Pop Tours: Salt Lake By Allison Cooke
Ālia pa'akai ● Before Captain Cook arrived, the Hawaiians called Salt lake Ālia pa'akai, meaning “Salt Encrusted” ● The lake was a part of Hawaiian Oral Tradition, believing Pele herself scooped out the land to create the lake.
Ālia pa'akai circa 1900 http://www.honolulumagazine.com/HonoluluMagazine/November-2006/The-Real-Salt-Lake/
Now: Salt Lake Neighborhood Total Population: 51,141 Male Population: 25,617 Female Population: 25,524 Total Households: 16,221 Average Household Income: $74,467 Median Household Income: $65,504 Average Household Net Worth: $731,612 Median Home Sale Price: $290,000
http://protectingwater.com/SL-residents.html http://www.point2homes.com/US/Neighborhood/HI/HonoluluCounty/96818-Demographics.html
1. Fort Shafter Although you can’t enter the installation unless you have a military ID, on your way to Moanalua Gardens, you will likely pass the entrance to this Army installation. Built in 1905 and opened in 1907, this army base is on of the eleven military installation on the islands and the oldest in Honolulu, and is listed as a US National Historic Landmark. However, to people in Hawai’i, and specifically Salt Lake, it represents part of the 25% of land of Hawai’i that is appropriated by the military to continue the militarization on behalf of the settler colonialists. http://www.1970rhs.com/hale-ikena-info.html
2. Moanalua Gardens Moanalua Gardens is a popular tourist destination, primarily for Japanese tourists. In fact, it is the primary reason as to why tourists ever come into Salt Lake. If you go into the park, you can see very large monkey pod trees with the largest one in the middle called the Hitachi Tree, after a famous Japanese insurance commercial. (This is similar to if American tourists went to see the Rock of Gibraltar in Spain because of it’s use in the Prudential logo.) Importantly, this park is the only real image of Salt Lake tourists have. http://www.hawaiimagazine.com/content/moanalua-gardens-homehitachi-tree-charge-admission
3. Moanalua High School Although for safety reasons, you probably shouldn’t go all the way onto the campus, Moanalua High School is the pride of Salt Lake, being not only the top public high school in the state, but also one of the top schools in the United States. From here, you can see a great view of the ancient volcanic crater, Āliapa‘akai, that makes up the town. On the other hand, you also have a view of the high rise buildings and houses that have been densely built within the past several decades.
http://www.moanaluaathletics.com/ http://mohsvb.weebly.com/2013-boys-vb.html
Honolulu Country Club A private country club built in the middle of Salt Lake. Instead of keeping Salt Lake for the entire population, instead there is a grassy golf course, expensive restaurants, and banquet halls that the typical person living in the town doesn’t have access to.
http://hiclinlabconference.org/
Salt Lake (the lake) Located within the golf course is the lake itself. The name is now misleading--it is no longer saltwater at all. In fact, it hasn’t been saltwater since the mid 19th century, when Chinese workers exploited it for its resources to collect salt until it was completely depleted. Over time, the lake became smaller and dirtier until it was bought in 1910 and remade into a freshwater lake. It too, however, became polluted over time until the state of Hawai’i decided that it should instead be filled in. What remains now is what the Honolulu Country Club decided to keep.
http://www.panoramio.com/user/1089560/tags/Hawaii%20Honolulu% 20Salt%20Lake
Salt Lake Shopping Center Built in 1973, this shopping center is the primary shopping center for the residents of Salt Lake. It mostly contains grocery stores and chain food restaurants, with various shops, including a long abandoned Blockbuster, remaining vacant. In high school, students would always complain that our town was so boring, that all we really had at Salt Lake shopping center was a McDonalds and Coldstone (the latter now closed down.) There are other shopping locations, but as high school students we couldn’t get memberships for the Country Club nor would non military students have access to the military-only shops throughout the town.
http://www.loopnet.com/blog/price-reduced-high-volume-cold-stonecreamery-oahu-hawaii--salt-lake-shoppingcenter_13754798837508778660/
Salt Lake District Park Unlike the golf course, this park is a district park for the people of Salt Lake. Here, there are tennis courts, a pool, activities, and open spaces for anyone to enjoy. Additionally, set along the crater, it gives a clear view of the landscape of the town that isn’t littered with houses.
https://gigihawaii.wordpress.com/2011/09/04/salt-lake-oahu-earlymarried-life/
Halsey Terrace You shouldn’t loiter in this area, however as you drive through Salt Lake, drive though the neighborhood known as Halsey Terrace. While driving through, you may notice that these houses look nothing like any of the other residential areas you’ve seen in this town. That is because these relatively huge, suburban American-style houses are exclusively for military families. Although many of my closest friends were military in high school, it shows how when the military entered this town, they did not adapt to the Hawaiian way of living, but instead brought Mainland America with them, right down to their physical homes.
http://jdpainting.com/project-gallery.asp