The History of Kalihi Valley

Walking through the narrow streets of Kalihi Valley, I see parked cars spilling onto the roads and houses so clumped together that the children cannot run outside and play. There is barely any empty space left in Kalihi, except for a park on school grounds here and there. Kalihi, meaning “the edge” in the Hawaiian language, was named by King Kamehameha V., and is now considered to be the multi-ethnic and middle-working class district of Honolulu. In the early twentieth century, Kalihi became a first home to many of Hawai’i’s newest immigrants from Laos, Samoa, the Philippines, Marshall Islands, and Chuuk. At this time, many sugar workers also left the plantations and settled in Kalihi. Then, as more and more settlers of Chinese, Japanese and Korean ancestry arrived, the demand for affordable houses grew. Pig farms were replaced with Hawai’i’s two largest public housing developments. In the mid-twentieth century, Kalihi also became the receiving station for leprosy patients to either be treated or sent to Moloka’i. What used to be beautiful vegetable gardens, flower gardens, grazing land, taro patches, and farms are now crowded residential neighborhoods with churches and schools. Naohia Falls, also known as Kalihi Ice Ponds, is a set of three-tiered falls located in the back of Kalihi Valley. Once a hidden gem, Naohia Falls has become a favorite hike to many people, but is now considered an illegal hike that trespasses through property of the Board of Water Supply. Kalihi has become so populous that neighborhoods have begun to creep up the hillsides. The once quiet open neighborhood has become a robust neighborhood, bursting with diversity.