Last week, I wrote about the Honolulu Fort, which was built 200 years ago in 1816. It defended Honolulu Harbor for over 40 years, and when it was torn down, its coral blocks were used to extend the shoreline and add 15 acres to our waterfront.

Honolulu Fort is gone, but the street that led to it endures. From the early 1800s until statehood, Fort Street was the center of Honolulu’s main shopping district. Fort Street became Hawaii’s first paved road in 1881. In 1968, it became a pedestrian mall.

The list of companies that existed on Fort Street is too long to explore in one column, but here are some highlights. Many of these companies are like old friends to my readers. Others might surprise you.

Liberty House

The company that was “a tradition in Hawaii” for 150 years is now gone. German sea captain Heinrich Hackfeld opened his store — H. Hackfeld — in 1849, offering silk clothing, bird cages, crockery, dry goods, hardware, pens, pencils, window glass and other household items.

Local business consultant Julie Percell told me that during World War I, in 1918, Germans were forced to sell their property and businesses, and the company’s new board of directors thought a German name was a liability. Wanting to prove their patriotism, they chose the name Liberty House for the retail store and American Factors for their sugar operations.

Ellen Chapman told me that “in the late 1950s, I had braces, and every two weeks I went by bus to my Fort Street orthodontist to have them tightened.

After the appointment, when my gums were hurting, I treated myself to a stroll through Liberty House. The perfume and cosmetics counters were at the main entrance and the strong mix of fragrances made me forget the dental discomfort for a while.”

Walmart now occupies its former site at King and Fort streets.

Ming’s

Wook Moon founded Ming’s in 1939 as an art and antiquities gallery at 808 Fort St. “Ming’s” means “a room that one can enter and acquire cultural knowledge,” says Moon’s sister, Sylvia Moon Gomberg.

World War II cut Moon off from his suppliers in China, so he switched to creating his own jewelry, which today is highly valued.

Kress

A favorite of many islanders, Kress was part of a nationwide chain founded in 1896 by Samuel Henry Kress in Memphis, Tenn. It was the first five-and-dime store in the South.

Kress came to Hawaii in 1931 — at 1117 Fort St. — and spread to several islands. Most closed in the early 1980s. The Kress Building in Hilo still has the name etched into the facade.

The Ritz

Just mauka of Kress was the Ritz, founded by Nenichi Kamuri in the 1920s under the name Standard Sales. The company switched from selling appliances to ready-to-wear clothing during World War II.

The name came from the Ritz Hotel, which Cesar Ritz opened in Paris in 1898. Ritz provided guests with superb accommodations, sublime cuisine and grand entertainment. The name came to represent the pinnacle of luxury.

Irving Berlin wrote the song “Puttin’ on the Ritz” in 1928 for the movie of the same name.

Carol & Mary

Carol & Mary launched their retail store in 1937 on Fort Street mauka of King Street with $1,300 (about $9,000 in today’s dollars). Carol Singlehurst had worked for Gumps department store in Waikiki. Mary Afong was the granddaughter of Hawaii’s first Chinese millionaire, Chun Afong.

Over time, it rose to become Hawaii’s most prestigious women’s and children’s specialty chain.

Consolidated Theatres

Few locals know that Consolidated Theatres got its start on Fort Street. While the company plans to celebrate its 100th anniversary next year, founder Joel Cohen actually entered the theatre business in 1899, according to a newspaper interview from the 1930s.

Cohen rented the Orpheum Theatre and put on live shows. The Orpheum later became the Princess Theatre, and the site now hosts the Diamond Head tower of Kukui Plaza.

Cathedral

The oldest continually used Catholic cathedral in the country can be found on Fort Street Mall, where it was built in 1843. The church is also known by its original French name, Cathedrale de Notre Dame de la Paix. Notre Dame means “Our Lady” in French and refers to the Virgin Mary.

Both of Hawaii’s saints have ties to the church. Saint Damien was ordained there in 1864. When Saint Marianne and six Franciscan sisters came to the islands in 1883, the king sent his carriage to pick them up. It took them to the cathedral.

While kiawe trees and bougainvillea are very well-known in the islands, few know the first ones in Hawaii were planted at the cathedral by Father Alexis Bachelot, the first Catholic missionary to Hawaii.

Former Oahu resident Cary Moore tells me that Bachelot brought kiawe seeds from the Royal Garden in Paris. The original tree was cut down in 1919.

“I picked kiawe beans for horse feed back in the ’50s for 25 cents a gunny sack, so I attach strongly to this thorny tree’s yellow bean seed. I buy the kiawe for my wood-fired oven, for its heat intensity and longevity. Perfect pizza!”

Central

Central Union Church resided on Fort Street on the corner of Beretania in 1852 as the Fort Street Church. Central Union traces its roots to the Seaman’s Bethel church in 1833. Two decades later, local parishioners formed the Fort Street Church.

The Fort Street School began in its basement in 1865. It evolved into McKinley High School, now in its fifth location, on King Street. McKinley is the oldest public high school on Oahu.

Kramer’s Men’s Wear

Samuel R. Kramer Naval Uniforms was founded in 1939 upstairs in the Pantheon Building on Fort Street. Kramer altered military shirts and pants so they would fit right and look sharp.

The Queen’s Hospital

In 1859, the Queen’s Hospital opened on lower Fort Street with 18 beds. King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma personally raised the money to found it.

A year later, the hospital bought the dusty and barren area named Manamana (which means “much spiritual power” in Hawaiian) for $2,000. It expanded to 124 beds. In its early days, patients stayed for long periods in the hospital. In 1875, the average patient stayed for 73 days.

Honpa Hongwanji

While researching Honpa Hongwanji many years ago, I was surprised to find it had a Fort Street address. This, I soon realized, was because before the Pali Highway was built, Fort Street extended all the way to Pacific Heights Drive.

The Honolulu and Hilo Hongwanji were founded by the Rev. Soryu Kagahi, who came from Kyushu, Japan, in 1889. He was following the first wave of Japanese plantation workers who had arrived four years earlier.

The current temple opened in 1918 on land donated by Mary Foster, whose botanical gardens were a block away.

Hawaii Pacific University is still on Fort Street. For many years, the Pantheon Bar, which opened in 1883, called itself the oldest in Honolulu. King Fort Magazine Shop has been there since 1961.

McInerny, C. Brewer, Woolworth, Sato Clothiers, Andrade, Hartfields, Conrad Jewelers, I Love Country Cafe, Blaisdell Hotel, Macy’s, Chun Kim Chow Shoes, Leeds, the Hub, Miyamoto Jewelers and most of the banks are other Fort Street denizens I can recall.

Do you have a Fort Street story? If so, drop me a line.

Bob Sigall, author of the “Companies We Keep” books, looks through his collection of old photos to tell stories of Hawaii people, places and companies. Email him at Sigall@yahoo.com.