Palm Circle or the Pineapple Pentagon, is a historic portion of

Fort Shafter Fort Shafter, in Honolulu CDP, Page 4/ref> City and County of Honolulu, Hawai‘i, is the headquarters of the United States Army Pacific, which commands most Army forces in the Asia-Pacific region with the exception of Korea. Geographically, For ...

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the islan ...

. Designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1987, it housed the headquarters of the commanding general and his staff, U.S. Army forces, Pacific Ocean Areas, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. By 1944 this command was responsible for the supply and administration of all U.S. Army personnel in the Central and South Pacific, and from 1943 to 1945, carried out logistical planning for the invasions of the Gilberts, Marshalls, Marianas, Guam, Palau, and Okinawa.

Description

Palm Circle is one of the centerpieces of Fort Shafter, located north of downtown Honolulu on the east side of

Interstate H-201 Interstate H-201 (H-201) is the only auxiliary Interstate Highway located outside the Contiguous United States, serving the island of O‘ahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The H-201 designation is also known as the Moanalua Freeway. The loop rou ...

. It is a roughly oval grassy sward, ringed by

royal palm ''Roystonea regia'', commonly known as the Cuban royal palm or Florida royal palm, is a species of palm that is native to Mexico, parts of Central America and the Caribbean, and southern Florida. A large and attractive palm, it has been planted ...

s and Palm Circle Drive. Across Palm Circle Drive are buildings serving a variety of military purposes. To the north and west lie a number of officer housing units, while former barracks buildings (adapted to administrative uses) lie to the south. On the east side of the circle lie three office buildings, colloquially known as the Pineapple Pentagon, that were at the heart of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

operations in the Pacific War. Richardson Hall (T-100) is the only one visible from the circle due to the steep terrain. Fort Shafter was established in 1905, not long after the American annexation of Hawaii. Most of the officer quarters and barracks were built in the years immediately following. Following the Japanese

Attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawa ...

in 1941, the Army needed to greatly expand its presence, and Richardson Hall and the other administrative buildings were built in 1943-44 to meet this demand. The buildings have multistory underground bunkers, and there are fortified service tunnels connecting them. General Robert C. Richardson Jr. ran the Army's Pacific operations from these facilities from 1943 until the end of the war.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Buildings and structures completed in 1907 Buildings and structures in Honolulu National Historic Landmarks in Hawaii Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Hawaii National Register of Historic Places in Honolulu Forts on the National Register of Historic Places in Hawaii World War II on the National Register of Historic Places in Hawaii

Description

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References