Waiākea Mill Company, in operation between 1879 and 1948, with thousands of acres of cultivated fields, established its mill operation at Wailoa Pond.

The Reciprocity Treaty (1876) between the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi and the US, along with the increase in commerce associated with the growing sugar industry and improvements in transportation in the Hilo area, prompted the decision that a harbor facility should be built on the calmer Waiākea side of Hilo Harbor. The government wharf at Waiākea was constructed at Kalauokukui Point between 1897 and 1899, and was upgraded in 1902.

Hilo Bay was still unprotected from high winds and storm surges that caused ships to break loose from their moorings and risk grounding.

In the late 19th century, the growing sugar industry in East Hawai'i demanded a better and more protected port, and a breakwater was constructed on Blonde Reef to shield ships from rough waters as they entered Hilo Harbor.

In 1908, construction began on a breakwater along the shallow reef, beginning at the shoreline east of Kūhīo Bay. The breakwater was completed in 1929 and extended roughly halfway across the bay. In 1912, contracts were awarded to construct Kūhiō Wharf, to dredge the approach to the new wharf, and to lay railroad track into the new harbor facility.

Work was completed at Kūhiō Wharf, Pier 1 in 1916. Pier 1 was a 1,400-foot long by 150-foot wide wharf with a wooden storage shed.  By 1917, a mechanical conveyor for bagged sugar with derricks for loading ships, was constructed.

In 1923, Pier 2 was constructed just west of Pier 1. Additional dredging was conducted in Kūhiō Bay as part of the construction. By 1927, Pier 3 was added on the west side of Pier 2.

Between 1927 and 1928, the approach to Pier 3 was dredged and the pier was widened.  In 1929, the 10,080-foot long rubble mound breakwater was completed.

Contrary to urban legend, the Hilo breakwater was built to dissipate general wave energy and reduce wave action in the protected bay, providing calm water within the bay and protection for mooring and operating in the bay; it was not built as a tsunami protection barrier for Hilo.

In fact, in 1946, Hilo was struck by a tsunami generated by an earthquake in the Aleutian Islands; it was struck again in 1960 by a tsunami generated by the great Chilean earthquake - both tsunami overtopped the breakwater and Hilo sustained significant damage, including to the breakwater.

(Lots of information here from Rechtman and Drennan.)  The image shows Hilo Bay and its breakwater (USACE.)  In addition, 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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Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Ka-uhi-‘īmaka-o-ka-lani



Ka-uhi-‘īmaka-o-ka-lani (‘the observant cover of the heavens’) was a demigod who had come to Hawaiʻi from (Kahiki) Tahiti with the fire goddess Pele and her followers.

When the followers made their home at Kahana, Ka-uhi-‘īmaka-o-ka-lani was sent to the ridge as a watchman to protect the valley – he was turned to stone.

While Hi‘iaka the goddess (Pele's younger sister) was returning to meet with Pele, as she approached Kualoa, she came upon a mo‘o (dragon) who tried to stop her.

Hi‘iaka crushed the evil mo‘o and left a piece of his tail as a landmark - Mokoli‘i at Kualoa (his body became the foothills below the steep Kualoa cliffs (‘long back’.))

Today, because of the obvious shape of the island, many generally refer to Mokoli‘i island as “Chinaman’s Hat.”

Moving up the coast, Hi‘iaka came upon Ka-uhi-‘īmaka-o-ka-lani.  Ka‘uhi looked down "with eye-sockets moist with the dripping dew from heaven."

He wished to go with Hi‘iaka.  He asked her to free him and when she refused, the tried to tear himself loose and rose to a crouching position.

Today, this rock formation is called “Crouching Lion.”

(Note that ancient Hawaiians never had any Lions, or cats for that matter; the context of what you see is not the same as what they saw - today’s reference is based on modern interpretations of the stone formation.)

Just below the rock formation is the former home of George F. Larsen, a Honolulu contractor who emigrated from Norway; the main structure was a family residence in the mid-1920s.

George and Agnes had six children.

George Jr. became the first Chief of Police on Maui in 1939.  Stanley rose to the ranks of 3 star general after attending West Point; he fought in the Pacific during World War II.  Young Agnes was well known in the 1930s and 1940s as a ceramicist and sculptor.

The house was at first to be their weekend retreat.  Later, they lived there full time and the kids commuted over the Pali to Punahou each day.

