::: Island of Maui Postmarks, Part 1 - Haiku to Kaanapali :::
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Back to Islands of Maui, Molokai and Lanai.
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Sent from Haiku, Maui, to New Jersey, USA, postmarked in June, 1884, with the scarce Haiku type 282.013 mark (R2). A rare multiple use of Scott No. 37 paid the 5˘ UPU rate to the United States.
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Haiku, Makawao District
"sharp break"
1862-1887; 1892
Castle & Cooke chartered Haiku Sugar Company in 1858, an early “pioneer” plantation, and built a mill at Haiku by 1861. Haiku Sugar’s land extended into the Hamakuapoko district west of Maliko Gorge, a deep cut in the terrain extending from the northwestern slope of Haleakala to the sea, separating Haiku from Hamakuapoko. In the 1870s Haiku Plantation joined with others in the area and built Hamakua Ditch to carry water from the northern slopes of Haleakala, across Maliko Gorge and onto the isthmus plains of Hamakuapoko. The ditch began delivering water in 1877 and was finished in 1878. The newly irrigated isthmus sustained a thriving sugar cane production on the Hamakuapoko lands. Haiku’s sugar dependent population filtered over to Hamakuapoko. The mill closed in 1879 and Haiku Sugar’s headquarters moved to Hamakuapoko. What was left in Haiku was not much.
Postmasters: G. Beckwith (1863-1866); S. Savidge (1866); W. Goodale (1867-1869); S. T. Alexander (1875-1884, C. H. Dickey interim in 1879); H. P. Baldwin (1885-1887)[sugar planter]; and C. H. Dickey (1892)[storekeeper]. Haiku postmasters were connected with Haiku Sugar Co. and the mill office served as the post office. Haiku stamp sales in the years 1884 and 1885 were unrecorded, but the postmaster was paid an annual salary of $25. The latest recorded postmark from Haiku is dated in October, 1884.
Whether a post office existed at Haiku after 1884 is doubtful. Baldwin, the Haiku PM, kept his plantation office at Hamakuapoko. When he resigned as Haiku PM in 1887, he said it was unnecessary to appoint a replacement as the duties “are insignificant.” In 1889, the Paia PM named the four post offices in the area as: Paia, Hamakuapoko, Makawao and Huelo, omitting mention of Haiku. PMG Oat made no mention of Haiku in his 1893 trip report. C.H. Dickey’s role as Haiku PM in 1892 may have been a formality to close the office officially and merge it into the Hamakuapoko office. Assuming any postal work was done at Haiku after 1884, it certainly closed in 1887 and was not re-opened in 1892.
C.H. Dickey, famous for having strung the first “Bell” telephone in the Islands between his Haiku store and home (c. 1877), supervised postal affairs of Haiku, Hamakuapoko and Paia during most of the 1870s and 1880s. He arranged for overland carriers and nominated postmasters. Dickey did post office work from time to time and canceled some stamps by writing his initials, CHD, with a pen on 2˘ brown Kalakaua stamps (Hawaii Scott #35), circa 1879. The cancel is listed as peninitials(CHD).
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Detail of Donn’s 1903 update of the 1885 Hawaiian Government Survey map [accessed 2019 at David Rumsey’s website: /Search/Maui/Dodge, F.S., Donn, John] [red dots are post offices, blue dots are schools]. The map shows Kahului on the left, Paia center right, Hamakuapoko farther right near the border with the Haiku district, and Haiku far right. For scale, a straight line between Kahului and Haiku is about 9.8 miles; and between Paia and Haiku only about 3.1 miles but that distance is a bit misleading because Maliko Gorge (the gray shaded area to the right of the red district border line running top to bottom between Hamakuapoko and Haiku) was an obstacle. Donn’s updates reflect the state of affairs in 1903, after a territorial post office was opened at Haiku.
