- City:
- Hilo, HI
- Site Type:
- Rock Walls, Civic Facilities
- New Deal Agencies:
- Works Progress Administration (WPA), Work Relief Programs
Description
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a seawall east of Hilo in 1939. The 2.5-foot-thick structure was credited with saving the Pu‘umaile Home / hospital; the seawall “withstood the severe pounding of the angry waves … lessened the force of the waves and the hospital was safe.”
Images of Old Hawaii:
Some incorrectly suggest that the hospital washed away by the 1946 tsunami; however, it was spared. “The (sea)wall itself was undamaged, and buildings sheltered by it were undisturbed except for minor damage by flooding.” (Wiegel)
The exact location and status of the seawall is unknown to Living New Deal.
Source notes
Hawaii Tribune-Herald, April 21, 2021 (page B3): https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/730258763/
https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/puumaile-home/
Site originally submitted by Evan Kalish on August 9, 2023.
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