Chee Kung Tong Society Building

Last updated
Chee Kung Tong Society Building
Chee Kung Tong Society Building 1981.jpg
The society building c.1981
Location map Maui.png
Red pog.svg
USA Hawaii location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location2151 Vineyard Street
Wailuku, Hawaii
Coordinates 20°53′18.3″N156°30′15.8″W / 20.888417°N 156.504389°W / 20.888417; -156.504389
Area4,544 square feet (422.2 m2)
Built1904
MPS Chinese Tong Houses of Maui Island TR
NRHP reference No. 82000171 [1]
HRHP No.50-50-10-01615 [2]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPNovember 15, 1982
Designated HRHPJuly 30, 1982
Delisted HRHPOctober 29, 1998

The Chee Kung Tong Society Hall was a former Chinese society hall located on 2151 Vineyard Street in Wailuku, Maui. Built to provide services to single immigrant Chinese males, mostly working for the sugarcane plantations, it provided religious and political help, in addition to mutual aid. Converted to a dormitory in the 1920s, it suffered neglect until finally collapsing in 1996. The site now contains remnants of the foundation, assorted cement structures, and a distinct lintel gate and wall facing the street. The site was placed on the Hawaii State Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places (under the Chinese Tong Houses of Maui Island TR nomination form), but delisted from the State register after its collapse; it is still listed in the NRHP database.

Contents

History

It is unclear when the society hall was first built due to conflicting information; County of Maui records indicate that the building was first listed as being built in 1897, [3] though an article from December 1904 by the Maui News lists the building being built and celebrations made upon completion of the society hall on January 14 and 15, 1905. [4] [5]

The hall provided a place for Chinese immigrants to visit, socialize (such as playing pai gow), and provide aid. [5] [6] [7]

Sometime in 1928, it was noted that the society hall was converted for use as a dormitory by single men, and this use was supposedly practiced up until the 1960s. After the last occupant died, the property was neglected. [4]

Collapse

In September 1988, part of a wall of the building collapsed, smashing adjacent trees, plants, and two clothesline poles in a neighboring property. [3] [4]

On April 17, 1996, the derelict wood building collapsed due to damage caused by wood rot, termites, and gravity. Before the collapse, Society Elders had planned to meet to discuss the fate of the building. Certain elements of the building were to have been recovered, and possibly reused in the reconstruction of the building. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Design

The property is 4,544 square feet (422.2 m2) according to Maui County tax records via the Department of Finance's Real Property Division and the NRHP nomination form. [1] [3]

The entrance gate comprises two concrete posts and a lintel with Chinese characters on it. Formerly delineated in red, the front facing the street contains incused Chinese characters spelling out Chee Kung Fui Kon (if pronounced in the Hakka dialect; Chinese :致公會館), and the back containing the phrase (translated as) Everyone is equal. [1] [7]

The main building was a rectangular, two-story structure approximately 55 feet (17 m) by 34 feet (10 m), with covered verandas on both floors. Architectural elements included shingled intersecting gabled roofs with gabled ends and fish-scaled shingles painted in various colors. Assorted other details included a scalloped archway, chamfered posts, decorative wheel and quatrefoil brackets, and an entrance gable with a carved bridgeboard. Diamonds and rectangles were also incorporated into the structure via ornamental lintels and balustrades. [1] [7]

A trapezoid cinder block structure approximately 19 feet (5.8 m) by 32 feet (9.8 m) stood next to the building to the east. [1]

Historic listings

The site was placed on the Hawaii State Register of Historic Places on July 30, 1982 [8] and the National Register of Historic Places on November 15, 1982, [1] but delisted in August 1998 from the State register; [4] [7] it is still listed in the NRHP database. [1] [7]

Current condition

Today, the site consists of only a few cement structures and several trees obscuring the front of the property. The gate and adjoining walls, stairs, sidewalks, foundation pillars, and the cinderblock addition lie in decrepit condition. The phrase Everyone is equal is barely discernible behind the lintel on the gate. [7]

As of 2010, a property listing sale noted additional details, including the lack of a water meter and possible building restrictions due to it being under the jurisdiction of a redevelopment authority. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wailuku, Hawaii</span> Census-designated place in Hawaii, United States

Wailuku is a census-designated place (CDP) in and county seat of Maui Island, Maui County, Hawaii, United States. The population was 17,697 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barkerville</span> Historic site in British Columbia, Canada

