Preservation Awards Spotlight: Naval Air Station Barbers Point
NAS Barber Point's Storied History By Kristen Pedersen Naval Air Station Barbers Point Entrance Who was Barber? Barbers Point was named for Henry Barber, the captain of the Arthur, a 100-foot British vessel that ran aground at the point during a storm in 1796. According to various sources, Barber was on his way from Honolulu to Kauai to pick up a load of yams when a storm hit Oahu. Barber “determined to get underway despite the storm, hoisted anchor...All other captains held their ships in port while Arthur was deluged by wind, rain and pounding surf.” The ship went down taking with it six crewmembers. The survivors struggled ashore near a tract of land referred to by native Hawaiians as "Kalaeloa" (long cape or headland), a legendary birthplace of Hawaiian kings. Kalaeloa later became known as Barbers Point. Both names are used today. Naval Air Station (NAS) Barbers Point NAS Barbers Point began life in the early 1930’s when the Navy leased some land from the James Campbell estate to moor a blimp (dirigible). A few years later, the Navy leased another section of the estate to build an outlying field near the mooring, but it was never used. Not an auspicious start! In 1940, after the original lease expired, an additional parcel of 3500 acres was acquired by the Navy to enlarge the outlying field and establish the Ewa Marine Corps Air Station. It was completed in 1941. Around this same time, the Navy decided to expand its aviation facility at Barbers Point, but base construction was interrupted by the attack on Oahu on December 7, 1941. The main concentration of the attack occurred at Pearl Harbor, but several other installations [...]