Queen Kapiolani Regional Park is the largest and second-oldest public park in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

, located in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

on the east end of

Waikiki Waikiki (; haw, Waikīkī; ; also known as Waikiki Beach) is a neighborhood of Honolulu on the south shore of the island of Oahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Waikiki is most famous for Waikiki Beach, which is one of six beaches in the district ...

just beyond Kuhio Beach Park and the Waikiki residential neighborhood. The park, named after Queen Kapiolani, the queen consort of King David Kalākaua, is home to the

Waikiki Shell The Tom Moffatt Waikiki Shell is a venue for outdoor concerts and other large gatherings in the Waikiki area of Honolulu, Hawaii. Built in 1956, the Tom Moffatt Waikiki Shell seats 2,400 persons and the lawn area has capacity for an additional 6,0 ...

and the

Honolulu Zoo The Honolulu Zoo is a zoo in Queen Kapiʻolani Park in Honolulu, Hawaii. It is the only zoo in the United States to be established by grants made by a sovereign monarch and is built on part of the royal Queen Kapiʻolani Park. The Honolulu Z ...

History

Kingdom of Hawaii

In the 1870s,

King Kalākaua King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ti ...

was asked to find a permanent, dry course for horse racing. Since

was popular with wealthy racing fans, Kalākaua chose the unoccupied and dry plain at the foot of Diamond Head where the park now stands. On June 11, 1877, the park was dedicated as the first Hawaiian public space. Scotsman

Archibald Scott Cleghorn Archibald Scott Cleghorn (November 15, 1835 – November 1, 1910) was a Scottish businessman who married into the royal family of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Biography He was born on November 15, 1835, in Edinburgh, Scotland, to Thomas Cleghorn an ...

was Vice-president and later president of the Kapiolani Park Association, a group of businessmen who convinced Kalākaua to give them a 30-year lease for $1 per year. A share in the association cost $50, and would allow shareholders to lease property on

Waikiki Beach Waikiki (; haw, Waikīkī; ; also known as Waikiki Beach) is a neighborhood of Honolulu on the south shore of the island of Oahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Waikiki is most famous for Waikiki Beach, which is one of six beaches in the district ...

. By the 1880s, many of Hawaii's wealthiest citizens had leased property through the association until the

overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii The overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom was a ''coup d'état'' against Queen Liliʻuokalani, which took place on January 17, 1893, on the island of Oahu and led by the Committee of Safety, composed of seven foreign residents and six non-abori ...

, during which most of the properties were returned to the city or condemned. A lease was granted to the Honolulu Cricket Club in 1893. Top cricket players from San Francisco's California Cricket Association played for local teams.

Republic of Hawaii

After the overthrow, the land was conveyed to the Republic of Hawaii and managed by the Honolulu Park Commission. The legislation provided that the park be set aside permanently as a free public park and recreation ground, forbade the sale or lease of land in the park, and prohibited charging of any entrance fees. Since 1913, the park has been maintained by the

City and County of Honolulu Honolulu County (officially known as the City and County of Honolulu, formerly Oahu County) is a consolidated city–county in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The city–county includes both the city of Honolulu (the state's capital and largest cit ...

's Department of Parks & Recreation. In the 1920s, plans to drain the

Ala Wai Canal The Ala Wai Canal is an artificial waterway in Honolulu, Hawaii which serves as the northern boundary of the tourist district of Waikiki. It was created in 1928 to drain the rice paddies and swamps which would eventually become Waikiki. It also ...

through Kapiolani Park filled the park with mud and trash. It was rarely used until 1952, when the park was renovated and the current boundaries of the park were established.

Today

Besides the

and the

, the park includes

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

courts, soccer,

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

and

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

fields and an archery range. The park hosts many international lacrosse and rugby tournaments a year.Hawaii State Rugby Union
Its bandstand serves as an entertainment venue. It is also a popular course for joggers who utilize its two-mile (3 km) circumference. The park also serves as the site, as both the starting and finish lines, of road races in Honolulu including the

Honolulu Marathon The Honolulu Marathon (branded JAL Honolulu Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is a marathon (26.2 miles or 42.2km) in Honolulu, Hawaii, first held in 1973. It is one of the world's largest marathons, taking place annually on the second Sunday in ...

. Kapiolani park is also home to Honolulu Cricket Club, the only

cricket club Zee Marathi is an Indian general entertainment channel which carries programming in Marathi. It is owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. The channel was launched on 15 August 1999 and was known as Alpha TV Marathi until 28 March 2005, then ...

in the Hawaiian Islands. Founded in 1893, it is the oldest sporting club in the Pacific according to

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

. As Kapiolani Park continues south it becomes Kapiolani Beach Park, adjacent to Kuhio Beach and Waikiki Beach. The park itself also serves as a natural border between Waikiki and Diamond Head neighborhood.

References

{{Honolulu Parks in Hawaii Geography of Honolulu Rugby league stadiums in the United States Protected areas of Oahu Tourist attractions in Honolulu Waikiki Protected areas established in 1877 1877 establishments in Hawaii Cricket in Hawaii