CARTWRIGHT PARK
Baseball Mural
Alexander J. Cartwright Jr., long celebrated as the Father of Modern Baseball, laid out baseball field bases and lines at Makiki Park (now Cartwright Field) in 1852, making it the oldest permanent baseball fi eld in the world. We feel it is our kuleana to honor this treasure by doing what we can to make improvements to the park and engage the local community to allow this space to continue to thrive and uplift the welfare of the keiki and families who use the park and live in the neighborhood. Rob Iopa, Director of MKH, first noticed this need while coaching youth baseball at Cartwright Field. He has observed the derelict state that the park/field is currently in - in particular how dangerous, run down, and unsanitary the public restrooms are for the keiki.
Alexander J. Cartwright Jr.
The traditions of the game were passed down orally until Cartwright and Knickerbocker Baseball Club Committee codified fourteen rules of the game in 1845. Some of these new rules included the dimensions and layout of the bases and field and the distinction between fair and foul territory. Setting the number of players to nine and fixing the length of the game to nine innings were later added by Cartwright.
As Queen Emma’s trusted advisor, Cartwright managed all of her holdings and engaged in protecting the interest of the Queen’s estate. He accessed, surveyed, and fi led boundaries with the land commissioners of all the neglected land holdings that were given to Queen Emma by royal patent or personal acquisition.
Appointed Honolulu’s first Fire Chief by King Kamehameha III. During his ten year-long career, he wrote the Fire Department’s first bylaws and raised money to acquire the department’s first hand engine pump, carriage, apparatus, fi re engine, permanent fi re house, and the upkeep of all the equipment.
Cartwright played a key role in the founding of Queen’s Medical Center. He participated in the ritual of laying the cornerstone of the hospital, wrote the charter and bylaws of the hospital, and appointed a trustee of the hospital.
Designated finnancial advisor by King Kamehameha V, King Lunalilo, and King Kalākaua. Cartwright was not only able to speak and write in Hawaiian, but was gifted the name U Moe O A.J. Kahalaeka.
As one of the founders of the Honolulu Library and Reading Room, he donated most of the library’s fi rst two hundred books from his own collections and notably advocated for women and children to be allowed to obtain library membership.
LOCATION
Makiki, Honolulu, Oahu
PROJECT TEAM
WCIT Architecture
YEAR
2021
VIDEO