Mr. and Mrs. Larsen slept upstairs in a bedroom, while everyone else used the Hawaiian style hikie‘e (a large couch – literally translates to ‘upon your bed’) placed around the great room below.

The construction had 12-by-12 timbers, used for the exterior and interior – the massive logs used in the framework were floated to Kahana Bay (‘cutting or turning point’) – the practice of putting the logs in salt water was used to help discourage termite infestation.

In 1937, the home was sold and in the 1940s it became a Roadside Inn.

In 1952, the landmark property in Ka‘a‘awa (‘the wrasse fish’) opened as a restaurant by John Lind (father to Ka‘a‘awa resident, Ian Lind,) back in 1952.

John Lind was in the hotel and restaurant supply business and saw the building and site as a great round-the-island stopover restaurant.

It changed hands after that.

Like many others, while traveling along the Koʻolauloa coast, we often stopped at the Crouching Lion Inn for a meal – and always paused or looked out the window every time we passed “Crouching Lion” (Ka-uhi-‘īmaka-o-ka-lani) as we drove by.

The image shows Ka-uhi-‘īmaka-o-ka-lani.  In addition, I have included other images of the geologic feature and the adjoining facility in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Kīpahulu



The south-eastern section of the island of Maui, comprising the districts of Hāna, Kīpahulu, Kaupo and Kahikinui, was at one time a Royal Center and central point of kingly and priestly power.

This section of the island was prominent in the reign of Kekaulike, and has Maui's largest heiau (Piʻilanihale Heiau - near Hāna.)  Others also seated their power here.

Long before the first Europeans arrived on Maui, Kīpahulu was prized by the Hawaiian aliʻi for its fertile land and abundant ocean.

The first written description of Kīpahulu was made by La Pérouse in 1786 while sailing along the southeast coast of Maui in search of a place to drop anchor:

“I coasted along its shore at a distance of a league (three miles) …. The aspect of the island of Mowee was delightful.  We beheld water falling in cascades from the mountains,  and running in streams to the sea,  after having watered the habitations of the natives,  which  are  so numerous  that a  space of  three or four leagues (9 – 12 miles, about the distance from Hāna to Kaupō) may be  taken for  a single village.” (Bushnell)

“But all the huts are on the seacoast, and the mountains  are so near, that the habitable  part of the island appeared to be less than half a league in depth.  The trees which crowned the mountains,  and the verdure of the banana plants that surrounded the habitations, produced  inexpressible  charms to our senses; but the sea beat upon the coast with the utmost  violence, and kept  us in the situation of  Tantalus,  desiring and devouring with our eyes what  it was  impossible for us to  attain … After passing Kaupō no more waterfalls are seen, and villages are fewer.” (Bushnell)

With the development of the whaling industry on the island in 1880s Kīpahulu population started to decline as people moved to main whaling ports, such as Lāhainā.

In the early-1900s, one of the regular ports of call for the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company was Kīpahulu. Steamships provided passenger service around Maui and between the islands.

Kīpahulu Landing also provided a way for growers and ranchers to ship their goods to markets. Today the land where Kīpahulu Landing existed is private but protected with a conservation easement, overseen by the Maui Coastal Land Trust (now part of the Hawaiian Islands Land Trust.)

A famous Kīpahulu resident was Charles Lindbergh.  He was the first to make a solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean.  Other pilots had crossed the Atlantic before him; but Lindbergh was the first person to do it alone nonstop.

"Early in the morning on May 20, 1927 Charles Lindbergh took off in The Spirit of St. Louis from Roosevelt Field near New York City. Flying northeast along the coast, he was sighted later in the day flying over Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. From St. Johns, Newfoundland, he headed out over the Atlantic, using only a magnetic compass, his airspeed indicator, and luck to navigate toward Ireland."  (New York Times, May 21, 1927)

"On the evening of May 21, he crossed the coast of France, followed the Seine River to Paris and touched down at Le Bourget Field at 10:22 pm. ... A frenzied crowd of more than 100,000 people gathered at Le Bourget Field to greet him. "  (New York Times, May 21, 1927)

Lindbergh was introduced to Maui by his friend Sam Pryor, a Pan American Vice President and supporter of his flight across the Atlantic.  Having first visited Pryor’s home near Hana, Lindberg later acquired land next to him and built his house.

