US Postage Stamps // Philatelic Project // The Federal States

Capitals of the Federal States

#4287 // September 2, 2008
(self-adhesive coil definitive)
Flags of Our Nation Series

Hawai'i State Flag,
red 'ohi'a lehua blossoms

The eight stripes of the flag
represent Hawaii's eight islands,
and the Union Jack honors
Hawaii's early friendship
with Great Britain 		Seal and Flag of the City of Honolulu,
capital of the State of Hawai'i.

The City of Honolulu is located on the Island of O'ahu, nicknamed "The Gathering Place". When Honolulu (meaning "sheltered harbor") was named is unclear.

The old name for Honolulu is said to be Kou, a 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.


City,
Elevation,
Coordinates 		County,
US Region 		National
Historic/Natural
Landmarks
Honolulu, HI
19 ft [6 m]
21° 18' N  157° 49' W 		Honolulu County
West (Insular) 		Iolani Royal Palace
Diamond Head
Land and Water Area
rounded mi2 [km2] 		Population
(census 2010) 		Population Density
per mi2 [km2] of land area
61 [158]
8 [21] 		390,738 6,406 [2.473]

History Timeline
Hawai'ian oral histories and modern archeology indicate a settlement in Honolulu area about 1100 CE, but it may have been settled earlier as the first Polynesian immigrants arrived nearly 2,000 years ago.
1795 King Kamehameha I. (* 1758, r. 1775, † 1819) conquered in May the Island of O'ahu in the Battle of Nu'uanu at Nu'uanu Pali to unify the Hawai'ian Islands.
1804 King Kamehameha I. moved his Royal Court from Kailua-Kona on the Island of Hawai'i to Waikiki, present day neighborhood of Honolulu, on the Island of O'ahu.
1810 King Kamehameha I. moved the Royal Household from Waikiki to inner harbor of Honolulu.
1812 The Royal Court was relocated to Kailua-Kona.
1816 Fort Honolulu built.
1850 King Kamehameha III. (* 1813, r. 1825, † 1854) proclaimed Honolulu as permanent capital city of the Hawai'ian Kingdom. Until present day the city remained the capital of the State of Hawai'i.
1850 First official Hawai'ian post office established in December.
1879 Iolani Royal Palace built.
1907 On April 30, Honolulu was incorporated as a city.



View of the Honolulu Fort - Interior, c. 1853,
Oil on canvas painting by Paul Emmert
(Swiss-born artist, * 1826, † 1867),
© Courtesy by Hawai'i Historical Society

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