Honolulu Hawaii Vacation Sweepstakes

The fresh, floral air energizes you. The warm, tranquil waters refresh you. The breathtaking, natural beauty renews you.

No one knows for certain when Honolulu was founded. Hawaiian oral histories indicate a settlement in Honolulu about 1100 A.D., but it may have been earlier, the first Polynesian migrants arrived nearly 2,000 years ago.

King Kamehameha I, who conquered Oahu in a decisive battle fought the length of Nuuanu Valley, moved his court from Hawaii Island to Waikiki in 1804. He relocated to what is now downtown Honolulu five years later. The royal housing complex site is under the Marin building built next to Nimitz Highway at Queen and Bethel streets.

When Honolulu (meaning sheltered harbor) was named is unclear. The district roughly encompassing the area from Nuuanu Avenue to Alakea Street and from Hotel Street to Queen Street (then the edge of the waterfront) which is the heart of the present downtown district.

Seamen, colonizers, adventurers, merchants and missionaries from America and Europe westernized the Hawaiian Islands. Probably the greatest influence was by the group of missionaries who arrived from New England in 1820. They left a lasting imprint in fields of religion, education, economics and politics. Later, immigrants from Asia brought other cultural values and practices that helped to fashion the unique Hawaiian culture of today.

In 1850, Kamehameha III proclaimed Honolulu the capital city of his kingdom. It is still the capital and dominant city of the nation's 50th State.