The final marker in the Waikīkī Historic Trail was installed recently, completing the project started by Hawaiian historian George Kanahele, who died in 2000.

The marker is part of the trail's free walking tours and takes curious visitors and kamaʻāina to 23 designated sites detailing the early days of Waikīkī.

"Everybody is always surprised that Waikīkī has a history," said Dorien McClellan, program director for the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association, which runs the tours. "The perception is there is Waikīkī and the rest of Hawaiʻi."

The model for 6-foot-tall, surfboard-shaped markers was created by woodcarver Bob Holden, who made the original out of redwood and then had it cast in bronze. The metal is given a patina so that the markers' material appears to resemble koa.

The markers cost about $12,000 each and include photographs, maps and information about the spot. The first marker was placed in 1998.

The final marker is in a small triangle park shaded by a couple of dozen coconut trees at the corner of Beach Walk and Kalākaua Avenue. It was set in place June 27, 2002 by architect Charles Palumbo and craftsman Lars Erickson. The duo have installed all 19 of the markers — four of the 23 designated sites do not have them — by digging a hole, pouring concrete and bolting down the surfboard.

"I fell in love with the project," Palumbo said. "There is a lot of history in Waikīkī and a lot of magical places. This project has helped me understand more about the place I live. Once we mortared in the last marker, I really felt George was up there looking down at us and smiling."

Palumbo is credited with single-handedly pushing forward Kanahele’s idea for the trail and of "creating a Hawaiian sense of place in Waikīkī." Over the years, Palumbo created the design for the markers, gathered the necessary city permits, raised money for the project, and finally installed each one.

The final site was once part of a 10,000-tree coconut grove known as Helumoa and planted by Hawaiian chief Kākuhihewa in the 16th century. The site is also near where Kamehameha the Great camped with his warriors as they began their conquest of Oʻahu in 1795, according to the marker.

Other sites include the residence of Queen Liliʻuokalani, the Kapaemahu healing stones and ʻAinahau, where Robert Louis Stevenson met Princess Kaʻiulani.

"On this site stood the villa of Chun Afong, Hawaiʻi’s first Chinese millionaire, who arrived in Honolulu in 1849," reads the marker at the U.S. Army Museum. "By 1855, he had made his fortune in retailing, real estate, sugar and rice, and for a long time held the government monopoly opium license. His Waikīkī villa occupied three acres of landscaped grounds. Here he gave grand parties for royalty, diplomats, military officers and other dignitaries."

McClellan said the personally guided tours are divided into two sections covering the east and west ends of Waikīkī. Both tours begin at 9 a.m. daily except Sunday. About half the customers are residents and half visitors, she said.

"It's great to mix them," McClellan said. "We are trying to get teachers to include this tour, particularly for the fourth grade when students study Hawaiiana, as a regular field trip. Kids absolutely love it."

Kamaʻāina respond to the tour with renewed pride in Waikīkī, McClellan said, and visitors feel enriched.

"Residents feel they are reclaiming Waikīkī as a part of their home — that Waikīkī is not a separate place that other people go to," she said. "They remember delightful days and reminisce about when the local community was always down there listening to music.

"Visitors pick up a cultural richness. I suppose you could call it education, but it is also very entertaining."

Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association2201 Kālakaua Ave. #500Honolulu, Hawai'i 96815info@nahha.com

Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association
2201 Kālakaua Ave. #500
Honolulu, Hawai'i 96815
info@nahha.com