For overland route and map details see Overland Mail Routes - Island of Maui Routes and Maps of Hawaii - Island of Maui
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Haiku Sugar Mill, Haiku Maui, c. 1880
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801
Haiku
manuscript
Color: Black, Red
Rarity 1RRRR
Noted on Scott No. 31 cover and on Scott No. 35.
Five strikes are in my record (two in red ink); the handwriting of those shown is different, indicating the usage spread across several early postmasters.
peninitials(CHD)
manuscript initials
(this cancel is not counted as a town postmark because it lacks a post office reference; postmaster Dickey used his initials to cancel stamps)
Rarity: 1RRR
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September 15, 1873
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(retroReveal enhanced www.retroreveal.org)
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Red (Courtesy of Gary Peters)
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(retroReveal enhanced)
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(retroReveal enhanced)
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238.02
30mm single lined circle
Color: Black
Rarity 1RRR, nine strikes are in my record, plus EDU.
Usage: August __, 1879 – September 25, 1882
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October 31, 1879
(retroReveal enhanced)
__ 12, 1880
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282.013
33mm double lined outer and single lined inner circle; late use usually without date
Color: Black
Scarcity: 2, 28 strikes are in my record, plus EDU.
Usage: July 22, 1882 – October __, 1884
The latest strike in my record with an internal date in the postmark is October 20, 1882; later strikes are dated by other information on a cover.
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Jul 29, 1882
(Courtesy of David Volstrup-Petersen)
June, 1884
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Hamakuapoko, Makawao District
"short corner"
1883-1900
Plantation camp and office for the Haiku Sugar Co. Early postmasters were employees of the Haiku Sugar Co. Wallace, Dickey and Mossman were storekeepers. See the text for Haiku for more details on the linkage between Haiku, Hamakuapoko and Paia.
Postmasters: W. E. Rowell (1879)[son of missionary Rev. G.B. Rowell; uncertain of his status but some unofficial refererences refer to him as postmaster four years before an office officially opened; perhaps he collected letters for the overland carrier]; Ch. H. Alexander (1883)[manager, Haiku Sugar Co.]; W. Goodale (1884)[Haiku Sugar Co. employee]; C. H. Wallace (1886-1887)[storekeeper]; C. H. Dickey (1888-1893)[storekeeper]; and W. F. Mossman (1893-1900)[storekeeper; Mossman also was PM at Kahului until 1894, running the latter with clerks]. Stamp sales in 1884-1885 were about $800 annually. Stamp sales at Hamakuapoko were $458 in 1898. The Hamakuapoko post office was located in the plantation store close to the present site of “Old Maui High School” at the junction of Hamakuapoko Road and Holomua Road (see map with Haiku). PMG Oat described Hamakuapoko as a post and money order office in his 1893 trip report and referred to Mossman as acting postmaster. (Hawaiian Gazette, October 17, 1893, p. 10.)
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281.01
31mm double lined outer and single lined inner circle
Color: Blue, Purple,
Red
Estimated: 6
Usage: July __, 1883 –__ 1893
Blue is noted until late 1889, reddish purple briefly in 1891; otherwise strikes are purple.
A repair was attempted in January, 1892, but the device deteriorated again by mid-1892. A strike on a cover postmarked July 10, 1892 at Honolulu has an unreadable date because the postmarking device by then was badly disintegrated. A missing 3rd “A” seen on some strikes is inconsistent. Blank slugs replaced the month and day, presumably later in 1892.
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October 20, 1887
blue
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October 1, 1891
reddish purple
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May __, 1892
purple
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The month and day were replaced by blank slugs to make this 1892 strike.
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(retroReveal enhanced)
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814
Hamakuapoko, Maui/
Hawaiian Islands
manuscript
Color: Black
Rarity: 1RRRR; one example is in my record.
Noted on Scott No. 39 cover in January, 1892 when the 281.01 marking device was being repaired.
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281.011
30mm double lined outer and single lined inner circle
Color: Black, Purple
Estimated: 9
Usage: __, 1892 – February 12, 1900
The town name was misspelled as “Hamakuapoku.”
