King Kamehameha I - Washington DC
N 38° 53.385 W 077° 00.499
18S E 325819 N 4306459
This statue of King Kamehameha is the third replica of a total of 6 statues. Kamehameha was the first King of Hawaii and is best known as the person who united the island chiefdoms into a peaceful kingdom.
Waymark Code: WMEP5G
Location: District of Columbia, United States
Date Posted: 06/21/2012
Views: 16
This statue used to sits in the National Statuary Hall inside the United States Capitol Building in Washington DC. In 2008, shortly after Hawaii-born Barack Obama was nominated as the Democratic Party’s candidate for the presidency, the statue was moved from a dark, back row of Statuary Hall to a prominent position in Emancipation Hall in the Capitol's new visitor center. The statue was made from molds of the King Kamehameha statue that sits in front of the Judiciary Building in historic downtown Honolulu. This King Kamehameha statue was dedicated in a ceremony inside the United States Capitol Building Rotunda on April 15, 1969. The statue and its solid granite base weigh more then six tons, making it one of the heaviest objects in the statuary hall. Every year on June 11, which is King Kamehameha Day in Hawaii, the statue is draped with flower leis in a ceremony featuring hula dancers and Hawaiians portraying King Kamehameha and his favorite wife Kaahumanu.
The 18-foot bronze statue stands on top of a solid granite base and was created by Thomas R. Gould in Florence, Italy. One of the interesting things about the statue is that Gould gave the statue a Roman nose and European features even though photos of Polynesians were sent to him to give the statue an appropriate likeness.
The original statue was commissioned to celebrate the 100 year arrival of Captain Cook to the Hawaiian Islands. Unfortunately the statue was too late for the 100th anniversary and in 1883 it was placed aboard a ship bound for Hawaii. As the ship neared the Falkland Islands, the ship wrecked and the statue was thought lost. However, the statue was insured by the Hawaiians for $12,000, so Gould rushed to complete a second one. Before the second statue could be sent, the original had been recovered and sold the captain of the wrecked ship for $500, the Captain then sold it to Walter Gibson for $875. How Hawaii had 2 statues, so the original statue was placed near the King's birthplace in Kapa'au in Kohala on the Bigh Island. The re-order statue was placed in front of Ali'iolani Hale.
In 1969 when Hawaii attained statehood, a third statue was commissioned and was sent to the US Capitol.
Visit Instructions:
You must have visited the site in person, not online.