GV

GeezerVison

The World Wide Web, restored to 800 pixels of glory.

Home|About|Gaming cabinet|Archives|How it works|Starter sites

On this site

  • Main page
  • Contents
  • Current events
  • Random article
  • About Wikipedia
  • Contact us
  • Help
  • Learn to edit
  • Community portal
  • Recent changes
  • Upload file
  • Special pages
  • Search
  • Donate

This view

  • Original page
  • New address

GeezerVison is showing en.wikipedia.org — Fort Shafter - Wikipedia

Coordinates: 21°20′42″N 157°53′02″W / 21.345°N 157.884°W / 21.345; -157.884

Fort Shafter
Honolulu, Hawaii
Richardson Hall at Fort Shafter, nicknamed the "Pineapple Pentagon"
Site information
TypeArmy post
Controlled byU.S. Army
Location
Coordinates21°20′42″N 157°53′02″W / 21.345°N 157.884°W / 21.345; -157.884
Site history
Built1905-1907
In use1907 – present
Battles/warsAttack on Pearl Harbor
Garrison information
Current commander
General Ronald P. Clark
Past commanders
General Charles Flynn
GarrisonU.S. Army Pacific

Fort Shafter is an army installation located in the City and County of Honolulu, Hawai‘i. It is the headquarters of the United States Army Pacific, which commands most Army forces in the Asia-Pacific region with the exception of Korea. Geographically, Fort Shafter extends up the interfluve (ridgeline) between Kalihi and Moanalua valleys, as well as onto the coastal plain (as Shafter Flats) at Māpunapuna. A portion of the area is also known as the Palm Circle Historic District; it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has been further designated as a U.S. National Historic Landmark. It is also known as Palm Circle or 100 Area.

It is located in the Urban Honolulu census-designated place.[1]

History

Fort Shafter is the oldest military base on Oahu and celebrated its 100th birthday on 22 June 2007.

Fort Shafter has been home to the senior Army headquarters in Hawaii for a century. Construction began in 1905 on the ahupua'a of Kahauiki, former Hawaiian crown lands that were illegally ceded to the United States government by the Republic of Hawai'i after annexation without consent from the original stewards, the Hawaiian Royal Family. When the post opened in 1907, it was named for Major General William Rufus Shafter (1835–1906), who led the United States expedition to Cuba in 1898.

Palm Circle was laid out as a cantonment for an infantry battalion. The barracks and officers' quarters were arranged around a parade field ringed by royal palms. The first unit stationed at the new post was the 2d Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment.

Fort Shafter gradually spread out from Palm Circle. Tripler General Hospital once stood where the highway intersection is today (the hospital moved to its present location in 1948). In 1914, a regimental-sized cantonment area was constructed (near Richardson Theater). The Hawaiian Ordnance Depot was built in 1917 as a separate post (near today's post exchange). In 1921, the Hawaiian Department moved to Fort Shafter from downtown Honolulu. Finally, a new area was constructed in 1940 for Signal Corps elements.

Palm Circle; Tripler Army Medical Center is visible in the background

War came to Fort Shafter on 7 December 1941, where the Hawaiian Department commander, Lieutenant General Walter C. Short, occupied Quarters 5. One soldier, Corporal Arthur A. Favreau, 64th Coast Artillery (Anti-Aircraft), was killed on post by an errant Navy shell.[2] Fort Shafter became a busy headquarters and the barracks on Palm Circle were converted to offices. The major headquarters was named successively U.S. Army Forces, Central Pacific Area (1943–44); U.S. Army Forces, Pacific Ocean Areas (1944–45); and U.S. Army Forces, Middle Pacific (1945–47). In 1944, the Army Corps of Engineers erected the "Pineapple Pentagon" (buildings T-100, T-101, and T-102) in just 49 days. Two large fishponds were filled in to form Shafter Flats.

For most of the time since the Second World War, Fort Shafter has remained the senior Army headquarters for the Asia-Pacific region. In 1947, the headquarters was renamed U.S. Army, Pacific. The post continued to adapt to meet the Army's evolving requirements. In the early 1960s it was split in two by the new Moanalua Freeway. In 1974, when the headquarters was eliminated, Fort Shafter became home to U.S. Army Support Command, Hawaii, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Pacific Ocean Division (relocated from Fort Armstrong, (Hawaii)). In 1979, the Army established U.S. Army Western Command, which was renamed U.S. Army, Pacific in 1990. In 1983, the Army conveyed to the State of Hawaii 750 acres (3.0 km2) of undeveloped land on the northern end of post. Today Fort Shafter remains the focal point for command, control, and support of Army forces in the Asia-Pacific region; it includes an underground command center beneath Palm Circle.

Current Units

  • United States Army Pacific
    • 9th Mission Support Command
    • 18th Medical Command
    • 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command
    • 311th Signal Command (Theater)
      • 516th Signal Brigade
    • 196th Infantry Brigade

Education

Hawaii Department of Education operates public schools. As of 2016 zoned schools are Shafter Elementary School, Moanalua Middle School, and Moanalua High School.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Geography Division (10 April 2021). 2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Urban Honolulu CDP, HI (PDF) (Map). U.S. Census Bureau. pp. 2, 6 (PDF p. 3, 7/11). Retrieved 20 June 2025. Ft Shafter - See 2010 map of Urban Honolulu CDP and Page 4 (see "Ft Shafter") - 2000 map of Honolulu CDP
  2. ↑ Parkman, E. Breck (2019). "A Hypothesis Regarding the Army's Incinerator at Fort McDowell, Marin County, California" (PDF). Articles of the SCA Proceedings. 33: 86. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  3. ↑ "Hawaii School Information School Year 2016-2017" (PDF). Army Family and MWR Hawaii. p. 4/5. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
  • Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from History of Fort Shafter, Hawaii. United States Army. Archived from the original on 31 March 2009.

External links

Wikimedia Commons logo
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fort Shafter.
  • US Army Garrison - Hawaii
  • United States Army Pacific
  • Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. HI-287-C, "Fort Shafter Military Reservation, Facilities No. 820-822, 824, 826-828, 840, 841, 844-846, Rice Street and Herian Place, Honolulu, Honolulu County, HI", 8 photos, 21 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
  • HABS No. HI-287-D, "Fort Shafter Military Reservation, Facilities No. 823, 825, 842, Herian Place, Honolulu, Honolulu County, HI", 4 photos, 7 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
  • Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) No. HI-9, "Fort Shafter Military Reservation, N.C.O. Housing Area, Honolulu, Honolulu County, HI", 9 photos, 27 data pages, 3 photo caption pages
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fort_Shafter&oldid=1365028346"
Categories:
  • Government buildings completed in 1907
  • Buildings and structures in Honolulu
  • Forts in Hawaii
  • United States Army posts
  • Historic American Buildings Survey in Hawaii
  • Historic American Landscapes Survey in Hawaii
  • 1907 establishments in Hawaii
  • Military installations established in 1907
Hidden categories:
  • Articles with short description
  • Short description is different from Wikidata
  • Use American English from March 2023
  • All Wikipedia articles written in American English
  • Use dmy dates from March 2023
  • Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
  • Pages using infobox mapframe without shape links in Wikidata
  • Coordinates on Wikidata
  • Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the United States Army
  • Wikipedia articles incorporating text from public domain works of the United States Government
  • Commons category link is on Wikidata
  • Pages using the Kartographer extension
You are visitor 01402503 — GeezerVison does not store the pages you look up.
Best viewed with Netscape Navigator 4.7 or Internet Explorer 6 at 800×600. No cookies required.