Lindbergh died of cancer on Aug. 26, 1974, in his home on Maui.  He was buried on the grounds of the Palapala Hoʻomau Church.  (Pryor died in 1985 and is buried there, too - as well as Sam's six gibbons.)

Kīpahulu's Palapala Hoʻomau Church started construction in 1857 and was completed in 1862; it was restored in 1965 (with a lot of help from Lindberg and Pryor.)

In January 2012, the Palapala Hoʻomau Preservation Society was created to care for the Church.  For many years, an endowment administered by the Hawai‘i Conference Foundation, set up by the Lindbergh and Pryor families, provided funds for maintenance and upkeep of the property.  (hcucc)

In recent years, the need for restoration work on the church has gone beyond what the endowment fund can provide.  Although there is no regular worshipping community at Palapala Hoʻomau, the historical significance of the church and graveyard, as well as the number of visitors who come to the property each year, led the Hawai‘i Conference Foundation to find a solution.  (hcucc)

Mike Love of the Beach Boys later bought the Lindberg home, a 5-acre estate, down a twisting, scenic road a few miles from Hāna.  Love also purchased the Pryor's 14-acre adjacent site and house.  (Los Angeles Times, December 31, 1989)

The image shows the Palapala Hoʻomau Church (hcucc.)   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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Monday, May 20, 2013

Ka Haku O Hawaiʻi



The marriage of Alexander Liholiho and Emma was one of mutual love.  They had common interests in literature, music, opera, religion and theater.  According to Emma, “Our happiest hours were spent reading aloud to each other.”

On May 20, 1858, the king and queen were blessed with the birth of a son, Albert Edward Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa a Kamehameha.

He was named Albert Edward, after the husband of Queen Victoria of England, and Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa, after his hānai grandfather Kamehameha III.

However, the Hawaiian people called young Albert “Ka Haku O Hawaiʻi,” “The Lord of Hawaiʻi.”

His mother and father affectionately called him “Baby.”

He was an honorary member of the Fire Engine Company Number Four and was given his own red Company Number Four uniform.

In 1860, Robert Crichton Wyllie, hosted his friends King Kamehameha IV, Queen Emma and their two-year-old son, Prince Albert at his plantation estate for several weeks.

In honor of the child, Wyllie, founder of the plantation, named his estate the "Barony de Princeville," the City of the Prince (Princeville on Kauaʻi.)

Alexander Liholiho and Emma had hoped to have Albert christened by a bishop of the Church of England.

The prince became ill.  As Albert became sick, and the bishop’s arrival was delayed; he was baptized on August 23, 1862 by Ephraim W. Clark, the American minister of Kawaiahaʻo Church.

Queen Victoria of England had previously sent a silver christening vessel used at his christening.  The British Queen and her husband, Prince Albert, were the godparents of the young prince.

On the 27th of August, 1862, Prince Albert, the four-year-old son of Alexander Liholiho and Emma died, “leaving his father and mother heartbroken and the native community in desolation”. (Daws)  

The actual cause of death is not known.

Initially thought to have been “brain fever,” now called meningitis, today, some believe the prince may have died from appendicitis.  Whatever the cause, the young prince suffered for ten days and the doctors could not help him.

The King then ordered the construction of the Royal Mausoleum, Mauna ʻAla, in Nuʻuanu Valley to house his son's body, since Pohukaina had become too full.

After Prince Albert, no child was born to an reigning Hawaiian monarch.  “The last of the line of Kamehameha the Great is at rest with his fathers.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, March 17, 1903)

“The king and queen had the sympathy of all parties in their bereavement; but Kamehameha IV completely lost his interest in public life, living in the utmost possible retirement until his death.”  (Liliʻuokalani)

The king became a recluse, suffering from asthma and depression. He died on St. Andrew’s Day, November 30, 1863, two months’ short of his 30th birthday.

Following her son's death and before her husband's death, Emma was referred to as "Kaleleokalani", or "flight of the heavenly one".

After her husband also died, it was changed into the plural form as "Kaleleonālani", or the "flight of the heavenly ones".

Mauna ‘Ala (fragrant mountain) was completed in January 1864 and a State funeral was held for Kamehameha IV on February 3, 1864.

Mauna ‘Ala is the resting place for many of Hawai‘i’s royalty.  On October 19, 1865, the Royal Mausoleum chapel was completed.

