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Waikiki Timeline
- University of Hawai'i Press
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Waiki – ki – Timeline Waikîkî Timeline | 139 The following events occurred in Waikîkî or dramatically impacted the Place of Spouting Waters and all of Hawai‘i.1 as early as 300 —The first Polynesians settle Hawai‘i and build loko such as those that come to grace Waikîkî. ca. 1350–1400 —Chief Mâ‘ilikûkahi establishes Waikîkî as the ruling seat of O‘ahu. 1400 —Tahitian kâhuna named Kapaemahu, Kahaloa, Kapuni, and Kinohi settle at Ulukou in Waikîkî. When they return to their homeland, they have O‘ahu residents place four stones near their beach home, which the healers imbue with their powers. ca. 1400–1450 —Chief Kalamakua establishes extensive taro fields in Waikîkî near the present Ala Wai golf course. ca. 1550 —Maui Chief Kauhiakama is sacrificed at ‘Âpuakèhau heiau in Waikîkî. 1778 —English Captain James Cook and his crew land on the island of Kaua‘i: seamen spread venereal disease to kânaka maoli. 1780–1783 —Maui ruler Kahekili battles and ultimately defeats O‘ahu warriors. His war canoes land at Waikîkî. ca. 1783 —Papa‘ena‘ena heiau is constructed, possibly by Kahekili to celebrate his victory on O‘ahu and to avenge the mid–sixteenth century sacrifice of his ancestor Kauhiakama at ‘Âpuakèhau heiau in Waikîkî. 1792 —English Captain George Vancouver anchors off Waikîkî and provides vivid accounts of the area’s rich farming. 1794–1795 —Hawai‘i Island’s Chief Kamehameha I defeats O‘ahu’s Chief Kalanikupule and establishes a residence in Waikîkî at Pua‘ali‘ili‘i near today’s Royal Hawaiian Hotel. 1804 —Kamehameha I orders sacrifices at Papa ‘ena‘ena heiau to prevent further deaths from an outbreak of disease, which wiped out two-thirds of his warriors. 1809 —Kamehameha I has Kanihonui sacrificed at Papa‘ena‘ena heiau for trysting with the mò‘î’s kapu wahine Ka‘ahumanu. Waikîkî Timeline | 139 1820 —American Protestant missionaries begin their work of converting kânaka maoli to Christianity. early 1820s —Melons and watermelons are cultivated on Lè‘ahi’s crater floor. 1835 —Hawai‘i’s first sugar plantation opens in Kòloa, Kaua‘i. 1845 —Passage of the Organic Acts, devised by foreign advisors to the Hawaiian king, partially Westernizes the Hawaiian government. 1848 —The Mâhele, an outgrowth of the Organic Acts, institutes private land ownership in Hawai‘i. 1848–1849 —Epidemics of influenza, measles, mumps, and whooping cough claim about five thousand Native Hawaiian lives. 1850 —Foreigners begin settling in Waikîkî. —Passage of the Masters and Servants Act brings cheap contract labor (largely from Asia) to Hawai‘i for plantation work. 140 | Waikîkî Timeline 1853–1854 —Smallpox epidemic kills about fifteen thousand Native Hawaiians. ca. 1856 —Papa‘ena‘ena heiau is dismantled. 1859 —Queen’s Hospital is established to provide free medical treatment for poor Native Hawaiians. 1860–1865 —Road into Waikîkî is improved and widened. —Honolulu newspapers note the growth of foreign settlers in Waikîkî. 1863 —Hawaiian newspaper Ku‘oko‘a publishes an account of thriving taro patches in Waikîkî. 1864 —Leper colony is established on Moloka‘i where all lepers in Hawai‘i are banished. 1876 —Passage of the Reciprocity Treaty institutes tax-free trade between the United States and Hawai‘i and cedes limited U.S. rights to Pearl Harbor. —Kapi‘olani Park Association is organized. 1882 —Matson Navigation Company is established and transports most of Hawai‘i’s sugar and its tourists. 1887 —Haole businessmen and politicians use the threat of force to get King Kalâkaua to accept the Bayonet Constitution, which effectively strips the throne of power. 1888 —Park Beach Hotel, the first hotel on Waikîkî’s beach, opens. 1889 —Tramcar line replaces omnibuses to Waikîkî. 1890 —Kapi‘olani Maternity and Gynecological Hospital is founded to help perpetuate Native Hawaiians. 1891 —Old Waikîkî Bathhouse opens in the current vicinity of the Hilton Hawaiian Village. 1892 —More than five hundred acres of rice are planted in Waikîkî, the third largest rice producing region in Hawai‘i. —Diamond Head Lighthouse is built on the grounds where Pahu-a-Maui heiau once stood. —During a slump in the sugar industry, newspaperman Lorrin A. Thurston spearheads the first tourist concern. 1893 —American businessmen in Hawai‘i overthrow the Hawaiian monarchy with the help of the U.S. military and establish a nominal republic, which is actually an oligarchy under the leadership of Sanford B. Dole. —The Blount...