Bishop Street may not have any connection to Catholic hierarchy, but Alencastre Street does, and Herman Street and …
Story and photos by Anna Weaver | Hawaii Catholic Herald
Out of town visitors to the chancery in downtown Honolulu have remarked about how fitting it is that the building, which houses the bishop’s office, is on Bishop Street, and sometimes assume a connection. After all, the chancery for the Archdiocese of San Francisco is on Church Street, and the chancery for the Archdiocese of Baltimore is on Cathedral Street.
But most Hawaii residents know that Bishop Street is really named for Protestant Charles Reed Bishop, husband of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop and the same “Bishop” of Bishop Estate, and that the Catholic bishop’s address is happy coincidence.
However, there are a number of street names in Honolulu that do have a Catholic origin and the Hawaii Catholic Herald went driving around looking for some of them. Here is a selection of Oahu streets with Catholic associations.
St. Louis Heights
This area, originally called Mauna-pohaku or rock mountain, which you enter by driving up St. Louis Heights Drive, has the highest concentration of Catholic street names in Honolulu. When subdividers Paul Low and James Hara named the area after the nearby St. Louis College (today St. Louis School) 80 years ago, they decided to name the streets alphabetically after biblical figures or historic Hawaii Catholics. Their only difficulty was finding a person whose name began with Q. They settled on the randomly picked Quincy Place.
Alencastre Place and Alencastre Street: Named after Bishop Stephen Alencanstre, the fifth and last vicar apostolic (missionary bishop) for Hawaii from 1926-1940, before it became a diocese in 1941. Born in Madeira, Portugal, Bishop Alencastre immigrated with his family to Hawaii at age five.
Alphonse Place: Named for Marianist Brother Alphonse, a teacher at St. Louis College.
Bertram Street: Named for Marianist Brother Bertram Bellinghausen, an accomplished photographer and musician who taught at St. Louis College for 22 years starting in 1883, back when the school was located in downtown Honolulu (see College Walk Street). He later became the school’s director.
Felix Street: Named for Marianist Brother Felix John Rost, a St. Louis College teacher.
Frank Street: Named for Marianist Brother Frank Francis Herold, a St. Louis College teacher, who first came to Hawaii in 1883 with the first group of Marianists in the islands.
Gulston Street: Misspelled street named after Bishop Gulstan Ropert, the French-born vicar apostolic for Hawaii from 1892-1903.
Herman Street: Named for Bishop Herman Koeckemann, a German who was vicar apostolic in Hawaii from 1882-1892.
Libert Street: Named for Bishop Libert Boeynaems, a Belgian who was vicar apostolic from 1903-1926.
Maigret Street: Named for Bishop Louis Maigret, the first vicar apostolic in Hawaii from 1847 to 1882.
Oswald Street: Named for Marianist Brother Oswald, a St. Louis college instructor.
Robert Place: Named for Marianist Brother Robert, an accomplished painter at St. Louis College.
Historic figures
Bachelot Street: Near Kuakini Medical Center in Nuuanu, named for Sacred Hearts Father Alexis Bachelot, apostolic prefect and leader of the first group of Catholic missionaries to Hawaii in 1827. He was expelled in 1831 by the Hawaiian royals, who were Protestant and did not want a second religion in the islands. He returned to Hawaii in 1837 but was expelled again and died at sea.
Clement Street: Manoa Street named for Father Clement Evrard, a French-born Sacred Hearts priest who came from Belgium to Hawaii with Father Damien and was ordained at the same time as Damien in 1864. Father Clement was the director of St. Louis College in 1882 soon after it first opened. The Marianists took over school operations from him in 1883. Father Clement also started the monthly Hawaiian language magazine Hoolaha Manaoio, or The Propagation of the Faith, which was published for 47 years.
College Walk Street: A small lane in Honolulu’s Chinatown area next to River Street. It used to lead to the original St. Louis College, located there from 1882 until 1928 when the high school moved to its present location in Kaimuki.
Dreier Street: Kakaako street named for August Dreier, a Catholic who founded the Eleele Plantation on Kauai in 1884 and donated property to the Catholic Church. A descendent, the part-Hawaiian Msgr. Bruce Dreier, is a priest of the Archdiocese of San Francisco.
Malia Street: Street in front of Star of the Sea School in Waialae-Kahala, with the Hawaiian name for Mary, the mother of Christ.
Marin Lane: Downtown Honolulu street named after Don Francisco de Paula Marin, a Spaniard who came to Hawaii in the early 1790s and claimed to have baptized hundred of Hawaiians before the first Catholic missionaries arrived in 1827. Connected with Marin is Vineyard Boulevard, one of the oldest streets in Honolulu, which got its name from the vineyards Marin planted in the early 1800s.
