Then & Now: Murder & Movies in Old Honoka‘a Town
By Ann C. Peterson For many decades, sugar was king throughout the island chain, and in no place was this more so than in the folksy village of Honoka‘a in the northeast district of Hamakua. At its core, Honoka‘a embodied…
Then & Now: Multi-Cultural Holualoa—The “Long Sled”
By Ann C. Peterson When King Kamehameha ruled from Kamakahonu (near today’s Kailua Pier), he would look up to the slopes of Hualalai and know that all was good. This is where he had built Kuahewa, an extensive, dry-land farming…
Then & Now: “Dillingham’s Folly,” or How the Railroad Came to Hawai‘i
By Ann C. Peterson Imagine a time when the only way to get from the Hamakua district to Hilo and points south was by walking, by horse, or by “the most scenic railroad in the nation,” the Hawai’i Consolidated Railway—a…
Plantation Era Is Gone, and Pahala Lives On: Historic Preservationist Julia Neal Uses Hammer and Wood to Pull the Community Together
By Ann C. Peterson When the Pahala Sugar Mill closed in 1996, after 135 years as the town’s major employer, the village of Pahala in the Big Island’s southern district of Ka‘u went quiet. Some folks moved, but many local…
Then & Now: Wai‘ōhino
By Ann C. Peterson Driving through the sleepy little village of Wai‘ōhinu, tucked into a lush, green valley near the larger village of Na‘alehu, it’s hard to believe that it was once the economic hub of Ka‘u. Rich in early…
Flower Power: Outdoor Circles Make a Beautiful Difference
By Ann C. Peterson If you’ve noted that Hawaii’s beautiful scenery isn’t marred by a cacophony of huge billboards, you can thank The Outdoor Circle. “Clean, Green, and Beautiful” —that simple mission forged almost 100 years ago—has helped preserve and…
The Innkeeper and His Wife: Nostalgia and Romance from the Heyday of the Kona Inn
By Ann C. Peterson Lee Taylor walks into the doctor’s office in Kailua-Kona, and then there are four of us sitting in typical waiting-room fashion with our faces down, or in an old magazine — but not for long. I…
Then & Now: Kailua Pier
By Ann C. Peterson The historic Kailua Pier covers a turtle-shaped rock that may have inspired early Hawaiians to name the small bay just north of the pier, Kamakahonu (lit.: the eye of the turtle). The extended rock outcropping later…
This Kupuna Radiates Beauty, from the Inside
Hawaiian Studies Educator & Kumu Hula Ulalia Berman By Ann C. Peterson One look at her and you understand the meaning of “Aloha”— she is always dressed in Hawaiian patterns, wearing a lei—made from any number of things…flowers, nuts, seeds,…
Then & Now: Ka‘awaloa
By Ann C. Peterson To reach the remote site of the Captain Cook Monument, you have to kayak, hike, or ride on horseback to this narrow stretch of land between the base of Pali-kapu-o-Keoua and Kealakekua Bay. This land’s Hawaiian…
Then & Now: Moku‘aikaua Church
By Ann C. Peterson Church folks have gathered every Sunday for 185 years on the site where the stately Moku`aikaua Church now stands in Kailua Village. Their purpose has remained the same, but the structure sheltering their worship has changed…
