Here’s another goody–an old photo of a night blooming Cereus somewhere in Honolulu. Where was it taken?
It’s from a small box of color photographic images on small glass plate. They were in an old box containing more materials from Professor Carey D. Miller at the University of Hawaii. My mother had been her student, worked for her over several years after graduation from UH, and was a lifelong friend.
Miller arrived at UH in the early 1920s. The date of the image is unknown. I’m guessing it was perhaps from the 1930s, but that’s just a guess.
I was able to scan the image with at least partial success. But to make this more complicated, the image could be reversed. I didn’t know which side of the glass slide should be “up” when making the scans, so you’ll have to take that into account when matching it with known locations/buildings.
The question: Where is this? There are highly visible plants that bloom on the walls around the Punahou campus. Is that a Punahou building that can be seen in the background?
Leave your educated guesses below.
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The shape of the upper windows and the roof pitch make me think this might be Castle Hall on the Punahou campus.
As an aside, this is a beautiful photo. Thank you for sharing. It’s in daylight, yet the flowers are still fresh. And they’re bug-free, which can be a frustration when trying to shoot these beautiful blooms.
Its not Castle Hall. My guess is the original Bishop Hall.
http://punahou74.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/bishop-hall-1910.png
Actually its Wilcox Hall, a short but sometimes slightly formidable-seeming walk up a short road on the side of Rocky Hill on the Punahou School campus above Alexander Field, built in 1937 to serve as Punahou’s then new boy’s dormatory.
In 1961 the residential boy’s on-campus housing program was phased out and switched to a girl’s dorm progmam briefly, but by 1963 Wilcox Hall was closed for renovations and after 1964 the building served for 40 years as a teaching facility for kindergarteners.
Because Wilcox Hall is on the historical registry it survived the massive dusty construction activity that that tore up the mauka campus a few years ago, resulting after 2008 as the new Omidyar K – 1 Neighborhood, now teaching kindergarten through first grade.
Not positive its Wilcox- Wilcox’s windows are too square. Here’s how it looked in 1950.
http://punahou74.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/wilcoxhall1950.png
And today
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3697/8990063219_2c8a8bc22d_c.jpg
I’m sticking with a side view of Bishop.
It could be a view of the white house in the background of this tourist pic from the 20’s: http://totakeresponsibility.blogspot.com/2013/03/kaahumanu-wall.html
the textured rock building is Pauahi Hall – which I think I see in the back right corner of the miller_blooms slide behind the keawe tree
Or maybe a side view of old Bishop Hall – look at the edge and windows on left side of this photo: http://punahou74.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/bishop-hall-1910.png
I agree that it’s the side entrance of the Bishop Hall which was built in 1901. Its successor Bishop Hall was completed in 1972.
Ian, you might also consider contacting the Punahou archive to see what their opinion of the provenance of this photograph is.
The picture is of Bishop Hall taken from the Kaahumanu Wall that borders Wilder Avenue. To the left of the building you can even see the bougainvillea that was on the slope for many years. That plant was returned to the Alumni Pergola beside the lily pond in 1995.