Emma ran unsuccessfully for the throne in 1874, losing to David Kalākaua. In 1883, Emma suffered the first of several small strokes and died two years later on April 25, 1885 at the age of 49.

The image shows Prince Albert at age four.  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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Sunday, May 19, 2013

Animal Drawn Streetcars



In the quarter century from 1872 to 1896 the population just about doubled in the kingdom from 57,000 to 109,000; Honolulu doubled from 15,000 to 30,000.

The increase of the population of Honolulu was taken care of in two ways: (1) more people crowded into Chinatown (the area between Fort Street and Nuʻuanu stream makai (seaward) of Beretania Street and (2) area of settlement was pushed outward and "downtown" enlarged.  (Kuykendall)

This extension of settlement combined with the growing attraction and popular resort use in Waikīkī meant transportation became more of a problem.

People who could afford them had horses and buggies; independent buggy served as available on a limited basis and mass production of the gas automobiles didn’t get underway until the turn of the century, so a more organized public transportation system was needed.

The earliest public transit was the Pioneer Omnibus Line, with a horse-pulled vehicle serving parts of Honolulu for a few years beginning in the spring of 1868.  (Schmitt)

In 1884, the legislature passed a law "granting to William R. Austin and his associates the right to construct and operate a street railroad upon certain streets of the city of Honolulu." Later amended, the law granted authority the Hawaiian Tramways Company, Limited (from England.)  (Kuykendall)

An April 14 1888 London public offering prospectus to raise £130,000 by selling 26,000 shares at £5 each noted, “The following are the routes of the proposed lines of Tramway, viz.;

(1) From Nuuanu Street, the chief residential quarter, through the business part of the City skirting the Docks and Custom House, to the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, and thence along Beretania Street, touching the extensive Portuguese quarter, to a point where at several closely populated Avenues converge.

(2) Starting from the densely-populated Chinese quarter, past the King's Palace, the Legislative Chambers, the Opera House, and the Native Church, to the principal pleasure resorts and residential district of the well to-do classes in the southern suburbs.

The total length of the above lines, including sidings and crossings will be about 12 miles.”

On May 19, 1888, ground was broken and track laying started for a street railway system.  On New Year’s Day 1889, a mule or horse-drawn tram along King Street between Pālama and Pawaʻa became the first streetcar in Honolulu with four open cars, bringing what was later described as “Honolulu's first real transit service.”  (Schmitt)

The Pacific Commercial Advertiser grumbled that it was "a very unsatisfactory service for the public, however, as hundreds waited at the corners for the belated cars .... The company should have had double the cars on the line that it had.”  (Kuykendall)

The tramcars were well patronized, first as a novelty and then as a proven convenience. The speed limit for the cars was eight miles per hour. By July 1889, the trams speeded along King Street from Kalihi to Waikīkī, Beretania from Nuʻuanu to Punahou.

The streetcar tracks added to the traffic problem on Honolulu's main streets, none of which were wide enough. As far back as 1880, a newspaper article gave an entertaining description of traffic conditions then existing.

“The traffic in ours streets has increased five-fold within the last three or four years, but the streets are no wider than before. It therefore behooves the police to keep a sharp lookout. … In all great cities which we have visited, it is held to be a most important function of the police, to render locomotion as easy and safe as possible, by forbidding unnecessary stoppages, keeping drivers on their own side of the street, seeing that no heavy drays or wagons are allowed to move unless the drivers have sufficient control over their beast.”  (Kuykendall)

The animal-powered service was short-lived, making its last run on December 23, 1903; Hawaiian Tramways, Ltd. was taken over in 1900 by the Honolulu Rapid Transit & Land Co.

Honolulu Rapid Transit operated electrically powered buses on Honolulu streets.  Power came from overhead wires. Ten new buses began service on August 31, 1901, replacing the horse and mule drawn cars which had in service 33 horse cars, 113 horses and 194 mules.

Eventually more comfortable, speedy gasoline-powered buses replaced other means of mass transit for Honolulu and rural Oʻahu.

The image shows a mule-drawn streetcar on King Street in front of Aliʻiolani Hale.  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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Saturday, May 18, 2013

Julia Fayerweather Afong



Emmeline, Toney, Nancy, Mary, Julia, Elizabeth, Marie, Henrietta, Alice, Caroline, Helen, Martha, Albert, Melanie, Henry and James

These are the sixteen children (4-boys and 12-girls) of Chun Afong and his wife, Julia Fayerweather Afong (15 would live into adulthood – James died as an infant.)

