A History of Military Housing on Ford Island Pre-WWII
1902: The US Navy purchases 25 acres of land on Ford Island and O‘ahu.
1917: Battery Adair is built by the Army on the Northeast side of Ford Island.
1918: The Army erects two sea plane hangars, sea plane ramps, a warehouse and a shop building. The Army air squadron transfers from Fort Kamehameha to Ford Island and a narrow strip of land was cleared to make room for landplanes.
1919: The first naval aviators arrive in Hawai‘i in and establish a temporary base at Pearl Harbor Navy Yard. The Army installation on Ford Island was officially named Luke Field after WWI ace pilot Frank Luke.
1921-22: Ten homes and five duplexes are built by the Army creating the Luke Field Neighborhood.
HISTORIC HAWAI‘I FOUNDATION
Pearl Harbor Attack on December 7, 1941. This aerial view shows the Nob Hill neighborhood fronting "Battleship Row." Soon after the photo was taken, USS Arizona was hit by bombs and her forward magazines exploded. Photographed from a Japanese aircraft.
U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.
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1922: The Navy begins construction on three married officers homes (Quarters A, B and C) on the North End of the Island later known as "Nob Hill." Quarters A was designated as the Commanding Officer's Quarters.
1923: Planes moved to the new hangar and seaplane ramp built on Ford Island. The new station’s name: “Naval Station Pearl Harbor.”
1932: The Navy has 39 aircraft on Ford Island including seaplanes and land-based patrol squadrons.
1934: Magazine was built near the married officers' quarters.
1935: Four additional seaplane ramps and “Seaplane beach” are built by the Navy on the south shore of Ford Island.
Married Officers' Quarters with BOQ in background, 1923.
Source: National Archives Still Photo Collection, RG71CA, Box 152
1923: A large Bachelor’s Officers Quarters and servants quarters were built near the married officers' quarters in the Nob Hill neighborhood. Servants quarters were also built across the street from two of the married officers' quarters.
1936: Sixteen additional houses are built in the Nob Hill neighborhood with two different designs.
1937: Nine four-plexes for Chief Petty Officers were built on landfill generated by dredging the nearby shore to build the battleship mooring quays.
1939: The Navy gains complete control of the island and as the emphasis shifted from seaplanes to aircraft based on ships, the Navy expanded its facilities on Ford Island to repair and maintain aircraft carriers.
1939: Three additional CPO houses were built close to the four-plexes. These houses are known as facilities 68, 69 and 90.
1923: Six one-story houses are built on Belleau Woods Loop for married Chief Petty Officers. These houses were physically separate from the Nob Hill homes, but were also north east of the aviation facilities. See photo right.
Ford Island in 1925 showing U.S. Army's Luke Field on left side and the growing Navy Facilities on the right. Photo Courtesy of the Hawaii State Archives
CPO Bungalows built in 1923.
Source: National Archives Still Photo Collection, RG71CA, Box 102
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