This device became badly worn toward the end of its use. Throughout its use, the year date often failed to print.
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October ___
black
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October ___
black
(retroReveal enhanced)
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September 16, 1899
brownish purple
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September 16, 1899
black
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Hamoa, Hana District
an old name for Samoa
1885-1900
Village and local landing, part of Reciprocity Sugar Plantation, on the east coast of Maui near Hana. Mail service was by the overland carriers to Paia, going either via Ulupalakua or via Keanae; or to Kahului via a weekly steamship service.
Postmasters: L. S. Lionarons (1885-1886); D. Center (1886-1890)[manager Hana Sugar Co; A. Irvine, bookkeeper for Reciprocity Sugar Co., was acting PM in 1889); M. W. Rooney (1890)[manager, Reciprocity Sugar Co.]; W. von Gravenmeyer (1891-1895)[manager, Reciprocity Sugar Co.; Mr. Waterhouse and F. Wittrock were acting PMs in 1892); F. Wittrock (1898-1899)[Mokae Store owner]; and C. Weatherbee (1900)[principal, Hamoa English School]. Stamp sales in 1885 were $75. Stamp sales in 1898 were $180. PMG Oat described Hamoa as a post office in his 1893 trip report. (Hawaiian Gazette, October 17, 1893, p. 10.) The postal operations were closely linked with Hana. F. Wittrock at Hamoa was Hana PM Unna’s nephew and Wittrock took care of the Hana PO when Unna was absent.
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F. Wittrock owned Mokae general store at Hamoa and was an overseer and bookkeeper at nearby Hana Plantation. Postmarked with Hamoa type 253.01 dated January 1, 1897 and on the reverse with Honolulu type 231.72 dated January 4, 1897. The cover was carried to Kahului by an overland carrier via Kaupo and Ulupalakua or via Hana, Keanae and Haiku, or was sent directly to Honolulu by the weekly steamship route that serviced local ports across the north and west coasts of East Maui.
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281.01 (I)
31mm double lined outer and single lined inner circle
Color: Black
Scarcity: 2 (this mark seems scarcer than the 4 rating previously given; only eight strikes are in my record).
Usage: July __, 1886 – March __, 1889
In March, 1889, acting PM Irvine asked for a new device, reporting that the one in use (a “turnover apparatus”) was in “very bad condition” with the sides broken and the rubber dates too difficult to set. He asked for a device with a separate ink pad.
See below for a comparison of Hamoa 281.01 types I and II.
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February 10, 1887
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November 28, 1888
(Courtesy of Alan Furukawa)
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November 28, 1888
(retroReveal enhanced)
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281.011
30mm double lined outer and single lined inner circle
Color: Purple, Blue
Estimated: 7
Usage: July 30, 1889 – September __, 1896; Blue noted in May, 1896
This mark was made by the new device with a separate ink pad that replaced the old self-inking “turnover apparatus.”
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September 23, 1893
May 15, 1896
blue
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253.01
27mm double lined circle
Color: Purple, Black
Estimated: 6
Usage: October 30, 1896 – May __, 1900
This mark often is barely legible.
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February 10, 1899
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281.01 (II)
31mm double lined outer and single lined inner circle
Color: Purple
Rarity: 1RRRR, three strikes are in my record.
Usage: June 1, 1900
See below for a comparison of Hamoa 281,01 types I and II. Examples of this type need to be reported to be sure of the proper rarity rating. Please check your strikes and let me know if you have others that were confused with style I.
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June 1, 1900
June 1, 1900
(Courtesy of Alan Furukawa)
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281.01 (I) and 281.01 (II) compared
Type II is later than type I by a decade.
In type I, the town letters are 1.5mm from the inner circle; the date font is short and serifed.
In type II, the town letters are 1.0 mm from the inner circle; the date font is tall, sans serif.
