Editor’s note: West Hawaii Today, in conjunction with Kona Historical Society, are presenting a weekly feature called “Historic Kailua Village.” The articles and accompanying photographs have been compiled by the society and were published in a booklet titled “Kona Historical
Editor’s note: West Hawaii Today, in conjunction with Kona Historical Society, are presenting a weekly feature called “Historic Kailua Village.” The articles and accompanying photographs have been compiled by the society and were published in a booklet titled “Kona Historical Society’s Historic Kailua Village Map.”
Makai Street,
North, and Seawall
The first seawall in Kailua Bay along Makai Street (now Alii Drive) was built in 1900 to protect homes and businesses from high surf and allow the expansion of the roadway. (“Makai” means “toward the ocean, seaward.”) One of the businesses that benefited from this was the general merchandise store of John Kaelemakule, which stood across the street from Kailua Pier. All business there was conducted in Hawaiian.
The lava point beyond the seawall, called Pa o Umi, is where High Chief Umi is thought to have landed when he moved his court to Kailua from Waipio Valley in the 1600s. Post-World War II and subsequent improvements have covered most of Pa o Umi, but it can still be seen by standing on the wall across from The Fish Hopper, formerly the Ocean View Inn.
When the ocean is calm and the tide relatively low, you can see fresh water bubbling up to the south of the outcropping. This spring was one of the few sources of fresh water in Kailua Village. Hawaiians would dive down to the source with bottleneck gourds to get fresh water.
Copyright 2005 Kona Historical Society. Reprinted by permission.