But wait … we need to step back a few years to get a better perspective.

A legal notice signed by Dr. Gerrit P. Judd, the former missionary doctor, appeared in the newspaper in March 1857. Titled “Julia Fayerweather,” it read: “Having eloped or been enticed away from my guardianship, I forbid all persons harboring or trusting her, under penalty of the law.”

No, wait; let’s go back a little farther.

Julia Hope Kamakia Paʻaikamokalani o Kinau Beckley Fayerweather was the daughter of Abram Henry Fayerweather and Mary Kekahimoku Kolimoalani Beckley (daughter of Captain George Beckley and High Chiefess Elizabeth Ahia) (February 1, 1840.)  The Fayerweathers had three children.

Julia’s grandmother, the chiefess Ahia, married Captain George Beckley, one of “Kamehameha’s haoles” and the first commander of the Fort of Honolulu. (Dye)

The Fayerweather daughters, Julia (age 10,) Mary (8) and Hanna (7,) were orphaned in 1850.  They were raised by foster parents.

Julia’s foster father was Keaweamahi Kinimaka.  (Another hānai child raised in the same family was David Kalākaua (later, King of Hawaiʻi.))

Julia was later placed under the guardianship of missionary Gerrit P Judd.

Julia met Chun Afong (he was a Chinese national who came to Hawaiʻi in 1849 – leaving his Chinese wife and son in China.)  By 1855, Afong had made his fortune in retailing, real estate, sugar and rice, and for a long time held the government’s opium license.  He was later dubbed, “Merchant Prince of the Sandalwood Mountains” and is Hawaiʻi’s first Chinese millionaire.

When Julia was 15, Chun Afong began to ask for permission to marry from her guardian, Dr. Judd.

The Grand Ball of 1856, celebrating the marriage of King Kamehameha IV and Emma Rooke, was a combined effort of the Chinese merchants of Honolulu and Lāhainā communities; Afong attended.

The March 1857 newspaper proclamation posted by Judd (noted above) was done when Julia was sixteen.

In May 1857, Chun Afong became a naturalized Hawaiian citizen, a requirement for foreigners who wished to wed native Hawaiian women; shortly thereafter, he married the teenager, Julia.

The ceremony took place on June 18, 1857 at Afong’s Nuʻuanu home and was performed by the Reverend Lowell Smith of Kaumakapili Church.  (Afong also had a house on the water in Kālia, Waikīkī, where Fort DeRussy is now located.)

Over the following years, the Afongs had 16-children.  They sent their firstborn son of his Hawaiian wife to his Chinese wife in Zhongshan in exchange for his China-born son, who was brought to Honolulu to be reared.

Emmeline Afong, their first child, became the hānai child of Keaka (a retainer at Princess Ruth’s home) and Haʻalilio.  Emmeline married J. Alfred Magoon, a lawyer – they had seven children.

Alfred Magoon helped found the Sanitary Steam Laundry, invested in Consolidated Amusement Co. and the Honolulu Dairy.  He died and Emmeline took over leadership of his business interests.  In her 70s, she moved to South Kona and managed the Magoon Ranch at Pāhoehoe – riding horseback and overseeing the cattle ranch.  She died in 1946 at age 88.

Eldest son, Toney, decided to live as a Chinese in Asia. Toney married a Chinese woman and became a prominent Hong Kong businessman, the governor of Guangdong for a time and a philanthropist.

All of Afongs’ daughters, with the exception of Emmeline, moved to California, most of them to the San Francisco Bay Area.

Chun Afong returned to China and died peacefully on September 25, 1906 in his home village and is buried there; Julia remained in Hawaiʻi, died February 14, 1919 and is buried at Oʻahu Cemetery, surrounded by many of her descendants.

In 1912, Jack London published a short story called "Chun Ah Chun", based on the life of Chun Afong and his family.   An Afong great-grandson, Eaton Magoon Jr., updated the capitalistic context of London’s story by having Chun market his daughters by “merchandise packaging” them in a musical comedy called Thirteen Daughters.

