Honolulu

By Milton A. Masing and Kiersten Faulkner

Honolulu's population grew in the first few decades of the 1800s from a few hundred people living in thatched huts to about 3,000 in 1823. Missionaries erected the city's earliest wooden buildings in the 1820s.Starting in the 1840s, stones were used in construction. With so many foreigners moving to Honolulu during the late 1800s, rapid growth occurred, and the remaining thatched huts and old paths were replaced with permanent structures and patterned streets. By the 1900s, control of the city was dominated by the ever-increasing tide of Caucasians. The early 1900s also marked the beginning of a time when millions of postcards were mailed daily throughout Honolulu and the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Sep 16, 2019
• ISBN: 9781439668023

Milton A. Masing

Milton A. Masing is a retired teacher, a former director of a public library's local history and genealogy department, and a charter member and past president of the Dearborn County, Indiana, Cemetery Commission. He currently holds memberships in Historic Hawaii Foundation, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, and the Dearborn County Historical Society. He is also a 60-year collector of vintage postcards.

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INTRODUCTION

Westerners encountered the Hawaiian Islands in 1778, when Capt. James Cook’s third Pacific voyage led the HMS Discovery and HMS Resolution to the islands of Kaua‘i, Ni‘ihau, and O‘ahu. Among the many changes to Hawaiian culture and society that occurred after the contact between vastly different societies was the introduction of new building materials (such as iron and mortar) and techniques (such as skilled wooden joinery and carpentry). These changes were particularly evident in Honolulu, where the building trades flourished the most.

Most of the island chain was brought under the dominion of High Chief Kamehameha by 1795 with the conquering of the island of O‘ahu and the young village of Honolulu. Styled as the first monarch of a united Hawaiian Kingdom, Kamehameha controlled trade and ruled through a system of governors. After his death in 1819, his successor, Liholiho, decided to abandon the religious and cultural system that had been based on a series of prohibitions, or kapu. This decision opened the way for new ways of life, including Christianity as taught by American missionaries who arrived in 1820.

The missionaries also brought wood construction using iron nails and bracketing systems. The first frame houses (1821) used a style derived from simple Congregational meetinghouses and the farmhouse vernacular of buildings of New England. They were simple homes with high-pitched roofs and overlapping clapboards. The simplicity was derived from the Puritan ideal that plainness was a virtue. Over the years, the style morphed into a distinctive style called Hawaiian Mission architecture, in which New England methods and materials were replaced by those readily available in Hawai‘i.

The 19th century established the Hawaiian monarchy as modern rulers who exercised authority using Hawaiian custom and tradition as well as influences from European monarchies, American merchants and missionaries, and Asian trading partners. Honolulu buildings from the monarchy period include the elaborate ‘Iolani Palace (1882) and the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum (1889), which is regarded as a masterwork of late Victorian museum design.

A written constitution was formulated in 1840, and private ownership of land was established by 1850. This allowed the development of sugar plantations, which also led to mass immigration of agricultural labor from China, Japan, Korea, the Azores, and the Philippines.

Plantation-style buildings developed as labor housing for the sugar and pineapple plantations. It was a style adapted from the southern US region but altered due to the availability of materials and differences in climate, with many of the design elements localized. The large immigrant population from Japan also had a significant impact on Honolulu’s and Hawai‘i’s architecture. It is estimated that close to 75 percent of all carpenters in Hawai‘i before 1950 were of Japanese origin. Skilled craftsmen were paid higher wages on the plantations, so there was incentive for skilled carpenters and other laborers to immigrate.

After the overthrow of Queen Lili‘uokalani in 1893, the Committee of Safety moved to establish the Provisional Government of Hawai‘i, which shortly transitioned to the Republic of Hawai‘i. The new lands resolution to annex Hawai‘i to the United States was approved by the US Congress and signed by Pres. William McKinley in July 1898. The Organic Act of 1900 established the Office of the Territorial Governor, which was a position appointed by the US president. Hawai‘i’s status as a territory of the United States continued until 1959, when Congress passed and Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Hawai‘i Admission Act.

Hawai‘i residents voted to accept the statehood bill, and on August 21, 1959, Hawai‘i became the 50th state.

The territorial period in Hawai‘i, and Honolulu, was a time of great political and social change, which was reflected in the design and construction of the built environment, particularly in government and civic institutions. In the 1920s and 1930s, an exploration of appropriate design for Hawai‘i was manifested in the works of some of Honolulu’s most noted architects. It was a period when society searched for Hawai‘i’s island identity. In addition to addressing needs appropriate to the climate through shade and ventilation, the architects also drew on forms from the missionary past and Asian influence.

Honolulu and all of Hawai‘i experienced profound changes between 1939 and 1979, primarily from America’s entry into World War II and resulting effects from that historic event. The territory emerged as the 50th state and saw dramatic shifts in political, economic and cultural norms. Concurrently, Hawai‘i’s main industry transitioned from large-scale agriculture to tourism. The population boom spurred related development so extensive that the only period in Hawai‘i’s history that may have experienced more dramatic change was the half-century or so after the initial introduction of Western culture. This was particularly evident in the state’s largest city and capital, Honolulu.

Historic Hawai‘i Foundation was established to encourage the preservation of buildings, communities, and sites relating to the history of Hawai‘i. The organization is committed to ensuring that the historic places of Hawai‘i are kept alive and intact for the enrichment and enjoyment of both present and future generations.

It is our hope that all people who love Hawai‘i, who want to see it retain and enhance the elements that make it special, will join us in working to preserve all that is historically significant and architecturally distinctive in the islands.

—Kiersten Faulkner Executive Director Historic Hawai‘i Foundation February 2019

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PUBLIC BUILDINGS

AND STRUCTURES

‘IOLANI PALACE. This view from the top of the Ali’iolani Hale shows the front facade of the palace building erected by King David Kalakaua to