In January 1900 a fire burned down much of Chinatown. Men, women and children fled. Some went to a camp at Queen and South streets in Kakaako, where an old kerosene warehouse once existed. In the weeks that followed, the able-bodied moved on, leaving mainly "destitute incurables" at the site.

Three months later the Victoria Hospital Association was formed for those with incurable diseases. Their chief interest was to separate and treat patients with tuberculosis, a communicable lung disease. They also treated those with paralysis, rheumatism, ulcers and other disorders.

As Hawaii’s territorial government became established, there was a burst of Americanism. Victoria Hospital had been named for Queen Victoria of England’s diamond jubilee in 1897. Hawaii’s monarchs had been close to Queen Victoria, but the name was now deemed too British and was changed to the somehow more palatable Honolulu Home for the Incurables.

Within a year a better facility was needed. Puunui, in the Liliha area, was considered but deemed too wet. TB patients needed drier surroundings, and the Leahi area near Fort Ruger was selected. "Kaimuki Gets the Incurables," read a 1902 newspaper headline.

The home was situated at the top of the ridge in Kaimuki. It had a warm climate and good tradewinds, but it was far from the population center. The Honolulu Home for the Incurables had to pay to get telephone lines and the Rapid Transit streetcar extended to reach it.

By 1906 the directors decided the name was a problem, particularly since many patients were leaving cured. Leahi Home was selected instead. Leahi is the Hawaiian name for Diamond Head. One translation of the name means "brow of the tuna." Another means "wreath of fire."

In Leahi’s early years staff grew vegetables, raised cattle for milk and housed 2,000 chickens. The crowing of 250 roosters awakened the patients at all hours of the night, and the neighbors weren’t too crazy about them either, so they were removed.

Vincent Lee, Leahi CEO, says that in the early days patients were not supposed to have direct contact with outsiders. Many would write messages, fold them into paper airplanes and throw them out the window to family or friends below.

A medical breakthrough happened in 1946. Streptomycin was found to stop the tubercle bacillus. Many patients experienced spectacular recoveries.

One of Leahi’s most famous patients was Neal Blaisdell. He was elected to the Territorial Legislature in 1944 and 1946 as a Republican. He ran for mayor of Honolulu in 1950, but a bout of tuberculosis landed him in Leahi Hospital for seven months.

"In the hospital I had a lot of time to think," Blaisdell recalled.

Blaisdell ran for mayor again and won two-year terms in 1954, 1956 and 1958 and four-year terms in 1960 and 1964. During that time he guided Honolulu from a population of 350,000 to more than 650,000.

Many locals remember the Alexander Young Building downtown. It began as the Alexander Young Hotel in 1902 and became an office building after World War II. I had an office on the fourth floor there, until it closed and was demolished in 1981.

But do you know there were two Alexander Young buildings? The other one was at Leahi Hospital. It’s the five-story building on Kilauea Avenue that is most visible to passers-by. When it opened in 1951, it raised Leahi’s capacity to 711 patients and eliminated a long waiting list.

Alexander Young was the first president of Leahi and at one time owned the Alexander Young, Moana and downtown Royal Hawaiian hotels.

"Leahi today is in keeping with its tradition of caring for the inflicted and unwanted," said Lee. "Our main focus now is on becoming a center of excellence in long-term care, but we still have tuberculosis inpatients and have a Hansen’s disease unit that is operated by the state Department of Health."

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