The image shows Julia Afong; 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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Friday, May 17, 2013

Libbyville



Pineapple (“halakahiki,” or foreign hala,) long seen as Hawaiʻi’s signature fruit, was introduced to the Kingdom of Hawai‘i in 1813 by Don Francisco de Paula Marin, a Spanish adviser to King Kamehameha I.

Although sugar dominated the Hawaiian economy, there was also great demand at the time for fresh Hawaiian pineapples in San Francisco - commercial production of pineapples started in Mānoa.

It was during the 1890s and the first decade of the 1900s that this crop really grew economically in Hawaiʻì.

From the first canning in Hawai‘i in 1882 to the rise and fall of many small canneries, testing of different growing techniques and areas, and plantations established on different islands, the groundwork was laid for the successful establishment and growth of Hawai‘i’s largest producers: Dole’s Hawaiian Pineapple Co; Libby McNeill Libby; and California Packing Corp (Del Monte.)

In 1868, brothers Arthur and Charles Libby joined Archibald McNeill and created Libby’s, one of the world's leading producers of canned foods began selling beef packed in brine.

In 1907, McNeill & Libby started its first fruit cannery in Sunnyvale, California. It quickly became the largest employer with a predominantly female workforce.

In the early 1900s, it established a pineapple canning subsidiary in Hawaiʻi and began to advertise its canned produce using the ‘Libby’s’ brand name.

Unlike the other bigger pineapple producers, Libby did not start in Central Oʻahu, it started in Windward O‘ahu - later, it expanded to the Leeward side, in Wahiawa and Kalihi, and then on the Maui and Molokaʻi. (Hawkins)

By 1911, Libby, McNeill & Libby gained control of land in Kāneʻohe and built the first large-scale cannery with an annual capacity of 250,000 cans at Kahaluʻu, Koʻolaupoko on the Windward side of O‘ahu; growing and canning pineapples became a major industry in the area for a period of 15 years (to 1925.)

This sizable cannery, together with the surrounding old style plantation-type housing units, became known as “Libbyville” (St John’s by the Sea no occupies the site.)

During most of the period when this cannery was in operation, the canned pineapple was transported to Honolulu by sampan from a pier just off the end of the peninsula at Wailau.

At its peak, 2,500 acres were under pineapple cultivation on Windward O‘ahu, and of this a large percentage was in the Kāne‘ohe Bay region.

The change in landscape to the Windward side by 1914 is reflected in the following sentences: “At last we reached the foot of the Pali...Joe and I looked over the surrounding hills, but looked in vain for the great areas of guava through which but a few months ago we had fought and cut our way. As far as the eye could reach pineapple plantations had taken the place of the forest of wild guava.”  (Cultural Surveys)

Libby’s pineapple covered the southern portion of Kāne’ohe, what is now the Pali Golf Course, Hawaiian Memorial Park and the surrounding area.

While Libby managed the operation of large tracts of land, it was noted that, “... much of the pineapple production was carried out by individual growers on small areas of five to 10 acres.  A man, a mule, a huli plow and a hoe provided most of the power and the equipment for these smaller operations.  This was the typical pineapple production pattern in the area of Waikāne, Waiāhole, Kahaluʻu and ‘Ahuimanu.”

By 1923, it was evident that pineapple cultivation on the Windward area could not keep up with that in other O‘ahu areas.  Crops on the Windward side were not yielding tonnages as compared with the Leeward side, fields were smaller, with wilt more prevalent, and growing costs considerably higher. Plantings were therefore reduced.

By this time, the condition of the Pali Road had been improved, and trucks with solid tires were available, so that the struggling pineapple operation found it more economical to haul the fresh pineapple to a central Libby Cannery in Honolulu.

The relatively inefficient, high production costs of operating many small scattered fields resulted in a decision to discontinue pineapple growing on the Windward side.

Many of the pineapple growing areas reverted to a native growth or pastures and some were converted to dairy operations.  The Kahaluʻu cannery was closed down in the mid-1920s.

The image shows the Libby cannery in Libbyville at Kaneohe Bay.  (Lots of information and images from Kaneohe: A History of Change.)  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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Thursday, May 16, 2013

Hale O Kapuni, Pelekane



Hawaiian oral tradition and early local informants suggest a heiau (temple,) Hale O Kapuni, existed underwater just offshore in Pelekane Bay near Kawaihae – below the Puʻu Koholā Heiau (“Hill of the Whale”) and Mailekini Heiau (below Puʻu Koholā Heiau halfway down the hill.)

