POST OFFICE IN PARADISE - Kauai Postmarks, Part 1: Anahola to Koloa

This page last updated: 4 September 2006

::: Kauai Postmarks, Part 1 - Anahola to Koloa :::

Kilauea postmark type 281.01 dated November 14, 1890, struck on a UX4 postal card uprated with a 1¢ purple stamp, Scott No. 30, addressed to London, England and forwarded to Hornsey, England. An English examiner's crowned circle R mark was applied to indicate the item was examined for proper rate and found to be correct. The card, carrying Christmas and New Years best wishes, was postmarked at Honolulu on November 16, 1890 and at Hornsey, England on December 15, 1890.

Anahola, Kawaihau District
"fish poison cave"
1856-1869
Postmasters: Chas. Griffiths (1857-1864), Christian Bertelmann (1864-1869) and Ernest Krull (1869).
A small village and landing at the northern end of Kawaihau District. The area was a sheep and cattle ranch owned by Bertelmann.
No postmarks known.

Eleele, Koloa District
"black"
1899-1900
Postmaster: E. E. Conant (1899-1900)
Former name for the landing known as Port Allen since 1909. Landing for Eleele Plantation and mill, started in 1884, and the neighboring town of Hanapepe. In 1899, it became the site of the McBryde Sugar Company formed out of Eleele Plantation and other lands.

804
Eleele Wharf
manuscript
Noted on a Scott No. 81 cover.

no image available

253.01
27mm double lined circle
Color: Purple
Scarcity: 4
Usage: October 14, 1899 – June __, 1900
Seven strikes, one on cover, are in my collection.

January 17, 1900

Hanalei, Hanalei District
"crescent bay" [Pukui]; "make a wreath" [Davey]
Customs office 1846-1856; post office 1856-1900
Postmasters: Capt. John Kellett (1846-1856), Rev. Abner Wilcox (1856-1863), Capt. A. White (1865-1866), Judge H. J. Wana (acting PM from September, 1867 to 1870), Wm. Kellett (1870-?, with Rev. Wilcox), Capt. John Ross (1870?-1876), A Conradt (1876-1878), C. Koelling (1878-1883), Jas. M. Gibson (1883-1885), J. C. Long (1885-1889), C. Koelling (1889-1892), J. M. Radway (1892-1893), A. B. Scrimgeour (1893) and C. H. Willis (1894-1900). Capt. Kellett was the customs collector and port pilot and Wilcox took over postal duties about 1856. Koelling was manager of Princeville Plantation and J. M. Radway, bookkeeper at Princeville Plantation, was Koelling's deputy to perform postal duties from 1889. Mail service was by overland mail and by schooner direct from Honolulu during the 1870's. Steamer service, until then too irregular, supplemented the overland service from about 1880 with a weekly mail from Honolulu. The Hanalei office engaged carriers for Lumahai, Wainiha, Haena and Kalalau. The carrier from Kalalau wrapped mail in banana leaves to keep it from getting soaked. Stamps were supplied to Hanalei regularly starting with the 2¢ Numerals in July, 1859. Stamp sales in 1898 were $156.50.
A mission station was established at nearby Waioli in 1834. Hanalei was the first port of entry named for the island in 1846. The town was the commercial and social center of northern Kauai, which had a mostly Hawaiian population. Hanalei Plantation was organized before 1850. Princeville Plantation was an early agricultural venture started nearby around 1855 by Robert Crichton Wyllie, Hawaii's foreign minister. The name Princeville was given to the plantation in 1860. Coffee was a major crop in the early days of Hanalei Plantation and Princeville but the trees became infected and were uprooted in 1862, when the land was planted in sugar. By 1863, Princeville was a sugar estate. In 1875, it boasted extensive cane lands and a sugar mill owned by Capt. Ross. The region of Hanalei was important for rice and taro production. The population of the Hanalei District was 1,998 in 1853, grew to 2,186 by 1866, fell off to 1,558 in 1872 and gradually grew back to 2,630 by 1900.

238.02
30mm single lined circle; brass stamp
Color: Black, Purple, Blue
Rarity: 1RR, fifteen strikes recorded
Usage: December __, 1879 – January __, 1888
This mark has been rated a 2, but I think there are fewer strikes.
Three strikes are in my collection.

