1917 Hawaii Promotion Committee Map of Hawaii

This is a 1917 Hawaii Promotion Committee map of the island of Hawaii. Locations throughout are labeled, including Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea, and Kilauea. Lava formations, steam cracks, numerous lava flows, and other formations relating to the volcanoes are illustrated. Major roads are illustrated along with the Hilo Railroad. Information concerning distances, elevations, and hotels in Hilo, Kau, Kona, Kohala, and Hamakua appear along the bottom border. A map of the crater of Kilauea appears on the verso.

Hawaii Promotion Committee

Today known as the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, the Hawaii Promotion Committee was founded on May 14, 1902, after W.C. Weedon convinced a group of Honolulu businessmen to promote the Territory of Hawaii for tourism. Weedon planned to tour the U.S. giving a series of lectures and a 'magic lantern' show, for which he asked $100 per month. Tourism promotion of Hawaii began as early as 1892, but with little effect. Territorial status brought a small boom of visitors to Hawaii, but an outbreak of bubonic plague in Honolulu in 1899 and 1900 ended that. Events accelerated after Weedon's proposal and news that California was expecting a wave of tourists during the winter of 1902. Hawaii hoped to convince these visitors to venture 'just a little farther west' and visit the islands. That same year, after an intervention from Governor Sanford Dole, the Territorial Legislature approved funding for what became the Hawaii Promotion Committee. This organization became the Hawaii Tourist Bureau in 1919 and then in 1996 became the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau.

Publication History and Census

This map was created for and published by the Hawaii Promotion Committee in 1917. A single example is cataloged in OCLC, part of the collection at the University of California Berkeley. We are also aware of a third example in private hands.