In February 1883, nine years after ascending the throne of Hawai'i, King Kalakaua' staged his official coronation on the grounds of the recently completed 'Iolani Palace.
In a sunny celebration befitting a Merrie Monarch, the Royal Hawaiian Band performed "Hawai'i Pono'i," the national anthem, as some 8,000 guests gathered around the special Coronation Pavilion to witness history unfold.
Completed at a cost nearly seven times the original estimate, Hawai'i's grand showplace to the powerful and famous of the age would remain the seat of the kingdom a scant 10 more years — until Queen Lili'uokalani was deposed and the monarchy overthrown in 1893.
Although the palace was mostly built using local contractors, laborers and artisans, much of the material used — as well as the "American Florentine" architectural design — were imported from the U.S. Mainland (redwood and Port Orford cedar from the Pacific Northwest, plate and etched sheet glass from San Francisco, and roofing slate from Pennsylvania).
Otherwise, the palace boasted modern marvels — multiple bathrooms with running water, marble basins, bathtubs, and toilets; there were gas chandeliers (later converted to electric lights), and eventually even a telephone.
But by the time the former queen had been arrested and imprisoned in one room of the palace in 1895, the structure had been converted into a government office building — a status it would maintain through most of the 20th century.
The building would not become a palace again until a decade after the territory had become America's 50th state in 1959, and more than $7 million had been spent on its renovation.
Today, a totally restored 'Iolani Palace stands as a museum and reminder to visitors from around the world of the elegance of Hawai''s royal past.
