[ A WALKING TOUR ]
German immigrant
built ÕIolani Barracks
Generally, historic structures don't move around much. Exceptions would be the clipper tanker Falls of Clyde -- it's a ship, Sherlock! -- and, of all things, the teeny medieval fortress called Halekoa, or 'Iolani Barracks, now on the Ewa grounds of the Palace.
It was originally built across the street called Palace Walk in 1871, a Teutonic candybox designed by German immigrant Theodore Heuck. Palace Walk was later renamed Hotel Street, and later, when the building stood in the way of the new State Capitol building, it was moved, coral block by coral block, hundreds of feet to its current location and reassembled.
Heuck's design included archery parapets on the upper walkways, firing loops in the lower walls and towers, and an inner courtyard for roll call. Even when it was constructed, many of the coral blocks were recycled from other structures. New blocks were cut by prisoners working off their sentences. It ran over budget and behind schedule (thanks to change orders), and wound up costing the Kingdom of Hawaii more than $25,103.78.
The Barracks was exactly that -- a home for the 60 or so Hawaiian soldiers who made up the Kingdom's army, called the Household Troops. Only two years after they moved in, the troops staged a mutiny and seized the barracks. The event was an embarrassment to King Lunalilo, and he disbanded the army. But Lunalilo died a year later, and the ever-optimistic Kalakaua restored the army, now called the Household Guard.
In the "overthrow" of 1893, the Guards surrendered to a much smaller group of Provisional rebels and again disbanded. The Republic of Hawaii used the structure for military purposes as well, and deeded the building to the U.S. government during annexation. The army's quartermaster corps used it for a time, and then it received an extreme makeover in 1920 -- coral blocks plastered over, roofing over the courtyard, hardwood flooring, a coat of white paint -- and became a service club.
By 1931, the federal government had deeded the building back to the territory to act as headquarters for the Hawaii National Guard, but it was instead used as centralized office space for school principals. Eventually, the guard moved in, and during World War II, the barracks were set aside as a military museum.
That use didn't occur, and during the late '40s and '50s, a variety of government agencies played musical desks within the thick walls. In 1948, a "dungeon" was discovered hidden beneath during a renovation, but the hidden room turned out to be repository for ventilation pipes. Old-timers speculated the room had been dug by paranoid provisionals during the Counter-Revolution of 1895 to stash rifles in.
By the time the '60s rolled around, the barracks was abandoned and condemned, useful only as the place where the new state's voting machines were warehoused. In 1965, it was moved to its location, restored to its 1871 persona and today serves as an adjunct to 'Iolani Palace.
ÕIolani Barracks
Opened: 1871, moved and reconstructed 1960s Architect: Theodore Heuck Style: Medieval Address: 364 S. King St. National Register: 1978 Hawaii Register: No
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HAWAII STATE ARCHIVES
In the late 1800s, the Household Guard stood watch over 'Iolani Palace and its barracks.
BURL BURLINGAME / BBURLINGAME@STARBULLETIN.COM
The 'Iolani Barracks has stood at three sites in two centuries -- moved coral block by coral block to its current location at King and Richards streets.
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Quicktime VR Panorama
Click on pictures to view panaromas
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Every Sunday in the Star-Bulletin Travel section, rediscover the charms of old Hawaii through a tour created by the Honolulu Historic Trail Committee and Historic Hawai'i Foundation and supported by the city's Office of Economic Development. The yearlong project commemorates Honolulu's bicentennial.
See Holoholo Honolulu for past articles.
