1930s Hawaii address, where is it?

June 30, 2008 7:08 PM

How do I find the modern geographical location of an old Hawaii address that no longer exists?

I'm looking for the present day location of a Hawaiian address that appears in the 1930 census.

The address is 2483 East Manor Road, Honolulu, Honolulu, Hawaii Territory.

How do I find the geographical location of this address, and possibly the address of the building today, if it exists?

posted by zippy to Grab Bag (6 answers total)

Best answer: IANAHawaiian/Geographer/Librarian, but I'd try to find a friendly librarian who is either local to Honolulu or has access to state history data, perhaps at the University level. The best thing I've found on the web is a link to fire insurance maps, which I can't access without a UHawaii library account. To get in touch with them, call 808-956-6199 or email [e-mail]

The Hawaii State Library (state government-run) may be a good resource, but I can't quite tell from their web site whom to get in touch with there?
posted by knile at 7:51 PM on June 30, 2008

Best answer: That link that knile included to the fire insurance maps will be grat if you know loosely where the road is, otehrwise it might not be good. However if you click the "ask us" link on that page you'll be able to chat/email/call a librarian who will have a more definitive answer. You might also be able to fudge it by looking at the census records to see what other streets are nearby to get a better loose idea of where the street is and then heading for the maps. I know a few Hawaiian librarians, if you hit a dead end, MeMail me and I'll try to introduce you to one.
posted by jessamyn at 9:32 PM on June 30, 2008

Best answer: Just grasping at straws here, but as a 36 year resident of Hawaii, I'm wondering if your address is simply a misspelling of "East Manoa Road", which is a very well known road in an old part of Honolulu.
posted by melorama at 7:50 AM on July 1, 2008

Response by poster: I'm wondering if your address is simply a misspelling of "East Manoa Road"

That's a very good catch, melorama. I'm working with transcribed Census records, so this is a possibility. I can see how someone transcribing a handwritten a could type it as an r.
posted by zippy at 8:03 AM on July 1, 2008

Best answer: Seconding melorama. I've worked with Census records off and on for over 25 years and they are riddled with unintentional errors. My grandmother, in the 1900 Census, magically became my grandfather ;) Census takers were not paid for accuracy with data, and no proofing was likely ever done except on the raw numbers.

I know my public library card give me access to the HeritageQuest online database which will allow you to view an actual image of the original 1930 Census page. Probably best to consult the original.

Feel free to message me privately if you don't have this kind of access and would like me to look it up for you.

Good luck!
posted by kuppajava at 10:50 AM on July 1, 2008

Response by poster: Kupppa, excellent suggestion about HeritageQuest. I didn't know that there was a library-accessible version of the 1930s census. I'll see if my library has it.
posted by zippy at 11:34 PM on July 2, 2008