This’ll take you back! A look at photos taken across territorial Honolulu and Oahu in 1954, five years before statehood.
Ala Wai Canal. Ala Moana Park. Waikiki. Chinatown. Schofield Barracks. Kaneohe Bay. Kamehameha Highway. Wow; how things have changed in less than six decades!
And pay particular attention to the three photos onscreen from 35 seconds to 50 seconds into the video.
Yup: That’s the Natatorium. Being used. Being enjoyed. Being exactly what it was meant to be: A place to honor those from Hawaii who served in World War I, simply by enjoying the freedoms they fought to protect.
Boy. We would love to swim there again. With you and your ohana. Let’s fix it and swim! Whaddya say?
Bonus Natatorium ’50s Photo!
And here, by the way, is another of our favorite photos of the Natatorium, a swimming competition image from sometime around 1950, courtesy of the Hawai’i State Archives.
