The twentieth century made Honolulu strategic as well as central. Pearl Harbor, west of downtown, grew into a major naval base, and on December 7, 1941 the attack there brought the United States into World War II — a day of great loss that is remembered now at the Pearl Harbor National Memorial. After the war the city boomed, and in 1959 Hawaiʻi became the fiftieth state, with Honolulu as its capital. Through territory, war, and statehood, the harbor city remained the islands' unquestioned center of government, trade, and life.
What's with Diamond Head? Rising at the edge of the south shore is a worn volcanic crater the whole world recognizes — Diamond Head. Hawaiians named it Lēʻahi, often read as "brow of the tuna" for the ridgeline's shape, but nineteenth-century British sailors thought the calcite crystals glinting on its slopes were diamonds, and the English name stuck. No diamonds, of course — but climb the old military trail to the rim and the payoff is real: the city, the reef, and the long curve of the shoreline laid out far below. It is the most familiar profile in all of Hawaiʻi, and the unmistakable backdrop to Honolulu.
Why People Visit Honolulu
Honolulu offers the full range of Hawaiʻi in one place — royal and wartime history, world-class museums, and a famous shoreline, all in a walkable, welcoming capital city. Visitors come for Diamond Head, the beaches, and the heritage downtown, and stay for the food, the culture, and the easy access to the rest of Oʻahu. From the palace to the crater to the harbor, it rewards both a quick visit and a long stay. It is historic, cosmopolitan, and unmistakably Hawaiian.
