HIGHLIGHTS OF HAWAII’S DAILY NEWSPAPERS
AND THEIR LOCATIONS
by Lowell Angell
Historic Hawai‘i Foundation
680 Iwilei Road, Suite #690, Honolulu, HI 96817
Phone: 808-523-2900 Fax: 808-523-0800
Email: webmaster@historichawaii.org
Copyright 2003-2010 Historic Hawaii Foundation unless otherwise noted
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Since Hawaii’s first newspaper, Ka Lama Hawaii, was published in 1834 at Lahaina, Maui, it’s estimated that there have been more than 1,000 different news publications, varying in frequency and in at least nine languages.
The two best known today are, of course, The Honolulu Advertiser and Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
The Pacific Commercial Advertiser began as a weekly on July 2, 1856, and is Hawaii’s oldest continuously published newspaper. Founded by businessman and missionary son Henry M. Whitney, the paper was pro-American and pro-annexation, except when Walter Murray Gibson, a royalist and front for Claus Spreckles, ran it from 1880-1887. It was later purchased by annexationist Lorrin A. Thurston, former cabinet minister under King Kalākaua. Wallace Rider Farrington (Territorial Governor, 1921-1929) was editor from 1894-1897. The paper became The Honolulu Advertiser on March 31, 1921.
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The Honolulu Advertiser Building
Sources: Much of this information is from two excellent books on Hawaii’s fascinating newspaper history, Helen G. Chapin’s Shaping History: The Role of Newspapers in Hawaii and George Chaplin’s Presstime in Paradise: The Life and Times of the Honolulu Advertiser, 1856-1995; as well as newspaper articles by Burl Burlingame and Helen Altonn.
The Arcade Building was home to the Pacific Commercial Advertiser between 1913 and 1930.
Although not its first home, the Advertiser was located in the W.W. Dimond building on King Street, between Fort and Bethel Streets, until 1913. [W.W. Dimond & Co. sold home furnishings. In 1936, the King Theatre was built on the site, now a multi-story parking garage]. The Advertiser then moved to King Street, between Richards and Alakea Streets. The building, later extended to Merchant Street, still exists as the Arcade Building.
In January 1930, the Advertiser occupied its present home at 605 Kapi‘olani Boulevard at South Street. Designed by architects Walter Emory and Marshall Webb, the three-story Beaux Arts building features large divided-lite awning windows and a Spanish tile hipped roof. The third floor once housed Hawaii’s oldest radio station, KGU, then partially owned by the Advertiser and broadcasting since 1922; its twin roof towers were a downtown landmark. The lobby had terra cotta detailing throughout, with hand-painted ceramic tile and stenciling on the walls and ceiling, much of it still extant. In the center was a lush open garden courtyard. Floored over in 1961 to provide more space, the area enjoyed another life as a popular community art gallery, and forerunner of today’s Contemporary Museum. From 1962-2001, the building housed both daily newspapers, under a joint operating agreement. The structure is listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin traces its roots to two papers. The Hawaiian Star, begun March 28, 1893, was strongly pro-American; the “Star” in its name represented the U.S. flag. The Evening Bulletin dates to 1871 and was published daily from 1882. W.R. Farrington came from the Advertiser as editor in June 1898, until 1912, then was president and publisher until his death in 1933. Always a strong advocate for annexation, as early as 1900 Farrington had urged that the Islands join the Union. On July 1, 1912 the papers merged to become the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin's earliest extant home was at 125 Merchant Street. Photo by Lowell Angell
The Star-Bulletin’s earliest extant home, at 125 Merchant Street, dates from 1902, a simple two-story building designed by Clinton B. Ripley and Louis Davis for the Hawaiian Star. A later extension to Queen Street housed the presses. Those were moved in the 1950s to a building at Hotel Street and Kapi‘olani Boulevard, an area acquired in the mid-1970s by the City as part of Mayor Fasi’s civic center master plan. It is now a large lawn and site of the Fasi Municipal Building and adjacent parking structure.
The Merchant Street building has been much altered as retail and office space; likewise the addition on Queen Street. However, it was added to the Hawai‘i State Register of Historic Places earlier this year in recognition of its historic significance.
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