Parcels of Land to be acquired by the U.S. Government at Pearl Harbor by Condemnation Proceedings

The federal government’s first material efforts to establish Pearl Harbor.

Following the U.S. annexation of Hawaii in 1898, Congress passed the Naval Appropriation Act of March 3, 1901, authorizing the Navy to acquire land surrounding Pearl Harbor and begin dredging the entrance channel. Some local property owners refused to sell, so eminent domain proceedings took place and facilitated the acquisition of approximately 700 acres of land, which included the future Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, Kauhua Island, and a strip along the southeast coast of Ford Island.

This map, published as part of the 1902 Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy, shades the newly obtained territory and notes the sizes of the various parcels. Much of the land was leased to the Honolulu Plantation Company. The Oahu Railroad (another prominent landowner) is also labeled. Accompanying text offers further details about the condemnation proceedings, with overall expenditures totaling about $58,000.