Walter F. Dillingham
Encyclopedia
Walter Francis Dillingham (1875-1963), called the Baron of Hawaii Industry, was an industrialist and businessman from Honolulu, Hawaii
.
He gained favors from Hawaii politicians to develop urban Honolulu
.
. His father was Benjamin Dillingham
who founded the Oahu Railway and Land Company
. His mother was Emma Louise Smith, daughter of missionary Lowell Smith. In 1889 he moved to the United States
to attend school in Auburndale, Massachusetts
, and then Harvard University
1898–1900. He first worked as a clerk for his father, and then managed the Dowsett Company and founded Hawaiian Dredging Company. In 1904 his father was hospitalized and he managed the OR&L. From 1907–1913, the Governor of the Territory of Hawaii
was Walter F. Frear
who was married to his sister Mary Emma.
In 1909 he constructed a dry dock
at Pearl Harbor
which eventually became part of the US Navy base. He also enlarged the ports of Kahului, Hawaii and Hilo, Hawaii.
On May 2, 1910 he married Louise Olga Gaylord in Florence
, Italy
. After his father died in 1918, he and his brother Harold Garfield Dillingham inherited the family businesses. During World War I
he worked for the US Army Motor Transport Corps
in Washington, DC.
Dillingham served on several commissions for the Territory of Hawaii, including the tax appeal court 1908–1910.
In 1919, Dillingham built a large house at Papaenaena, an ancient Hawaii
an altar to the surf and place of human sacrifice to the god Kūkailimoku
, on the slopes of Diamond Head
. The home, called La Pietra, is now a private academy for girls. It was named after the estate of his wife's relatives where they were married, Villa La Pietra.
Dillingham drained the wetlands of Waikīkī
in the early 1920s and created the Ala Wai Canal
on whose banks the Hawaii Convention Center
was built. He is considered controversial for his comments which by today's standards would be considered racist after the Massie Trial
of 1933.
In 1948, Dillingham Airfield
, a small Air Force base near Mokulēia, Hawaii was named for his son Captain Henry Gaylord Dillingham, a B-29
pilot who was killed in action over Kawasaki, Japan on July 25, 1945.
His son Benjamin Franklin Dillingham II (1916–1998) ran with the Hawaii Republican Party
against Daniel Inouye
for the Senate in 1962 and lieutenant governor in 1974 but lost both elections. The other Senator from Hawaii, Hiram Fong
, gave the eulogy at his funeral after his death October 22, 1963. Fong said He lived a life that spanned the full spectrum of Hawaiian history". Dillingham is buried at the Valley of the Temples Memorial Park
in Kāneohe.
In 1961, his son Lowell Smith Dillingham (1911–1987) merged the remains of the Oahu Railway and Land Company
and the Hawaiian Dredging and Construction Company to form the Dillingham Corporation. It was sold to private investors in 1983 for $347 million.
A daughter Elizabeth Dillingham (1921–?) married investment banker Myron Arms Wick Jr. (1915—1990) in 1940.
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...
.
He gained favors from Hawaii politicians to develop urban Honolulu
Downtown Honolulu
Downtown Honolulu is the current historic, economic, governmental, and central part of Honolulu—bounded by Nuuanu Stream to the west, Ward Avenue to the east, Vineyard Boulevard to the north, and Honolulu Harbor to the south—situated within the larger Honolulu District...
.
Life
Walter Francis Dillingham was born April 5, 1875 in Honolulu, during the Kingdom of HawaiiKingdom of Hawaii
The Kingdom of Hawaii was established during the years 1795 to 1810 with the subjugation of the smaller independent chiefdoms of Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lānai, Kauai and Niihau by the chiefdom of Hawaii into one unified government...
. His father was Benjamin Dillingham
Benjamin Dillingham
Benjamin Franklin Dillingham was a businessman and industrialist during the late Kingdom of Hawaii era, throughout the period of the Republic of Hawaii, and during the first two decades of the Territory of Hawaii.-Life:...
who founded the Oahu Railway and Land Company
Oahu Railway and Land Company
The Oahu Railway and Land Company, or OR&L, was a narrow gauge common carrier railroad that served much of the Hawaiian island of Oahu until its dissolution in 1947.-Origin:...
. His mother was Emma Louise Smith, daughter of missionary Lowell Smith. In 1889 he moved to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to attend school in Auburndale, Massachusetts
Auburndale, Massachusetts
Auburndale is one of the 13 villages of Newton, Massachusetts. It lies at the western end of Newton near the intersection of interstate highways 90 and 95, and is bisected by the Massachusetts Turnpike. Auburndale is surrounded by three other Newton villages as well as the city of Waltham and the...
, and then Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
1898–1900. He first worked as a clerk for his father, and then managed the Dowsett Company and founded Hawaiian Dredging Company. In 1904 his father was hospitalized and he managed the OR&L. From 1907–1913, the Governor of the Territory of Hawaii
Territory of Hawaii
The Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 7, 1898, until August 21, 1959, when its territory, with the exception of Johnston Atoll, was admitted to the Union as the fiftieth U.S. state, the State of Hawaii.The U.S...
was Walter F. Frear
Walter F. Frear
Walter Francis Frear was a lawyer and judge in the Kingdom of Hawaii and Republic of Hawaii, and the third Territorial Governor of Hawaii from 1907 to 1913.-Life:...
who was married to his sister Mary Emma.
In 1909 he constructed a dry dock
Dry dock
A drydock is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform...
at Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
which eventually became part of the US Navy base. He also enlarged the ports of Kahului, Hawaii and Hilo, Hawaii.