January 28, 1880

May 3, 1882
Courtesy of Schuyler J. Rumsey Philatelic Auctions

282.013
33mm double lined outer and single lined inner circle
Color: Black, Blue, Purple
Scarcity: 2
Usage: November 2, 1882 – September __, 1887
This mark was rated 1RRR, but I think there are more strikes.
Eight strikes, two on cover, are in my collection. Henry Lyman reports three strikes, including the November 2, 1882 EKU. Fifteen strikes are said to be reported but there must be considerably more.

March 27, 1885

255.12
29mm double lined circle
Color: Purple, Black, Red
Scarcity: 4
Usage: January __, 1888 – December __, 1892
When the device for this mark was received, it had no date type so the postmaster used the date type from the 282.013 device and from a private set. In October, 1888, the postmaster reported the date type was "greatly damaged and some completely destroyed" (referring to the date type taken from style 282.013 for use in this device).
Seventeen strikes are in my collection. All of my strikes from March, 1888 to September, 1892 are purple. The black and red strikes need to be confirmed.

January 18, 1889

November 21, 1890

281.01
31mm double lined outer and single lined inner circle
Color: Purple, Black
Scarcity: 4
Usage: March __, 1891 – December 27, 1899
Black is noted December 3, 1897 and December 27, 1899.
Seven strikes, including one on cover, are in my collection.

December 3, 1897

December 27, 1899

282.011
33mm double lined outer and single lined inner circle
Color: Purple, Blue
Estimated: 6
Usage: March __, 1889 – December __, 1896
Purple is noted to October 6, 1893. Blue is noted December 15, 1893 and from April, 1895 onward. Some blue strikes are bluish black.

December 15, 1893

253.01
27mm double lined circle
Color: Purple, Blue, Black
Estimated: 5
Usage: June __, 1897 – June 8, 1900
Black strikes are a dark purplish black noted in January, 1898; blue strikes are a dark blackish blue noted from February, 1899 to September, 1899; later strikes are purple.

April 5, 1899

Hanapepe, Waimea District
"crushed bay, as by landslides" [Pukui]; "to crush" [Davey]
1858-1866; 1893-1900
Postmasters: Rev. J. B. Kahaleole (1893-1894), C. D. Pringle (1894-1896) and H. H. Brodie (1897-1900). It is uncertain whether a post office as such was located at Hanapepe in the early years. There was no significant foreign population which generally was necessary to support sufficient business for a post office. From 1890 to 1892, the Makaweli post office actually was located at Hanapepe but the Hawaiian Sugar Co. moved its headquarters three miles north west to Makaweli and took the post office with it. Agitation for a Hanapepe post office began in 1892 after the Makaweli post office moved to Makaweli. Rev. Kahaleole was appointed postal agent for Hanapepe in July, 1893 and Pringle was appointed postmaster in November, 1894. Hanapepe post office was located at the Kwong Hing store about a quarter mile from Eleele Wharf and served the Hanapepe Valley. Establishment of the Eleele post office in 1899 rendered Hanapepe marginal. Stamp sales in 1898 were $32.75.
The village at Hanapepe was unremarkable in early accounts of 1867, 1875 and 1880, but mention is made of the lands cultivated along the river. An 1888 traveler mentions rice and taro planted along the river and a small population. Between 1888 and 1892, the Hawaiian Sugar Co. office was located here and the post office was operated from the plantation office. Once the plantation office moved to Makaweli, only four families of Hawaiians and three of Chinese firms were reported living at Hanapepe but the population of the Valley was put at about 600. In 1895 it was reported about 1000 Japanese farmers lived in the area.

281.013
30mm double lined outer and single lined inner circle
Color: Purple, Red, Blue
Estimated: 5
Usage: December 8, 1894 – March __, 1900
Blue is noted October 3, 1896 and December, 1895, red with an indistinct date.

December 10, 1898

January __, 1899

253.01
27mm double lined circle
Color: Purple
Scarcity: 2
Usage: __, 1898 – May __, 1900
Three strikes are in my collection.

January 6, 1899

Kapaa, Kawaihau District
"the solid, or the closing" [Pukui]; "fast, firm" [Davey]
1880-1893
Postmasters: G. H. Dole (1880-1882), Jas. H. K. Kaiwi (1882-1883), G. B. Grant (1883-1884), George C. Potter (1884-1885), G. H. Dole (1885-1886), John T. Herapath (1886) and R. C. Spaulding (1886-1893). The office here was closed and replaced by the office at Kealia in 1893. Thereafter, mail service for the community was by plantation train from Kealia.
Site of the Makee Plantation, started in 1877 on former grazing land. By 1880 the small town had a general store, a boarding and lodging house and a few coffee saloons "besides the post office." Population of the Kawaihau District was first separated for the 1884 census. At that time, the district had 1,882 people. Immigration impacted this district heavily so by 1900, it had a diverse population of 3,220 consisting of Hawaiians, Americans, Japanese, Chinese, South Pacific Islanders, Portuguese, Norwegians and others.