Barkerville was the main town of the Cariboo Gold Rush in British Columbia, Canada, and is preserved as a historic town. It is located on the north slope of the Cariboo Plateau near the Cariboo Mountains 80 kilometres (50 mi) east of Quesnel. BC Highway 26, which follows the route of the Cariboo Wagon Road, the original access to Barkerville, goes through it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ping Shan Heritage Trail</span> Heritage Trail in Ping Shan, Hong Kong

Ping Shan Heritage Trail is a heritage trail located in the Ping Shan area of Yuen Long District, in Hong Kong. The trail was inaugurated on 12 December 1993. It passes through the villages of Hang Tau Tsuen, Hang Mei Tsuen and Sheung Cheung Wai and it includes several declared monuments and graded buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in Hawaii</span>

This is a list of properties and historic districts in Hawaii listed on the National Register of Historic Places. More than 370 listings appear on all but one of Hawaii's main islands and the Northwestern Islands, and in all of its five counties. Included are houses, schools, archeological sites, ships, shipwrecks and various other types of listings. These properties and districts are listed by island, beginning at the northwestern end of the chain.
     This National Park Service list is complete through NPS recent listings posted November 15, 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilcox, Crittenden Mill</span> United States historic place

The Wilcox, Crittenden Mill, also known as Wilcox, Crittenden Mill Historic District, is a 17-acre (6.9 ha) property in Middletown, Connecticut that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. It was the location of the Wilcox, Crittenden company, a marine hardware firm. The historic district listing included four contributing buildings and three other contributing sites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ʻĪao Theater</span> United States historic place

The ʻĪao Theater is a Spanish Mission style theater opened in 1928, in the city of Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii. It was originally both a movie and vaudeville house, until it fell into disrepair in the 1980s. Facing possible demolition, in 1994, it was listed on the State of Hawaii's Register of Historic Places. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. It later became the home of Maui OnStage, a community-based theatrical organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wo Hing Society Hall</span> United States historic place

The Wo Hing Society Hall was a building located at 858 Front Street in the Lahaina Historic District in Lahaina, Hawaii. Built around 1912, it served the growing Chinese population centered in Lahaina, primarily those working in the sugarcane industry as a social and fraternal hall for the Wo Hing Society. By the 1940s the declining Chinese population in Lahaina slowly made the building redundant and the property was neglected.

At their peak, there were six Chinese Society Halls on Maui. Operated by the Gee Kung Tong Society, these halls were created to provide services to immigrant Chinese workers, mostly working for the sugarcane plantations. All provided religious and political help, in addition to mutual aid. Only the Wo Hing Society Hall in Lahaina and the Ket Hing Society Hall in Kula have survived. Both were placed on the Hawaii State Register of Historic Places on July 30, 1982, and placed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 15, 1982. The Chee Kung Tong Society Hall was placed onto both State and Federal registers, but collapsed in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bailey House Museum</span> United States historic place

Hale Hōʻikeʻike at the Bailey House is a museum of Hawaiian history and art located in Wailuku, on the island of Maui, in Hawaiʻi. It is owned and operated by the Maui Historical Society. Old Bailey House is a historic district contributing property within the Wailuku Civic Center Historic District, and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Charles William “C.W.” Dickey was an American architect famous for developing a distinctive style of Hawaiian architecture, including the double-pitched Dickey roof. He was known not only for designing some of the most famous buildings in Hawaiʻi—such as the Alexander & Baldwin Building, Halekulani Hotel, Kamehameha Schools campus buildings—but also for influencing a cadre of notable successors, including Hart Wood, Cyril Lemmon, Douglas Freeth, Roy Kelley, and Vladimir Ossipoff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wailuku Civic Center Historic District</span> Historic district in Hawaii, United States

The Wailuku Civic Center Historic District is a group of four historic buildings and one non-contributing property in Wailuku, Maui Hawaii that currently house the governmental offices of both the County of Maui and the State of Hawaii. The historic buildings were built during a time span from 1901 to 1931. They incorporate several architectural styles and two of the four historic buildings were designed and built by Hawaii-based architect C.W. Dickey. The non-contributing property houses most of the County of Maui's main offices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaahumanu Church</span> Historic church in Hawaii, United States

Kaʻahumanu Church is a church in Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii. The hymns and invocation in the services are in the Hawaiian language. which echo the legacy of Hawaiian churches in the survival of the Hawaiian language where it was banned from being spoken in public.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westerman Lumber Office and House</span> Historic building in Montgomery, Minnesota, United States

The Westerman Lumber Office and House is a historic building in Montgomery, Minnesota, United States. The private, commercial structure was placed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on March 15, 1982. The structure is considered an outstanding example of the brick buildings built in the area of Montgomery and New Prague during the late 19th century, using bricks manufactured in the Minnesota River Valley.