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281.01(I) showing a wavy inner circle
(retroReveal enhanced)
281.01(I) showing small, short dates
281.01(II) showing a straight inner circle
(retroReveal enhanced)
281.01 (II) showing tall dates
(retroReveal enhanced)
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Hana, Hana District
"rainy land"
1859-1900
Harbor and site of Hana Plantation on the northwest coast of East Maui. Hana Plantation Co. was formed in 1889 by combining the lands of Hana Plantation, Reciprocity Plantation and additional land at Hamoa. Mail service was by steamships landing at Hana or by the overland carriers to Makawao via Kaupo and Ulupalakua or to Haiku via Keanae. Thomas W. Everett was in charge of the mail carriers on East Maui.
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Hana Plantation and sugar mill.
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Postmasters: W. O. Baldwin (1859-1860); Wm. L. Davis (1860-__); Mr. Cook (1865); A. Unna (1865-1885)[Hana Plantation owner; F. Wittrock of Hamoa, Unna’s nephew, ran the office in Unna’s absence]; and John Grunwald (1886-1900)[storekeeper; Nils Omsted (or Olmstead), store manager, acted as PM at times]. The post office was located at the Hana Store from 1859 to 1900. Early in the morning of December 8, 1896, the store and post office burned. Nothing was salvaged from the post office but no mail was lost because the mail from the last steamship had been distributed. (The Hawaiian Gazette, Dec. 15, 1896, page 2, “News from Maui.”) PMG Oat referred to Hana as a post and money order office in his 1893 trip report. (Hawaiian Gazette, October 17, 1893, p. 10.) Stamp sales in 1884-1885 were about $175 per year. Stamp sales were $300 in 1898.
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801(I)
Hana
manuscript
Rarity: 1RRRR, one example is in my record; another is reported.
Noted on Scott No. 13 and reported on No. 31
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(Advertiser Sale, lot 214; Courtesy Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries)
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801(II)
Hana
manuscript
Rarity: 1RRRR, one example is in my record.
Noted on Scott No. 31
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(retroReveal enhanced)
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802
Hana/PO
manuscript
Rarity: 1RRRR, one example is in my record.
Noted on Scott No. 31
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(retroReveal enhanced)
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803
Hana/year date
manuscript
Rarity: 1RRRR, one example is in my record.
Noted on Scott No. 31
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(Courtesy of David Volstrup-Petersen)
(retroReveal enhanced)
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282.013
33mm double lined outer and single lined inner circle
Color: Black, Purple
Rarity: 1RRRR, three strikes are in my record.
Usage: April, 1881 to December 11, 1882
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January 7, 1882
January 7, 1882
(retroReveal enhanced)
December 11, 1882
(Courtesy of David Volstrup-Petersen)
(retroReveal enhanced)
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281.012
29mm double lined outer and single lined inner circle
Color: Purple
Rarity: 1RRRR, five strikes are in my record
Usage: July 23, 1885 to November 23, 1887
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April 12, 1886
(Courtesy of David Volstrup-Petersen)
November 23, 1887
(retroReveal enhanced)
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281.11
30mm double lined outer and single lined inner circle
Color: Purple
Estimated: 7
Usage: June 2, 1889 to December __, 1896
The post office fire of December 8 probably marks the end of the possible usage period for postmark type 281.11 and explains why there is a gap before type 255.01 was put into use.
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November 20, 1891
February 2, 1893
February 2, 1893
(retroReveal enhanced)
December 6, 1895
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255.01
29mm double lined circle; town letters are separated by 3mm; the “A” of Maui points to the “N” of Hana.
Color: Purple
Estimated: 5
Usage: May __, 1896 – April __, 1900
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August 20, 1897
(retroReveal enhanced)
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253.02
27-28mm double lined circle; slightly oval
Color: Purple
Rarity: 1RRR, six strikes are in my record.
Usage: August 14, 1896 – October __, 1896
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August 19, __
(retroReveal enhanced)
August 14, 1896
(retroReveal enhanced)
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253.01
27mm double lined circle; town letters are separated by 2mm: the “A” of Maui points to the space between the “N” and “A” of Hana.