282.013
33mm double lined outer and single lined inner circle
Color: Purple, Blue, Black
Estimated: 7
Usage: May 26, 1882 – August 13, 1891
Date type for the year 1891 was the last furnished but use continued in 1892.
The last digit of the year date is often missing in early strikes. Blue strikes are early; blackish blue is noted on Scott 38.

October 7, 1884

April 4, 1885

Kealia, Kawaihau District
"the salt encrustation" [Pukui]; "salt pan" [Davey]
1893-1900
Postmaster: R. C. Spaulding (1893-1900). The office here replaced the office at Kapaa and, indeed, the work of the office moved in 1892 to Kealia before the name change. Stamp sales in 1898 were $722, second largest on Kauai after Lihue.
The area was ranch land owned by E. Krull. His dairy was described by travelers in the 1860's and 1870's, Rice plantations were noted in the lower elevation. Kealia was the site of the Kealia Plantation in the 1880's and 1890's. Makee Sugar Co. was organized at Kealia in 1877 and later acquired by Col. C. S. Spaulding. The main mill was located at Kealia. A plantation railroad ferried mail from here to the residents of Kapaa when the post office moved from Kapaa to Kealia.

282.011
32mm double lined outer and single lined inner circle
Color: Purple
Estimated: 9
Usage: May __, 1893 – September 13, 1900

August 21, 1898

Kekaha, Waimea District
"the place" [Pukui]; "lands unsuited for taro growth" [Davey]
1882-1900
Postmasters: W. Meier (1882-1888), C. Borchgrevink (1888-1893) and Adam Lindsay (1893-1895), C. W. Lindsay (1893-1895), F. W. Glade (1895-1899) and H. P. Faye (1899-1900). Borchgrevink and the two Lindsays kept the Kekaha Store where the post office was located. Mail service was by plantation train from Waimea. Stamp sales in 1898 were $349.50.
Site of the Kekaha Sugar Plantation. It was planted in sugar and other crops in 1856. Kekaha village had two stores in 1888. The sugar estates in the vicinity were the Meyer & Kruse lands around Kekaha proper, the Mana lands managed by H. P. Faye and Kekaha Mill Co. They were consolidated as Kekaha Sugar Company in 1898. A plantation railroad ran between Waimea and Kekaha starting about 1884 and hauled mail to Kekaha.

282.016
32mm double lined outer and single lined inner circle
Color: Black, Purple, Blue
Scarcity: 2
Usage: March __, 1884 – August __, 1891
Blue is noted December 3, 1887; black needs to be confirmed. Purple strikes are early to March, 1886.
Six strikes, including one on cover, are in my collection.

December 3, 1887

282.011
33mm double lined outer and single lined inner circle; space between "K" and "E" is especially wide
Color: Black, Purple
Estimated: 7
Usage: September __, 1890 – June __, 1897
Purplish black is noted in May, 1895.

September 10, 1892

253.04
27mm double lined circle
Color: Purple, Black
Estimated: 7
Usage: July __, 1897 – June __, 1900
Formerly listed as 235.04 but clear double lined strikes are known.
Black is noted to July, 1898 and purple from April, 1899 onward.

February 12, 1898

Kilauea, Hanalei District
"spewing, much spreading (lava)" [Pukui]; "rising smoke cloud" [Davey]
1877-1900
Postmasters: J. Ross (1877-1878), E. P. Adams (1878-1880), R. A. Macfie, Jr. (1880-1883), W. F. Lowrie (1883-1884), W. Cuthbert (1884-1885), R. A. Macfie, Jr. (1885-1890), G. R. Ewart (1890-1894), Mrs. B. R. Foss (1894-1895) and John Bush (1895-1900). Stamp sales in 1898 were $479.60.
An pioneer planting area. Charles Titcomb started planting crops on Kauai at an early time and his extensive farm at Kilauea was noted by travelers in the 1860's and 1870's. He started planting sugar at Kilauea by 1863. At one point, he even attempted mulberries for silk worms to produce silk. The Kilauea Sugar Co. was operating by 1877. In 1880, Kilauea boasted the Kong Lung general store, a coffee saloon and a boarding house. In 1888, Kilauea had a "good country hotel" aptly named the "Polyglot" for the diverse population supporting the plantations, and a "well stocked" general store.