The Tong Wars were a series of violent disputes beginning in the late 19th century among rival Chinese Tong factions centered in the Chinatowns of various American cities, in particular San Francisco. Tong wars could be triggered by a variety of inter-gang grievances, from the public besmirching of another Tong's honor, to failure to make full payment for a "slave girl", to the murder of a rival Tong member. Each Tong had salaried soldiers, known as boo how doy, who fought in Chinatown alleys and streets over the control of opium, prostitution, gambling, and territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turner Cattle Pound</span> United States historic place

Turner Cattle Pound is a historic animal pound at the corner of Gen. Turner Hill Road and Kennebec Trail in Turner, Maine. Built in 1816, it is a well-preserved example of a once-common feature of New England's agricultural communities. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred C. Baldwin Memorial Home</span> Historic house in Hawaii, United States

The Fred Baldwin Memorial Home was built in 1910 and endowed by Emily and Henry Perrine Baldwin to provide housing for elderly Hawaiian and haole men. It is named for their son Fred Baldwin (1881-1905). Its architect was H. L. Kerr, who had earlier designed the Old Wailuku Courthouse. In 2011, it was restored by Xorin Balbes to operate as an educational retreat named Lumeria Maui. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on 1 December 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stone School (Newmarket, New Hampshire)</span> United States historic place

The Stone School is a historic school building at 1 Granite Street in Newmarket, New Hampshire. Built in 1841-42, it served the town as a school until 1966, and is a distinctive example of the town's stone architecture. It is now the Stone School Museum, a local history museum. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

The Commissioner's Office is a rare surviving example of transitional Spanish-Japanese architecture on the island of Rota in the Northern Mariana Islands, an insular area of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. It is a single-story structure with walls of manposteria, a construction method adopted during the Spanish period. The window trim consists of ifil lintels, and the building's cornice is Japanese in style. At the time of the building's listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981, it was in deteriorated condition, lacking a roof and with one collapsed wall. The structure was built in the 1930s by the local Chamorro people, who had been displaced to that part of the island by Japanese settlement undertaken as part of the South Seas Mandate. The building housed the offices of a local commissioner, or village head responsible to the Japanese authorities. Many buildings built by the Japanese during the mandate period were destroyed in World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chee Kung Tong</span> Chinese–American secret society

The Chee Kung Tong, or Gee Kung Tong, was a Chinese secret society established in 1880 and holds an active presence still. In earlier years, the society has also been recognized as the "Chinese Masons" and has been identified under various names such as Hongmen, Hongshuntang, and Yixingtang. The fraternity founded its headquarters in San Francisco in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chee Kung Tong Building</span> Building in British Columbia, Canada

The Chee Kung Tong Building is a Canadian historic building in Barkerville, British Columbia. The building is a rare surviving example of Canadian Chinese benevolent society architecture. It consists of a two-story wooden structure with two log lean-tos on the north and east sides and a balcony. The ground floor is divided into a hostel, kitchen, and socializing space and the top floor was divided between a society hall and an alter room. It is among the oldest surviving structures in the town.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "NPS Focus National Register - Chee Kung Tong Society Building". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2015-06-16. Retrieved 2010-03-11.
  2. "Historic Register Counts". Hawai'i State Historic Preservation Division. State of Hawaii. February 1, 2022. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Sharon Westfall (1996). "The Maui Report from Sharon Westfall". Archived from the original on 2012-07-08. Retrieved 2010-03-10.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Maui MeshWorks (December 18, 2007). "Chee Kung Tong Building, 1939" . Retrieved 2010-03-10.
  5. 1 2 3 Exploring Historic Wailuku pg. 102
  6. 1 2 Maui Remembers pg. 49
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Anuhea Yagi (2010-01-21). "Wailuku Chee Kung Tong Society Building". Maui Time. Retrieved 2010-03-10.
  8. http://www.state.hi.us/dlnr/hpd/register/regmaui.pdf Archived 2011-05-17 at the Wayback Machine HAWAI`I AND NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES - Maui

Further reading