Color: Purple
Estimated: 5
Usage: February __, 1898 – June 15, 1900
Most strikes appear as a single lined circle due to ink clogging. The latest use is Territorial on a U.S. stamp.
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February 1, 1900
May 18, 1900
June 15, 1900
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Honokohau, Lahaina District
"sites bay"
1884-1900
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Postmasters: L. K. Kalama (1884-1886); J. A. Kaukau (1893)[police officer]; D. Kapaku (1893)[farmer]; Capt. D. Taylor (1894-1897); and D. Kapaku (1898-1900)[farmer]. A salary of $25 per year was set in 1884-1885 but no stamp sales were recorded. A salary of $5 per month was set for this office in 1898. Stamps sales were unrecorded in 1884-1885 or 1898. PMG Oat described Honokohau as a postal agency in his 1893 trip report. (Hawaiian Gazette, October 17, 1893, p. 10.)
No postmarks known.
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Honokowai, Lahaina District
"harbor"
1884-1900
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Postmasters: J. A. Kaukau (1884-1893); Chas. Goheir (1894-1899)[head overseer, Pioneer Mill Co.]; and Frank Clark (1899-1900)[overseer, Pioneer Mill Co.]. A postmaster salary of $25 per year was paid in 1884-1885, but no stamp sales were recorded. A salary of $5 was allowed for this office in 1898, but no stamp sales were recorded. PMG Oat described Honokowai as a postal agency in his 1893 trip report. (Hawaiian Gazette, October 17, 1893, p. 10.)
No postmarks known.
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Honolua, Lahaina District
“two harbors”
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A village on the north coast of west Maui. Not an official office, but a letter collection stop with someone taking charge of mail under the supervision of the Lahaina postmaster.
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801
Honolua
manuscript
Rarity: 1RRRR, one example is in my record.
Noted on Scott No. 29
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(Courtesy of Alan Furukawa)
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Huelo, Hana District
"tail"
1884-1900
A village and steamship landing on the North Coast of East Maui. Headquarters for Huelo Plantation and mill. Mail service was by the overland carrier via Hana to Paia via Haiku or via Ulupalakua and Makawao to Paia; or by weekly steamship to Kahului.
Postmasters: W. Turner (1884-1892)[manager, Huelo Plantation, Jno. Palmer did all the work of the post office]; J. R. Smythe (1892-1894)[rancher]; A. H. Crook (1895)[school teacher]; and M. Mattson (1895-1900). Stamp sales in 1884-1885 were about $72 annually and the postmaster was paid an annual salary of $25. PMG Oat described Huelo as a post office in his 1893 trip report but added that “since the abandonment of the Huelo plantation” (1892) it stopped being a money order office. (Hawaiian Gazette, October 17, 1893, p. 10.) Stamp sales were unrecorded in 1898, but the postmaster was paid a salary of $5.
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Huelo Plantation, 1898
oval merchant mark
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205
straightline
Color: orange
Rarity: 1RRRR, two strikes are in my record.
Usage: April, 1886
This device probably was a plantation office stamp used briefly as a postmark. Noted on a Scott #39 off cover and another on a Scott #39 cover postmarked April 6, 1886 at Honolulu.
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With April 6, 1886 Honolulu postmark
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281.011
30mm double lined outer and single lined inner circles
Color: Purple, Black
Rarity: 1RR, 17 strikes are in my record
Usage: February 18, 1890 to September 18, 1899
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March 7, 1890
Mar. 13, 1891
June 6, 1898
black
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Kaanapali, Lahaina District
"dividing cliff"
1889-1892
Name for a landing north of Lahaina. A letter collection and distribution service was set up at the Kaanapali store under the jurisdiction of the Lahaina postmaster; Charles Goheir, an overseer at Lahaina Plantation, and later PM at Honokowai was put in charge. Letters posted at Kaanapali were canceled by hand.
No postmarks known.
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