On May 2, 1910 he married Louise Olga Gaylord in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. After his father died in 1918, he and his brother Harold Garfield Dillingham inherited the family businesses. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
he worked for the US Army Motor Transport Corps
Motor Transport Corps (United States Army) (World War One)
The Motor Transport Corps was formed out of the Quartermaster Corps on 15 August 1918, by General Order No. 75. Men needed to staff this new corps were recruited from the skilled tradesmen working for automotive manufacturers in the U.S....
in Washington, DC.
Dillingham served on several commissions for the Territory of Hawaii, including the tax appeal court 1908–1910.
In 1919, Dillingham built a large house at Papaenaena, an ancient Hawaii
Ancient Hawaii
Ancient Hawaii refers to the period of Hawaiian human history preceding the unification of the Kingdom of Hawaii by Kamehameha the Great in 1810. After being first settled by Polynesian long-distance navigators sometime between AD 300–800, a unique culture developed. Diversified agroforestry and...
an altar to the surf and place of human sacrifice to the god Kūkailimoku
Kū
In Hawaiian mythology Kū or Kū-ka-ili-moku is one of the four great gods along with Kanaloa, Kāne, and Lono.He is known as the god of war and the husband of the goddess Hina. Some have taken this to suggest a complementary dualism, as the word kū in the Hawaiian language means "standing up" while...
, on the slopes of Diamond Head
Diamond Head, Hawaii
Diamond Head is the name of a volcanic tuff cone on the Hawaiian island of Oahu and known to Hawaiians as Lēahi, most likely from lae 'browridge, promontory' plus ahi 'tuna' because the shape of the ridgeline resembles the shape of a tuna's dorsal fin...
. The home, called La Pietra, is now a private academy for girls. It was named after the estate of his wife's relatives where they were married, Villa La Pietra.
Dillingham drained the wetlands of Waikīkī
Waikiki
Waikiki is a neighborhood of Honolulu, in the City and County of Honolulu, on the south shore of the island of Oahu, in Hawaii. Waikiki Beach is the shoreline fronting Waikīkī....
in the early 1920s and created the Ala Wai Canal
Ala Wai Canal
The Ala Wai Canal is an artificial waterway in Honolulu, Hawaii which serves as the northern boundary of the tourist district of Waikīkī. It was created in 1928 for the purpose of draining the rice paddies and swamps which would eventually become the tourist resort area of Waikiki, and today also...
on whose banks the Hawaii Convention Center
Hawaii Convention Center
The Hawai‘i Convention Center is a convention and exhibition center in Hawaii, located in Honolulu on the island of Oahu. The building cost $200 million and has of floor space. It was completed in 1997 and opened in 1998...
was built. He is considered controversial for his comments which by today's standards would be considered racist after the Massie Trial
Massie Trial
The Massie Trial for what was known as the Massie Affair, was a 1932 criminal trial that took place in Honolulu, Hawaii. Grace Hubbard Fortescue, along with several accomplices, was charged with murder in the death of well known local prizefighter Joseph Kahahawai...
of 1933.
In 1948, Dillingham Airfield
Dillingham Airfield
Dillingham Airfield is a public and military use airport located two nautical miles west of the central business district of Mokulēia, in Honolulu County on the North Shore of Oahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It is operated by the Hawaii Department of Transportation under a 25-year lease from...
, a small Air Force base near Mokulēia, Hawaii was named for his son Captain Henry Gaylord Dillingham, a B-29
B-29 Superfortress
The B-29 Superfortress is a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing that was flown primarily by the United States Air Forces in late-World War II and through the Korean War. The B-29 was one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War II...
pilot who was killed in action over Kawasaki, Japan on July 25, 1945.
His son Benjamin Franklin Dillingham II (1916–1998) ran with the Hawaii Republican Party
Hawaii Republican Party
The Hawaii Republican Party is the state affiliate of the Republican Party of the United States. Based in Honolulu, the party is a central organization established for the promotion of the party platform as it is drafted in convention every other year...
against Daniel Inouye
Daniel Inouye
Daniel Ken "Dan" Inouye is the senior United States Senator from Hawaii, a member of the Democratic Party, and the President pro tempore of the United States Senate making him the highest-ranking Asian American politician in American history. Inouye is the chairman of the United States Senate...
for the Senate in 1962 and lieutenant governor in 1974 but lost both elections. The other Senator from Hawaii, Hiram Fong
Hiram Fong
Hiram Leong Fong , born Yau Leong Fong , was an American businessman and politician from Hawaii. He is most notable for his service as Republican United States Senator from 1959 to 1977, and for being the first Asian American and Chinese American to be elected as such...
, gave the eulogy at his funeral after his death October 22, 1963. Fong said He lived a life that spanned the full spectrum of Hawaiian history". Dillingham is buried at the Valley of the Temples Memorial Park
Byodo-In Temple
The Temple is a non-denominational Buddhist temple located on the island of O'ahu in Hawai'i at the Valley of the Temples. At 47-200 Kahekili Highway, the Byodo-In Temple is a replica of a 900-year-old Buddhist place of worship at Uji in Kyoto prefecture of Japan. Inside the Byodo-In Temple is a...
in Kāneohe.
In 1961, his son Lowell Smith Dillingham (1911–1987) merged the remains of the Oahu Railway and Land Company
Oahu Railway and Land Company
The Oahu Railway and Land Company, or OR&L, was a narrow gauge common carrier railroad that served much of the Hawaiian island of Oahu until its dissolution in 1947.-Origin:...
and the Hawaiian Dredging and Construction Company to form the Dillingham Corporation. It was sold to private investors in 1983 for $347 million.
A daughter Elizabeth Dillingham (1921–?) married investment banker Myron Arms Wick Jr. (1915—1990) in 1940.