Oahu: The Gathering Place

A few months ago I had the honor of meeting Oren Schlieman, President and Creative Director at Info Grafik. We sat in a cozy meeting area whose walls were lined with history books Hula Historical Perspectives by Dorothy B. Barrere, Marion Kelly, and Mary K. Pukui; David Malo’s Hawaiian Antiquities; and more. He had sculptures and photographs each carefully placed throughout his Chinatown office building. It was one photograph of the Honolulu Harbor that had me understand that decades ago, Oahu was destined to become “The Gathering Place“.

The black and white photograph was an eagle’s eye view of Honolulu harbor that featured a row of homes along what would be today as King Street. The homes were those of royalty, and whether for strategic or convenient reasons they were readily available for docking visitors as they gathered on the isle.

Oahu has much responsibility. Its largest city, Honolulu is the State’s capital; its windward peninsula is home of the Kaneohe Marine Corp Base; its roads carry more than 375,000 residents from the rural towns of Waianae and Wahiawa through the hustle and bustle of Kaka’ako all the way to the suburbs of Hawaii Kai. To sustain its expectation as the gathering place, Oahu is the most developed and industrial of all of the islands.

Oahu is also the home to many historical events like the Battle of Nuuanu and the bombing of Pearl Harbor, as well as many historical properties like McKinley High School, Bishop Museum, and the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl Crater to name a few.

As the most developed island, Oahu still has its island havens; Kahana Valley, Makapu’u Lighthouse, Diamond Head Crater, and many more hidden away beyond the concrete pavements. Oahu is also home to some of the best restaurants in world.

Visit HawaiiHistory.org for Hawaii’s complete historical timeline and for more Oahu attractions visit Hawaii’s Official Tourism Site.

Photo credits: Joe Philipson of Philipson Photogrpahy. Check out his work.