Image: Anthony D. Allen from National Park Service Site
Address: 1633 King Street, Honolulu, Hawaii 96826
Year Designated: 2015
Open to the Public: Yes Click Here for More
The Anthony Allen Site, Honolulu, Hawaii, is now Washington Middle School at the corner of Punahou and South King Streets, and is owned by the city. Anthony Allen (1774-1835) was a slave who sought freedom. From enslavement in Schenectady, New York, he made his way by land to Hartford, and by sea to Boston. He was hired as a steward for seven years and cook for one year under the same captain.
Faced with recapture in 1806, he bought his freedom with help from the ship’s owner who let him pay back over time the money demanded. After many adventures and seeing the world, Allen left the sea to make the Hawaiian Islands his home in 1812, because men of African descent could reside there without harassment from slavers. Allen served as a steward and confidante to Hawaiian King Kamehameha the Great.
The High Priest Hewahewa invited him to live in his home. In 1811 he gave him six acres near Waikiki where he would establish a home and business, catering to the local royalty, chiefs, and visiting ships’ crews. The major sources for Allen’s story are an 1822 letter written to his former master’s son and accounts by missionaries.
