Dubbed the Baron of Hawai'i Industry, Walter F. Dillingham left a legacy as visible as the modern Hawaiian landscape.
The son of Benjamin Dillingham, founder of the Oahu Railway and Land Co., Dillingham had an advanced mind for business and a keen eye for opportunity.
Dillingham, born in 1875, assumed the helm at Oahu Railway and Land Co. after his father's death in 1918 before founding or leading a series of highly influential local businesses, including Hawaiian Dredging Co., Young Brothers, Bishop Trust Co. and the Oahu Sugar Co.
Hawaiian Dredging's first major project in 1909 was the construction of a dry dock at Pearl Harbor, the first step in the eventual development of Pearl Harbor Naval Base.
A few years later, Dillingham purchased the land on which he would eventually build Ala Moana Center.
Through Hawaiian Dredging and the contracting firm Lord & Young, Dillingham had a hand in constructing several O'ahu landmarks, including the Honolulu Academy of Arts.
Dillingham also oversaw the creation of the Ala Wai Canal, a key first step in the commercial development of Waikiki. As part of the contract, Dillingham retained ownership of the coral-rich material that was dredged; he sold this material as landfill used in the commercial development of Waikiki, and for Kapi'olani Park.
For all his accomplishments, Dillingham remained a controversial figure because of his dubious attitudes on race. He asserted his considerable influence in support of the killers of Joseph Kahahawai Jr. in the infamous Massie Affair, and once testified before Congress that "God had made the white race to rule and the colored to be ruled."
Dillingham died in 1963 at the age of 88.