Kamehameha I is said to have used this heiau, and sharks were fed here. Rocks from here may have been used to build Pu‘u-koholā heiau. (Lit., house of Kapuni (a high priest of the chief Keawe.))  (Maly)

Due to tidal actions, sediment that accumulated from runoff from the uplands and nearby construction of the Kawaihae Harbor, this submerged heiau has never been located or documented through underwater archaeology – however, folklore suggests it existed and was dedicated to the shark gods.

Theophilus Davies arrived off Kawaihae in 1859, passing in the water beneath a "sacred enclosure" about twenty yards square and formed by a massive stone fence five feet high (probably Mailekini Heiau). A large stone formed its altar, he said, and here the bleeding victims were placed before the gods until they became offensive, when they were carried to a heap of stones in the ocean (a little to seaward of our boat) and devoured by the sharks, the supposed deities. (NPS)

The presence of Hale-o-Kapuni is well known to local inhabitants: “When the tide was real low, big boulders use [sic] to come out, and it's all build [sic] up of big boulders see, so you know it's man made. And around the side area is all deep and it's anywhere's [sic] from low water mark 5 feet. About 8, 9 feet when high water mark. … It was built under water purposely…. “  (Doi, NPS)

An informant pointed out to Marion Kelly the location of the heiau structure, now covered by silt washed off the coral stockpile area nearby. Anthropologist Lloyd Soehren stated that, as children, older residents of the area remembered seeing the heiau rising about two feet above the water. One person remembered a channel leading into a larger area within the temple where the bodies were placed for the sharks.  (NPS)

Per Pukui, ʻaumākua are family or personal gods, deified ancestors who might assume the shape of the animal, plant or other feature they represent.

Here, at Hale O Kapuni, it is believed that the heiau was dedicated to sharks.  “The shark was perhaps the most universally worshipped of all the aumakuas, and, strange to say, was regarded as peculiarly the friend and protector of all his faithful worshippers.”  (Emerson)

“Each several locality along the coast of the islands had its special patron shark, whose name, history, place of abode, and appearance, were well known to all frequenters of that coast. Each of these sharks, too, had its kahu [keeper,] who was responsible for its care and worship”.  (Emerson)

“Some of the chiefs under Kamehameha, such as Alapaʻi-malo-iki and Ka-uhi-wawae-ono, were murdering chiefs who did not keep the law against killing men, but went out with their men to catch people for shark bait.”  (Kamakau)

Pōhaku o Alapaʻi ku palupalu mano, "the rock of the chief named Alapaʻi of the one who puts the human shark bait out," originally stood in the shade of a large kiawe tree on the shore below Mailekini Heiau.  (NPS)

One early account said that King Kamehameha sat there while his staff compiled the tally of the latest fishing expeditions, and that somewhere near the stone might have been the spot of Keōua’s death.

Apple states that although referred to as Kamehameha's Chair, the rock is by local tradition more closely associated with one of Kamehameha's staff chiefs named Alapaʻi Kupalupalu Mano who liked to use human flesh for shark bait and watched from this point as sharks entered Hale-o-Kapuni to devour the food offerings put out for them.  (NPS)

Apple notes that catching sharks was a sport indulged in by high chiefs and conjectured that perhaps the animals were conditioned to rotten flesh in the offshore temple so that they could be enticed with it into the deeper water and easily noosed.

Today, this area is known to be frequented by sharks.  In the early morning hours, you can usually see the sharks plying the waters just offshore, near where the heiau is believed to be located.

Click here for a link to a December 7, 2012 video on sharks in and around the area identified as where Hale O Kapuni in Pelekane Bay is located (Pacific Islands National Parks:)

The image shows sharks at this same location on December 3, 1012 (Pacific Island Ranger.)  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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Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Ninth Island



I’ve never been there - and not sure I ever will – but many from Hawaiʻi have.

In fact, it’s generally known as the Ninth Island (joining Niʻihau, Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe, Maui and Hawaiʻi.)

The place is known for gambling.

In 1855, Native Americans Paiute Indians played a roulette-like game in the sand, using bones and colored sticks.

