Welcome to Honolulu No one knows for certain when Honolulu was
founded. Hawaiian oral histories and modern archeology indicate
a settlement in Honolulu about 1100 A.D., but it may have been
settled earlier as the first Polynesian migrants arrived nearly
2,000 years ago. King Kamehameha I, who conquered Oahu in a
decisive battle fought the length of Nuuanu Valley, moved his
court from Hawaii Island to Waikiki in 1804. He relocated to
what is now downtown Honolulu five years later. The royal
housing complex site is under the Marin building built next to
Nimitz Highway at Queen and Bethel streets. The monarchs also
maintained official residences in Kailua on Hawaii and Lahaina
on Maui. When Honolulu (meaning sheltered harbor) was named is
unclear. The old name for Honolulu is said to be Kou, a district
roughly encompassing the area from Nuuanu Avenue to Alakea
Street and from Hotel Street to Queen Street (then the edge of
the waterfront) which is the heart of the present downtown
district. Honolulu Harbor, known