Poki Street and Liliha Street: Poki Street, near Punahou School, is presumed to be a nickname for Boki, the governor of Oahu in the early 1800s. A visiting French priest baptized Boki in 1819. Liliha was Boki’s wife, who became governess of Oahu after he disappeared at sea in 1829. The couple were strong supporters of the early Catholic missionaries during the time they were opposed by the protestant royalty.
Portuguese name streets
Honolulu has many Portuguese-influenced street names. A large wave of Portuguese immigrants, a primarily Catholic ethnic group, started coming to Hawaii in 1878 as laborers. Many of these streets are in the Kalihi area where Portuguese residents were concentrated for many years.
Correa Road: On the University of Hawaii-Manoa campus, named for Sylvester Philip Correa, a senator in the Territory of Hawaii from 1917-1919.
Lopez Lane: In the Kapalama area, named for Antone J. Lopez, a Portuguese whaler who came to Hawaii around 1860 and owned a ranch and dairy.
Machado Street: Kalihi street named for early Portuguese settler Manuel Machado.
Monte Street: The street name comes from Nossa Senhora do Monte, a Catholic church in Madeira, Portugal. Monte Street, after the Portuguese word for “mountain,” leads to Our Lady of the Mount Church in Kalihi Valley and a nearby grotto with the statue of the Portuguese Lady of the Mount.
Osorio Place: Near Thomas Square in Honolulu, this road is named for Augusto Monteiro Osorio, a Portuguese native, who came to Hawaii in 1885 and started the firm of Osorio and Company on Hilo with his sons.
Pacheco Street: This Kalihi street as named for Manuel Caetano Pacheco, who was born in the Azores, immigrated to Hawaii and became a prominent Hawaii politician.
Silva Street: This Kalihi street is not named after Bishop Larry Silva, but after the father of Manuel Silva, a chanter and dancer.
Wakine Place: In Kuliouou, this street got its name from the Joaquin rancher family who lived in the valley above Kuliouou before it was subdivided. Wakine is a Hawaiian transliteration of Joaquin.
Funchal Street: Nuuanu street named by Portuguese residents for the capital of the Azores. There is also an Azores Street in the Punchbowl area.
Lusitana Street and San Antonio Avenue: Streets in the Punchbowl area named for benevolent or welfare aid societies formed by early Portuguese immigrants. San Antonio was the first society formed. Lusitana is the ancient name of West Hispania (Portugal).
More streets, lanes, roads
Dudoit Lane: Waikiki street named for the family of Jules Dudoit, a ship captain and businessman, who first came to Hawaii in 1833. He was French consul here from 1837 to 1845, and a strong supporter of the early Catholic missionaries in Hawaii.
Lemon Road: Waikiki street named for James Silas Lemon, who came from France in 1849, owned the Commercial Hotel and opened up the Kaimuki land tract.
Marques Street: Street near Punahou School named after August Jean Baptiste Marques, a French doctor who came to Hawaii in 1878 and was a newspaper editor, French teacher at Punahou, member of the Hawaii legislature, and a French consul (and also of Russia, Panama and Belgium). He was a supporter of bringing Portuguese laborers to Hawaii and possibly established the Portuguese settlement of Marquesville.
Trousseau Street: Road in Kapahulu named after French doctor George Trousseau, known for supporting the segregation of Hansen’s disease patients in 1873.
And did you know?
In addition to San Francisco’s Church Street and Baltimore’s Cathedral Street, other mainland chanceries find themselves on ecclesiastically-themed roadways: Cathedral Way (Diocese of Las Vegas), Cathedral Square (Diocese of Providence), Cathedral Drive (Diocese of Rapid City), and Cathedral Place (Diocese of Richmond).
The offices of the Diocese of St. Augustine are on Church Street. The Diocese of Santa Fe’s chancery is on St. Joseph Place and the Diocese of Raleigh’s is on Nazareth Street. And the address of the Diocese of Owensboro in Kentucky has the same name as a biblical plague, though there is not likely to be any significance to that — Locust Street.
References used for this story: The Dark Decade, 1829-1839, by Emmett Cahill; History of the Catholic Mission in the Hawaiian Islands, by Father Reginald Yzendoorn, SS.CC.; Pioneers of the Faith, by Father Robert Schoofs, SS.CC.; Place Names of Hawaii, by Mary Kawena Pukui, Samuel H. Elbert, and Ester T. Mookini. 1974 Edition; and other sources.