The town of Las Vegas was born with a land auction held on May 15 and 16, 1905. At the time, no one involved could have predicted the explosive growth of the next hundred years.  (unlv-edu)

Fast forward and today it’s a popular ‘second home’ to many from Hawaiʻi.

For many, the trip begins with arrangements through Vacations Hawaiʻi; that leads to charter flight scheduling; local style casino; moderate hotel accommodations (including familiar food;) and ends with favored omiyage.

This successful formula has more ties to Hawaiʻi – one of the popular packages is through Boyd Gaming at the California Hotel and Casino (The Cal,) whose founder, Sam Boyd, helped run early gaming in Hilo and Honolulu.

When he was in his 20s (1935-1940,) Boyd was in Hawaiʻi working at Hisakichi Hisanaga’s Palace Amusement, organizing Bingo games there.

The Boyd Gaming story dates back to 1941, when Sam Boyd arrived in Las Vegas with his family and just $80 in his pocket. He worked up through the ranks of the Las Vegas gaming industry, moving from dealer to pit boss to shift boss.

It wasn’t long before Boyd had saved up enough money to buy a small interest in the world-renowned Sahara Hotel.

He then moved on to become general manager and partner at The Mint in downtown Las Vegas, where he introduced a number of successful marketing, gaming and entertainment innovations.

After the Mint was sold in 1968, Sam Boyd started managing the Eldorado Casino in downtown Henderson. He had acquired it with his son, Bill Boyd, in 1962. Bill, a practicing attorney, earned his first interest in the Eldorado by doing all of its legal work.

The birth of Boyd Gaming came on January 1, 1975, when Sam and Bill Boyd founded the company to develop and operate the California Hotel and Casino in downtown Las Vegas.  At this time, Bill left the legal profession, after practicing for 15 years, and began working full-time at the California.

The California was intended to attract people from the largest state where gambling was illegal, where they could drive by car or bus to the desert - that’s why it was called the California.

The problem was that the California was not on the main strip. It was downtown but a block-and-a-half away from the Fremont Strip. California travel agents figured out it was a second-rate hotel in a bad location, so the hotel struggled.

Seeking a niche for their new property, the Boyds decided to market the property to the underserved tourists from Hawaiʻi – and one of downtown’s greatest success stories was born.

Boyd learned this during the 1930s when he lived in Hawaiʻi, working in the gambling business (when it was legal) for Hisanaga. “Not only did he learn from a great teacher in terms of gambling,” says Dr. Dennis M. Ogawa, co-author of California Hotel and Casino, “He also learned about Hawaiʻi. That changed Sam Boyd forever - the aloha.”  (Honolulu Magazine)

Years before Las Vegas exploded into a desert fantasy, the hotel welcomed Hawaiʻi folks by the charter planeload, with waiters in aloha shirts serving up local food. The Cal's beef jerky was a favored omiyage; the homemade saimin was the real deal. In Waikiki, thousands attended Boyd's “Mahalo Parties” at the Queen Kapiʻolani Hotel and Sheraton Waikiki.  (Honolulu Advertiser)

According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, in 2010, there were approximately 7,000 airline seats flying from Hawaiʻi to McCarran International Airport every week, bringing 260,000 visitors from Honolulu to the desert.  (Las Vegas Sun)

Not accounting for repeat visits - of which there were likely many - and travelers continuing elsewhere, about 20 percent of all Hawaiians visited Las Vegas in one year. And some of them stayed.  (Las Vegas Sun)

According to Las Vegas standards, people from Hawaiʻi are the best gamblers in the world.  According to the book California Hotel and Casino: Hawaiʻi’s Home Away from Home, when the Cal first started in the late 1970s, typical Las Vegas tourists spent $300 or less on gambling during a 2 ½-day stay. Not those from Hawaiʻi. On average, folks from Hawaiʻi spent $350 gambling each day for four days.  (Honolulu Magazine)

Boyd built or helped build eight big hotels and casinos in Southern Nevada.  He was also a benefactor to many local organizations, including the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, which named its football stadium the Sam Boyd Silver Bowl.

Sam Boyd passed away in 1993, but the company he founded continued to grow and thrive under Bill’s leadership. Through a series of new developments and strategic acquisitions Boyd Gaming grew into a nationwide company, operating 22 casino entertainment properties in Nevada, New Jersey, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida (… and Vacations Hawaiʻi.)

The image shows Sam Boyd outside the California Hotel.  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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