City history
From the ancient village of Kou to fixed year-round Pacific timekeeping, Honolulu established its temporal rhythm as the sheltered crossroads of the Hawaiian Islands.
Chapter one
Indigenous name
"Sheltered harbor or calm bay"
Derived from the Hawaiian words hono (bay or port) and lulu (sheltered or calm). Prior to foreign contact, the settlement area around present-day downtown Honolulu was known as Kou.
Grove of kou trees or chief Kou
The traditional Native Hawaiian village name for the settlement area encompassing modern downtown Honolulu.
The harbor of Kou
The native Hawaiian name for the natural deep-water channel formed by freshwater flow from Nuʻuanu Stream.
Safe anchorage
Coined by English captain William Brown of the Butterworth, reflecting the harbor's exceptional shelter for foreign trading vessels.
Sheltered harbor or calm bay
Hawaiian translation adopted by visiting mariners that became the official name for the city and capital of Hawaii.
Chapter two
The Republic of Hawaii established its first official standard time zone set at UTC-10:30, taking effect at noon on January 13 based on the 157°30′ W meridian.
The Hawaiian Territorial Legislature passed a law implementing Daylight Saving Time in April, but public opposition led to its repeal just three weeks later.
Following the Pearl Harbor attack, military authorities advanced clocks by one hour to UTC-09:30 as Hawaiian War Time to conserve wartime energy until September 1945.
Hawaii advanced its standard time by 30 minutes to UTC-10:00, establishing a whole-hour offset from Greenwich Mean Time that remains in use today.
Under provisions of the federal Uniform Time Act of 1966, Hawaii permanently opted out of Daylight Saving Time due to its steady tropical daylight.
Chapter three
Donated by King Kamehameha III and crafted in Boston, the four-faced tower clock at Kawaiahaʻo Church became Hawaii's first major public timepiece.
Standing 184 feet tall at Pier 9, Aloha Tower opened with four 12-foot clock faces, becoming Hawaii's tallest building and main port beacon.
The 7:55 AM surprise air attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II and placed Honolulu under military timekeeping rules.
Honolulu inaugurated the first phase of Skyline, introducing automated driverless transit and synchronized scheduling to Oahu.