Honolulu History

Owning land in Hawaiʻi used to be unheard of. Native Hawaiians were distributed parcels of land by the mōʻī, or the king, that were essentially wedge-shaped plots mostly divided by natural boundaries.

They werenʻt always the same size, as the goal of the parcels was to make sure that individuals had what they needed to live sustainably upon the land. Since resources donʻt fall neatly into wedge-shaped pie pieces, the boundaries of the slices were more fluid, but, for the most part, the Indigenous peoples of the land had all that they needed to survive. Thrive, in fact, because there was even time in the day left over for leisure.

In 1848, that long-practiced system experienced radical change. King Kamehameha III decided that individuals should own land, and redistributed the land in his kingdom into three categories: the mō‘ī, the ali‘i (the kingʻs high chiefs), and the maka‘āinana (common-folk). This was known as the Great Māhele of 1848, and it paved the way for the private land ownership we see today.

Honolulu is a Consolidated City-County

The governance of Hawaiʻi is interesting and differs from all other U.S. States. It is the only state that does not have incorporated places below the county level. Honolulu is also a consolidated city-county, a term for when a city and its surrounding county merge into a unified jurisdiction.

Honolulu became a city-county in 1907 when it was accepted by the territory of Hawaiʻi Legislature. What's unique about the structure, and the structure of all of the counties in the State of Hawaii, (there are only five), is how much power the counties have. Below the state level, they have all of it— collecting property taxes, administering public safety and sanitation measures, caring for parks, and even community activities, many of the things that would normally fall upon the shoulders of the municipalities, or cities.

There is only one official city on Oʻahu and that’s Honolulu. But there are many Census Designated Places, small towns, neighborhoods, and even locales that make fine places to search for a house in Honolulu County.

What’s in a Name?

The Hawaiian word, “Honolulu” translates to “sheltered harbor” or “calm waters,” and although Hawaiʻi is the U.S.’ 50th state, Hawaiʻi does have its own language.

An interesting tidbit about the state’s name and certain spellings is the inclusion, or absence, of diacritics. Diacritics are glyphs added to letters to change the sounds of vowels. The Hawaiian language uses two: the ʻokina and the kahakō.

If you were to spell the stateʻs name in the Hawaiian language, the proper way is “Hawaiʻi”. (Note the use of the okina that appears like an apostrophe, but is not.)

When constitutional documents were drafted in 1949, they predated the use of the okina in modern documents. Thatʻs why you now see the official documents declaring the “State of Hawaii,” because the Hawaii Admission Act that granted statehood omitted the glottal stop. Changing it would require an Act of Congress, action from the federal government that so far hasn’t happened yet.

Hawaiians carry on with the ʻokina and the kahakō, however, with or without government approval…