Carol the Dabbler wrote:Pahonu and K Hale, thanks for your replies.
Regarding the concrete (or is it stone / lava ? ) artifact at the landward edge of the tidal pool, I think K Hale may have a point. The map that RG posted and Pahonu quoted just above actually shows two piers, one by the current Shriner's property and the other attached to the shore at "The Bulge" that I inquired about last time. I've never gotten a clear understanding of exactly where that big chunk of whatever is located (does it show up in any aerial photos?), but that must be pretty close.
Since the aforementioned Bulge is shown in that 1928 map, it clearly predates the recently-demolished house, but I'm still wondering whether it began as a natural formation or was created by humans -- and if the latter, then which humans and why. Was it perhaps related to the turtle pond? Or to the pier?
I've read every post in this thread at some point or other, and dozens of pages just recently, so I'm not sure when this was posted, but I seem to recall someone saying that the name Pahonu was already used for the acre or so of land that currently forms the end of the estate nearest Waikiki / furthest from the Shriner's, well before the other parcels were added and the recent house was built. Looking at the map quoted above, though, I see the name Pahanua. Were both names used at one time or another, or is that map wrong, or am I misremembering?
I've tried to get a translation of Pahanua, but with little success so far. I suspect that the "Pa" syllable means the same thing in both names, something like "enclosure," but that's about it.
I have been back and forth to hawaii a bunch of time recently for work. Doing consulting for the state on the most recent HART project.
One person with the state has been nice to start to forward me links to items to docs on line.
From a state document which I am sure if you punch in the right words on Google it will pop up
https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/occl/files/2018 ... manalo.pdf
The original date of the construction of Pahonu is unknown, although oral histories indicate that it
predates the unification of the islands under Kamehameha. According to local tradition the ponds were
used as a holding pen for honu, which were reserved for the chief of the 'iii of Kukui.
The pond is bounded on the shoreline-side by modern seawalls. OCCL investigated the seawall offshore
of TMK (1) 4-1-002:007 as a possible encroachment in 2014. The Office concluded that the wall was a
non-conforming use dating from the 1930s, and had no objections to the parcel owner pursuing an
easement with DLNR's Land Division.
The State Land Abstractor studied the disposition of the "rock walled enclosure ... commonly known as
Pahonu," and in a letter dated August 11, 2014 found that:
Loko l'a: OA-18-05
Pahonu, Waimanalo
The earliest reference to the name "Pahonu" given for this enclosure is found in Land
Commission Award Number 25-1 (LCA 234-1) issued to Pahanua on December 2, 1850. When
Pahanua made his claim for LCA 234-1, witnesses stated he received the land form Lono in the
time of Kina'u in 1839. LCA 234-1 describes Apana 2 as being a house lot at "Pahonu, Waimanalo,
Oahu." The English translation of Pahonu is "Turtle Enclosure" or "Turtle Pond." The sketch
made as part of LCA 324-1 does not illustrate or provide a metes and bounds description of the
enclosure. This is important to point out because clearly the enclosure was not part of the land
awarded to Pahanua.