The Territory of Hawaii's building, designed by C. W. Dickey, an architect born in the Territory, stood among tall trees at the edge of the Fine Arts lagoon. The Official Guide describes a cross-shaped plan with a rotunda at the crossing. Over the entrance, stained-glass lunettes showed Honolulu harbor between Diamond Head and Waianae Mountain. Gordon Usborne carved friezes of Hawaiian legends and a 'Surf Riders' group for the central arch.
The attraction was the aquarium. Tanks around three walls of the main hall held reef fish so brightly colored that Todd thought a painter's palette had fallen into the sea and come to life. Their water was renewed each week from the ocean beyond the Farallones. Crowds had to be admitted in lines and kept moving by guards, and as many as 34,000 people are said to have come through in a single day. A lecture room showed films of Kilauea, Haleakala and surfing at Waikiki, and a Hawaiian quintet sang among tree ferns from Kilauea.
...painter's palette had fallen into the sea and come to life.
Frank Morton Todd, The Story of the Exposition, vol. III (1921), p. 323
At a glance
- The Territory appropriated $100,000 in 1913.
- Up to 34,000 visitors in a single day (Todd).
- Dedicated March 1, 1915, jointly with Oregon.
Afterward
Not recorded in the sources consulted; presumably removed in 1916-17.
Sources
- Frank Morton Todd, The Story of the Exposition, vol. III (1921), ch. LVIII, pp. 312-313
- Frank Morton Todd, The Story of the Exposition, vol. III (1921), ch. LIX, pp. 321-326
- Official Guide of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915), p. 54
- Condensed Facts Concerning the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915), state appropriation table