Wallace Rider Farrington High School has storied past

I sometimes like to begin my column with a quiz. Let’s call this one, “How Well Do You Know Wallace Rider Farrington High School?”

1. Farrington had four proposed locations. Can you name one of the three that wasn’t chosen?

2. Farrington High School opened in a temporary location in 1936. Where was it?

3. The first principal, Thomas Vance, wanted at least 30 acres. Ten were for the school buildings. Ten were for athletic facilities. What were the other ten for?

4. What was Farrington High School’s original proposed name?

5. What was Farrington used for during World War II?

OK, that is a tough quiz. What I find interesting is that nearly every adult in the state has heard of Farrington, which was named for the late former territorial governor of Hawaii, but most of us know very little about its history — even those who graduated from it.

I live a mile from Farrington and drive by it all the time, so I was surprised to find a map in the newspaper archives showing its four possible locations. I had no idea there were options.

QUESTION 1

One was the original Kamehameha boys’ school site, where Farrington is today. The second was the old Kamehameha girls’ school location, now public housing makai of King Street.

The third proposed location was the previous site of the Insane Asylum, on the corner of Lanakila Avenue and School Street, before it moved to Kaneohe. Today the site is home to the Lanakila Health Center.

The fourth possible location was a swampy area in Palama, between Dillingham Boulevard and King Street, before the Kapalama Canal drained it.

The location was where the Houston sports arena was built around 1930. The arena was named for Victor Houston, Hawaii’s congressional delegate, who steered legislation that legalized boxing here.

The Kamehameha girls’ site was only 16 acres. The Palama swamp was big enough, but would be costly to build on. Forty percent of the Insane Asylum area was rocky and unusable, Vance thought.

Only the Kamehameha boys’ site was of sufficient size and close enough to the residents it would serve.

So kids, don’t complain about the school. If things had turned out differently, it might be located in a swamp or insane asylum!

QUESTION 2

Why did Vance want a minimum of 30 acres? Ten, he said were needed for classrooms, offices and an auditorium. “Ten acres will be required as an athletic field, playground, football field, track and narrow bleacher section.”

What were the other 10 acres for? A school farm. Vance hoped to develop a tropical fruit orchard not only for instructional purposes, but also to supply fruit trees to the neighborhood.

He calculated it would be able to raise and sell 2,000 lychee and longan trees a year for $10 to $15 each. In 16 years, the school would earn enough to cover the original cost of the land.

Vance had been principal of Kalakaua Junior High School, which opened in 1927 on what had been the Kamehameha girls’ school farm. The farm mostly grew sugar cane, alfalfa and other experimental crops. Kamehameha had a larger farm in Hahaione Valley, near Koko Head, with livestock.

QUESTION 3

Farrington opened in September 1936 in a temporary location where the Kamehameha girls’ school had been. It was leased from the Bishop Estate for $4,800 a year.

It was meant to take students from Nuuanu to Moanalua valleys, Farrington historian Alfred Torco told me.

McKinley High School was bursting at the seams with over 4,000 students, and 750 more students were graduating from Kalakaua Intermediate School. In Farrington’s first year, only 10th graders were admitted. In succeeding years, it added 11th and 12th grades.

By 1938, nearly 2,000 students attended in its temporary location. Vance reported that the school soon had 5,000 mango, avocado and citrus trees growing in tubs. He expected that number to quickly rise to 10,000 trees and be available to neighborhood residents. If your yard has one, maybe it came from Farrington’s orchard.

QUESTION 4

Wallace Rider Farrington High School was dedicated on Sunday Dec. 10, 1939. Gov. Joseph Poindexter sealed the building’s cornerstone, which was filled with mementos: the governor’s penknife, a book about his life, the school’s first newspaper, handbook, school song, and student lists.

Honolulu Mayor Charles Crane spoke and presented the key to the building to Vance, the principal. Lei were given to the widow of former Gov. Farrington. A band, vocal group and hula dancers performed.

The school was going to be called Kalihi High School, but was named for the late former governor, who died in 1933. The Honolulu Board of Supervisors called Farrington an “earnest and ardent advocate of education.”

Student guides took visitors on tours of the new facilities. Afterward, the Parent Teacher Association served refreshments in the cafeteria.

True to Vance’s vision, the school had an orchard, gardens, and greenhouses. Students grew anthuriums, crotons, dahlias, ti, orchids and other plants from seeds or cuttings.

Science students learned to incubate eggs, hatch chicks, and care for a chicken coop. Homemaking students had new ovens and sewing machines. Many schools back then were more practical than academic.

Smoking was prohibited on the Farrington campus, except in lavatories. No kidding.

Farrington was Oahu’s fifth public high school. From 1865 until 1913, McKinley was the only option. Leilehua High School began in 1913, followed by Roosevelt in 1932, and Waipahu in 1938.

QUESTION 5

Less than two years after Farrington opened, we were plunged into World War II. Farrington became a branch of Tripler General Hospital. The first patients arrived the morning of Dec. 7, 1941.

The students moved into dilapidated buildings from the Kamehameha Schools era and newly erected bungalows. They squeezed into the classroom space by splitting into either morning or afternoon shifts.

Open bomb shelter trenches were dug in the campus’ green lawns in case of enemy attack.

Doctors, nurses, medical equipment and over 470 beds took over the modern spacious buildings. Some of them called the facility the “Farrington Grand Hotel.”

The community went out of its way to entertain the convalescing servicemen during the war. Each Christmas, the students gave presents to all the patients.

In 1944, the Chinese community hosted a Shanghai Night in the officers’ dining room. It had a dragon dance, acrobatics, music and Chinese refreshments.

A 1945 Lei Day celebration began with a reading of Don Blanding’s poems. A May Day queen was crowned and a giant croton leaf lei was draped over a large photo of Gov. Farrington. Lei were given to 600 patients and staff at the hospital.

Civilians used the hospital too, and interestingly, dozens of babies were born there.

Some Farrington students went on to greatness. Running back Wally Yonamine led the football team to its first state championship in 1944. Then he became the first Asian-American to play in the National Football League, for the San Francisco 49ers. He didn’t stop there, moving to Japan to become the first American to play professional baseball there.

Did you go to Farrington or have a good story about it? If so email me.

BEHIND THE SCENES

Last week I launched Rearview Mirror Insider, a midweek email to readers who want to know what’s going on behind the scenes in my column.

This week’s Insider email went out Tuesday night and gave members a sneak preview of Friday’s column, including the Farrington quiz. I also shared stories I’m working on and interesting things I learned this week.

Go to RearviewMirror­Insider.com to join.

Bob Sigall’s “The Companies We Keep 5” book contains stories from the last three years of Rearview Mirror. “The Companies We Keep 1 and 2” are also back in print. Email Sigall at Sigall@yahoo.com.