1890/00/00 |
Walter Chamberlain Peacock |
Home |
In the 1890s, WC Peacock builds a mansion and a pier on the Waikiiki shoreline. |
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1896/00/00 |
Walter Chamberlain Peacock |
Developer |
With money given to him by his sister Annie, Walter Peacock incorporates the Moana Hotel Company with $150,000 in capital and hires architect Oliver G Traphagen to draw up a plan to renovate the Peacock home and build guest cottages on the grounds. |
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1899/09/00 |
Lucas Brothers |
General Contractor |
Construction begins on the four-story, 75-room Moana Hotel. |
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1901/03/11 |
Oliver G Traphagen |
Architect |
The Moana Hotel opens and welcomes its first guests, a group of 114 Shriners. For $1.50 per night, rooms feature private baths and a telephone while the hotel offers a billiard room, parlor and the first electric elevator in the territory. |
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Opening of Tourism in Hawaii |
1904/00/00 |
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Arborist Jared Smith, director of the Department of Agriculture Experiment Station on the outskirts of downtown Honolulu, plants a 9 year old, 7 foot tall banyan tree in the central courtyard of the Moana. |
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1905/02/28 |
Jane Lathrop Stanford |
Died |
Jane Stanford drinks bicarbonate of soda to settle her stomach. In anguish, she exclaims "My jaws are stiff. This is a horrible death to die." Poisoned with strychnine, her death remains a mystery. The room she died in was removed to expand the lobby. |
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1905/05/02 |
Alexander Young |
Owner |
Peacock sells the Moana Hotel to Alexander Young. |
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1918/00/00 |
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Johnny Noble becomes the leader of the Moana Hotel Orchestra developing hapa-haole compositions that mix traditional Hawaiian music and American ragtime (such as Little Brown Gal). |
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1920/00/00 |
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Johnny Noble and Sunny Cunha write a hit song, "Hula Blues". |
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1920/00/00 |
Edward VIII |
Visitor |
The Prince of Wales gallivants around the Moana Hotel, learns to surf standing up and dives off Peacock Pier into the ocean. |
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Opening of Tourism in Hawaii |
1922/08/06 |
Agatha Christie |
Promoter |
After checking into their rooms at the Moana Hotel, Archie and Agatha Christie change into their swimsuits, rush down to the beach, rent surfboards and hit the waves. |
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Trade Mission to Promote the British Empire Exhibition |
1922/08/10 |
Agatha Christie |
Promoter |
The 2nd time in the water, the waves tear Agatha silk bathing suit. In the hotel gift shop, she buys a "skimpy, emerald green wool bathing dress, which was the joy of my life, and in which I thought I looked remarkably well. Archie thought I did, too." |
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Trade Mission to Promote the British Empire Exhibition |
1923/11/10 |
Edgar Allen Poe Newcombe |
Died |
After a lengthy illness, Edgar Allen Poe Newcomb dies at the Moana Hotel in Waikiki. The Reverend Canon John Usborne will officiate over the services at the hotel. Newcomb will be cremated and his ashes interred at Nuuanu Cemetery. |
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1932/00/00 |
Matson Navigation Company |
Owner |
The Matson Navigation Company buys the Moana Hotel for $1.6 million. |
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1935/07/03 |
Webley Edwards |
Work |
Webley Edwards begins 40 years as the voice on radio that announces: From the Banyan Court of the Moana Hotel overlooking beautiful Waikiki Beach, it's Hawaii Calls! Regular performers are Alfred Apaka, Hilo Hattie, Haunani Kahalewai and Martin Denny. |
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Opening of Tourism in Hawaii |
1942/00/00 |
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From 1941 to 1945, the Moana is used as a rest and recreation area for US soldiers and sailors. |
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1979/00/00 |
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The Moana banyan tree is placed on the City and County's Exceptional Tree List that preserves historic trees. It takes seven arborists several days to do its by-permit-only annual trimming. |
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1989/00/00 |
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Designed by Hawaii architect Virginia D Murison, the Moana is restored to its 1901 appearance and incorporates the 1969 Sheraton Surfrider Hotel and the 1952 SurfRider Hotel buildings into one beachfront resort, the Sheraton Moana Surfrider. |
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2009/12/24 |
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White House staffers who accompanied President Barack Obama to his Winter White House at Plantation Estate during Christmas visits stay at the Moana. |
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