282.016
32mm double lined outer and single lined inner circle
Color: Purple
Scarcity: 4
Usage: August __, 1882 – January 20, 1887
Eleven strikes, including one on cover, are in my collection.

November 29, 1884

281.01
30mm double lined outer and single lined inner circle; the date font changes size
Color: Purple, Red, Magenta
Estimated: 7
Usage: March 1, 1887 – February 11, 1896
In November, 1895, the postmaster alerted the Honolulu Post Office that his stamp had no type for the year 1896 and he requested a new one.
Magenta is noted June to July, 1893; red on May 4, 1894; black on December 4, 1894

August 31, 1895

282.011
33mm double lined outer and single lined inner circle
Color: Purple
Estimated: 7
Usage: February 11, 1896 – June __, 1900

August 24, 1898

Koloa, Koloa District
"wild duck" [Pukui and Davey]; "long sugar cane" [Judd]
Customs office 1855-1856; post office 1856-1900
Postmasters: Dr. J. W. Smith (1857-1859), R. S. Hollister (1859-1863), P. H. Pierson (1863), E. Hoffman (1863), Ch. F. Newman (1865-1868), Wm. O. Smith (1869), G. S. Pinkham (1869), Frank Bindt (1874-1879), J. D. Neal (1879) and E. Strehz (1879-1900). Stamp sales in 1898 were $624.50.
The town of Koloa was situated about two miles inland from the landing. Anchorage at Koloa was unsafe and ships usually laid on and off while loading from boats. Koloa and Lihue were connected by a carriage road. A Protestant mission station was established in 1834 and Koloa Plantation, the first commercial sugar plantation in the islands, was begun in 1835. Koloa Catholic Mission was established in 1841 (it generated its own distinctive handstamp in the 1890's). Koloa was the agricultural center of Kauai for decades. An 1863 account described Koloa as having numerous houses scattered at great distances from one another. Hollister's tapioca farm is mentioned in additon to the sugar estate. In 1880, Koloa was a "flourishing town" with two general stores and two Chinese stores, a boarding house, numerous coffee saloons, a blacksmith, a tin smith, two doctors, two churches, three schools and a telephone connection to Lihue. In 1888, Koloa was described as "thriving" with five stores and a lumber yard. Population in Koloa District stood at 1,296 in 1853 and hit a low of 833 people in 1872. It grew sharply to 1,500 in 1884 and gradually increased to 1,835 in 1896, but ballooned to 4,564 in 1900.

800
manuscript
Reported on a Numeral

no image available

238.02
30mm single lined circle; brass stamp
Color: Black
Scarcity: 2
Usage: August 25, 1882 - January __, 1886
Five strikes, all on cover, are in my collection.

August 25, 1882

March 30, 1883

May 28, 1885

282.012
33mm double lined outer and single lined inner circle
Color: Purple, Black, Blue
Estimated: 8
Usage: October 12, 1883 – June __, 1900; with a "gap" in use from November, 1889, to September, 1898 during which there was only occasional use.
Blue is noted to April 16, 1887; black in late 1898 and early 1899; black-blue from mid-1899 to June, 1900.

October 12, 1883

May 10, 1899

251.02
25mm double lined circle; town lettering spread out due to wear and letters appear larger in later strikes
Color: Purple, Blue, Black
Estimated: 8
Usage: December __, 1889 – August __, 1898
Black strikes noted early to February 27, 1892 and blackish purple or blackish blue later in 1892 to July 30; blue to June, 1895; thereafter I note an assortment of black, blue black and purple strikes.

May 7, 1892

September 26, 1896

282.011
32mm double lined outer and single lined inner circle
Color: Black, Blue
Estimated: 7
Usage: March 2, 1894 – March __, 1898
Blue strikes are early to October, 1894.

May __, 1897

253.9a1
27mm double lined circle; duplex cancel
Color: Purple
Rarity: 1RRR; seven strikes reported
Usage: July 20, 1898 – April 26, 1899
There is still uncertainty about whether this mark is 27mm (253.9a1) or 29mm (255.9a1). Generally, this mark is listed as a 27mm. mark but I think it may be a 29mm mark. A complete strike is necessary to be sure and I have not measured a complete strike.
One strike is in my collection.

July 20, 1898

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