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Harold Nagato suggested I do a story on the Manoa War Homes, where Safeway and Longs Drugs stores are now located. “It was built for World War II veterans like my dad,” he said.
“I grew up in a little duplex unit, all made in the same square box design. It was where I spent my hanna-batta days growing up, and I have so many great memories of playing, fishing in the stream and snacking on rosy apple and green common mango (with shoyu, vinegar and black pepper) that grew in the old graveyard, which I believe is still there.”
A hundred years ago Manoa was sparsely populated. It was filled with dairies and farms, longtime resident Beatrice Krauss recalled in a 1992 interview. The first sugar, pineapple and coffee in the islands were grown there, the 86-year-old recalled.
Taro patches, guava and kiawe were common. None of the roads were paved when she was a child.
Leading up to World War II, the territory realized it needed a lot more housing. It launched projects in Palolo, Kalihi, Manoa and a few other places.
The Manoa War Homes was the largest. It opened in November 1945 and within six months was occupied by 1,000 active- duty, veterans and Department of Defense families. It was demolished in 1959.
The area was west of East Manoa Road, past Woodlawn Drive to about Kalawao Street. Its makai boundary was Kolowalu Street, about Noelani Elementary School’s site, and mauka beyond Lowrey Avenue to about Loi Street.
It covered 91 acres, including the area that is now the Manoa Library, the Manoa Innovation Center and Manoa Marketplace.
There were 522 two-bedroom and 478 one-bedroom units. Each had a kitchen with icebox and electric range, a water heater and a complete bathroom with shower.
A community center offered movies, dances and meetings. It organized classes in sewing, cooking, clay modeling, swimming, storytelling, finger painting, nature study, music, piano and dramatics.
Sports such as archery, horseshoes, basketball, football, volleyball, badminton, pingpong and boxing were available. Educational trips, group hikes and picnics were offered.
The rent was $35 to $50 a month, allowing residents to save up for a down payment on a conventional home.
Columnist Lee Cataluna wrote that former Lt. Gov. Jean King lived in the housing area. Her unit had a lever that sent electricity to either the stove or water heater. If you didn’t pay close attention, you might have a hot meal and a cold shower.
The Star-Bulletin also created a weekly column, Browsing in Manoa Housing, written by resident Raymond Nosaka.
Nagato said he lived in Manoa Housing since birth in 1946. “The original school that I attended from kindergarten to sixth grade was called Manoa Housing School, across the street (Diamond Head) from where Longs Drugs would one day be in the Manoa Marketplace.
“I have fun memories of going to the Manoa Housing School. I remember we had to work in the cafeteria occasionally when we were in the fourth grade.
“I learned a lot of practical skills, like washing dishes, sweeping and mopping — all useful things in life today. The cafeteria lady would always remind us to butter the corner of the bread.
“Another memorable thing was we had recess about 10 a.m. and could buy a snack, which was usually a cup of juice and toast (I think they would toast the leftover buttered bread from the day before).
“But on certain days they would serve soup, with leftover vegetables. It was so ONO and it cost 2 cents. Yes, 2 cents. Maybe that’s why till this day if I see a penny on the ground, I pick it up. It reminds me of that 2-cent snack.
“After school once in a while they would bake the most ono peanut butter cookies and shortbread cookies, also 2 cents a piece. What a deal. Great memories.”
Martin “Mac” McMorrow said his family moved into Manoa in 1949, and he went to Manoa Elementary School for the fifth and sixth grades. Manoa School opened way back in 1854.
“When we got to the sixth grade, I remember there were three classes. Two were English Standard and one was not. The two English Standard classes were divided into high achievers in one classroom and, let’s say, those of us with ‘untapped potential’ were in the other classroom.
“Manoa School was right in the middle of everything. What now startles me is that within a couple of hundred yards from my school was another school,” for the children in the War Housing area.
“We rarely saw those students or their parents walking around or in the stores and markets.
“I was very familiar with the War Housing itself (we called it the ‘Civilian Housing’). My friend Clarence delivered the morning newspaper there, and I would go with him on my bicycle when he tried to collect.
“Most people would tell Clarence that they didn’t have 30-40 cents for the paper right then and to come back tomorrow. Clarence was very happy when he got a new paper route on the other side of the valley along Oahu Avenue where the ‘silk stocking’ Manoa folks lived.
“We would ride up their circular driveways, knock on the door, and a nice lady would come out and give Clarence a dollar and tell him he could keep the change.
“The people I saw regularly in the Civilian Housing area were pretty down and out. The access roads were not paved. The units were box-shaped and made of white painted Canec (from sugar cane waste). They were close to each other, and I don’t remember any grass or trees. Sometimes I would see a hole in a door that looked like someone had put their boot through it.
“In the end,” McMorrow continued, “when they removed the houses, the land stayed in California grass for a long time. People still had horses in the back of the valley, so you would see a horse there once in a while munching away. Eventually, Woodlawn Drive was extended through the old housing site, and some nice homes are there now.”
Over 1,500 children lived in the housing area in 1946, and a huge debate raged in Manoa: Should the War Housing children go to an expanded Manoa Elementary School or to a separate school less than half a mile away? Sharp opinions were expressed on both sides.
A new school needed at least 18 classrooms, and it was decided to go in that direction.
The Manoa Housing School was supposed to open in September 1946 but, due to red tape and the postwar situation, was not ready.
For three months classes met in the War Housing Area’s community center, with half the kids attending in the morning and half in the afternoon. Finally, in December 1946, the Manoa Housing School opened, Diamond Head of where Longs is today.
In 1959 the housing area closed, and the land reverted back to its original owners. Developers built new homes on the site, and most are now worth over $1 million.
The Manoa War Housing School became Noelani School in 1959 and moved to its current site in 1962.
“Noelani” means “heavenly mist.” Parents and teachers also proposed a second possible name: Wailani, which means “heavenly rain.”
Noelani, now considered to be one of the best elementary schools in the state, had been called a “junk school” by many of the Manoa Elementary students 15 years earlier.
Barack Obama attended Noelani in the late 1960s and credits it, and schools like it, for elevating him all the way to the White House.
Safeway opened on the site in 1964, and in 1978 the Manoa Marketplace opened as well. It had a Longs Drugs store, KC Drive In, Chuck’s Steakhouse, McDonald’s, Dutch Girl Bakery, Magoo’s Pizza, Carnation Icecreamland and a crack seed shop.
Reunions for Manoa War Housing residents were held in 2004 and 2007, Lee Cataluna reported. It was a time to share stories and photos. Even though it had closed well over 40 years earlier, over 100 people attended.
Have a question or suggestion? Contact Bob Sigall, author of the five “The Companies We Keep” books, at Sigall@Yahoo.com.
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