Researching Stories Related to Kona’s Scenic Byway Opens Up a Whole New World
by Peter Young
I hated history as a kid – I thought it was only about dead people and memorization of seemingly meaningless dates. In fact, I wasn’t interested in history until a few years ago when I became involved in preparing a management plan for a Scenic Byway in Kona.
Scenic Byways are about ‘roads that tell stories.’ So a good part of the work was finding stories about the place that could be shared with others. We would periodically meet with an advisory group of lifelong Kona residents – I would research a ‘story’ of that area, then share it with a group. Invariably, people would say ‘I never knew that’ and they wanted more.
So did I. So my interest in history actually grew out of my work. There were times that I couldn’t sleep because I wanted to learn some more and I’d get up at 3 am to do more research. After three Scenic Byway master plans in Kona, Koloa and Waikiki, I realized I didn’t need a planning project (or to get up at 3 am) to learn about our past, and I began researching and sharing stories about Hawaii’s people, places and events.
I still can’t get enough of it. Five years ago, wanting to learn what this thing ‘Facebook’ was all about, I committed to make a daily Facebook post for one year, try to get some ‘Friends,’ and see where that led. Rather than ‘I’m eating lunch’ kind of post, I started to share some of the stories I learned along the way. Well, the 1-year commitment has long past, but the daily posts continue.
I continue to post summaries on Facebook and the stories, and associated photos and maps, are now at ImagesOfOldHawaii.com. I am not sure how much longer I can keep up with the daily posts, but I have already written a few hundred that are in the hopper that will be posted daily, taking us well into next year. (You can even subscribe and get the stories sent to you via e-mail, if you are so inclined.)
Now, every day is an adventure; more often than not, I find another ‘who knew that?’ bit about our past. Taking an organized tour gives you the same kind of opportunity – the new things you can learn about the past will surprise you, as well as have you look at the world around you with a different perspective and understanding – like seeing things with a new set of eyes. I look forward to the next Historic Hawaii Foundation tour, to learn something new about this place I call home.
Peter Young is a lifetime resident of Hawai`i. He’s been in the private sector for 30-years, 2-years in County Administration and 4 1/2-years in State Administration. His firm, Ho`okuleana LLC, is a planning and consulting firm assisting property owners with land use planning efforts, including environmental review, entitlement process, permitting, community outreach, etc. Subscribe to Peter’s blog at Images of Old Hawaii.
Peter has been a member and supporter of Historic Hawaii Foundation since 2011 and enjoys attending our historic walking tours and open house events.