Diamond Head, Hawaii
{{Short description|Mountain on Oahu in Hawaii, United States of America}}
{{Other uses|Diamond Head (disambiguation){{!}}Diamond Head}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name = Diamond Head
| photo = Diamond_Head_Hawaii_From_Round_Top_Rd.JPG
| photo_caption = Diamond Head cone seen from Tantalus-Round Top Road
| elevation_ft = 762
| prominence_ft = 596
| prominence_ref = {{cite web|title=Diamond Head|url=http://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=11878|access-date=February 10, 2022}}
| location = Honolulu, Hawaii, US
| range = Hawaiian Islands
| map = United States Oahu#USA Hawaii
| map_caption = none
| range_coordinates =
| coordinates = {{coord|21|15|43|N|157|48|20|W|type:mountain_region:US-HI|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_ref =
| topo = USGS Honolulu
| type = Volcanic cone
| age = 200,000 years
| easiest_route = Trail
| embedded = {{designation list |embed=yes |designation1=NNL |designation1_date=1968}}
|last_eruption=Unknown
}}
File:View from Diamond Head - 2015 10 30.webm
Diamond Head is a volcanic tuff cone on the Hawaiian island of O{{okina}}ahu. It is known to Hawaiians as Lē{{okina}}ahi ({{IPA|haw|leːˈʔɐhi|pron}}), which is most likely derived from lae (browridge, promontory) plus {{okina}}ahi (tuna) because the shape of the ridgeline resembles the shape of a tuna's dorsal fin.Mary Kawena Pukui, Samuel H. Elbert, Esther K. Mookini, eds. (1964). Place Names of Hawaii, revised and expanded edition. Honolulu: University of Hawai{{okina}}i Press. {{ISBN|0-8248-0524-0}}. Its English name was given by British sailors in the 19th century, who named it for the calcite crystals on the adjacent beach.
Geology
Diamond Head is part of the system of cones, vents, and their associated eruption flows that are collectively known to geologists as the Honolulu Volcanic Series, formed by renewed eruptions from the Ko{{okina}}olau Volcano that took place long after the volcano formed and had gone dormant. These eruptive events created many of O{{okina}}ahu's well-known landmarks, including Punchbowl Crater, Hanauma Bay, Koko Head, and Mānana Island.
Like the rest of the Honolulu Volcanic Series, Diamond Head is much younger than the main mass of the Ko{{okina}}olau Mountain Range. While the Ko{{okina}}olau Range is about 2.6 million years old, Diamond Head is estimated to be about 400,000 to 500,000 years old.{{cite web|date=14 January 2016|title=A geologic tour of the Hawaiian Islands: Oʻahu|url=https://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/volcanowatch/view.php?id=315|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161211020218/https://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/volcanowatch/view.php?id=315|archive-date=December 11, 2016|access-date=11 February 2017|work=HVO Volcano Watch|publisher=USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory}}
{{Wide image|Diamond Head Crater Bunker.JPG|1200px|View from the rim showing the Waikiki neighborhood (left), the cone (right), and the pillbox at the peak (middle)}}
History
Known as Lēʻahi in Hawaiian, the mountain was given the name Diamond Hill in 1825 by British sailors who discovered sparkling volcanic calcite crystals in the sand and mistook them for diamonds. This is reflected in another local name, Kaimana Hila. The name later became Diamond Head, with head being shortened from headland.{{cite book|author=John R. K. Clark|title=Hawai'i Place Names: Shores, Beaches, and Surf Sites|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K6ChFt5o-qUC&pg=PA60|year=2002|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=978-0-8248-2451-8|page=60}}
The interior and adjacent exterior areas were the home to Fort Ruger,{{cite web | title = American Seacoast Defenses Forts, Military Reservations and Batteries 1794-1956: Oahu 1922 | url = http://cdsg.org/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/CDSG/CDSG%20WEBSITE%20UPDATES/CDSG%20Downloads/AMERICAN%20SEACOAST%20DEFENSES%20FORTS,%20MILITARY%20RESERVATIONS%20and%20BATTERIES%201794-1945/hawaii/HDHI1921.pdf | website = Coast Defense Study Group (cdsg.org) | access-date = January 19, 2018}} the first United States military reservation on Hawaii.{{cite news | last = Fawcett | first = Denby | title = Tunnel Vision | url = https://www.staradvertiser.com/2014/08/03/features/the-hidden-tunnels-of-diamond-head/ | archive-date = February 1, 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180201192850/http://www.staradvertiser.com/2014/08/03/features/the-hidden-tunnels-of-diamond-head/ | work = Star-Advertiser | location = Honolulu | date = August 3, 2014 | access-date = January 31, 2018}} [https://www.pressreader.com/usa/honolulu-star-advertiser/20140803/281496454426131 Alt URL] Only Battery 407, a National Guard emergency operations center, and Birkhimer Tunnel, the Hawaii State Civil Defense Headquarters (HI-EMA), remain in use in the crater. An FAA air traffic control center was in operation from 1963 to 2002.[https://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2002/01/07/daily65.html FAA quits Diamond Head crater]
Tourism
{{multiple image|direction=vertical
| image1 = Diamond Head - Side 1.jpg
| image2 = Diamond Head - Side 2.jpg
| footer = Park Brochure: Diamond Head State Monument
}}
Diamond Head is a defining feature of the view known to residents and tourists of Waikiki, and also a U.S. National Natural Monument. The volcanic tuff cone is a State Monument. While part of it is closed to the public and serves as a platform for antennas used by the U.S. government, the crater's proximity to Honolulu's resort hotels and beaches makes the rest of it a popular destination.
National Natural Landmark
In 1968, Diamond Head was declared a National Natural Landmark. The crater, also called Diamond Head Lookout, was used as a strategic military lookout in the early 1900s. Spanning over 475 acres (190 ha) (including the crater's interior and outer slopes), it served as an effective defensive lookout because it provides panoramic views of Waikiki and the south shore of Oahu.{{cite web|title = Diamond Head Lookout|url = http://www.pearlharborwebsite.com/honolulu-city-tours-itinerary/diamond-head-lookout/|website = Pearl Harbor Website|access-date = 2015-10-19|language = en}}
The Diamond Head Lighthouse, a navigational lighthouse built in 1917 is directly adjacent to the crater's slopes. In addition, a few pillboxes are on Diamond Head's summit.
In popular culture
Diamond Head appears on an 80-cent air mail stamp issued in 1952 to pay for shipping orchids to the U.S. mainland.{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20170406201515/http://www.stamp-collecting-world.com/usairmailstamps_1941.html US Airmail Stamps 1941-1961]}}
Charlton Heston stars in the 1963 film Diamond Head, in a role that Clark Gable was supposed to play.
"Diamond Head" an instrumental song by Danny Hamilton recorded in 1964 by The Ventures, was an international hit. The song was especially popular in Japan where it became the first single to sell a million copies.{{cite news |title=Former Spokane songwriter dies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/574322729/?terms=%22Danny%20Hamilton%22%20%22Diamond%20Head%22%20japan&match=1 |access-date=21 February 2024 |work=The Spokesman-Review |date=31 December 1994}}
A 1975 televised game show, The Diamond Head Game, was set at Diamond Head.[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0198101/ "The Diamond Head Game" (1975)]
The Crater was the location of several concerts in the 1960s and 1970s.{{cite web|url=https://www.setlist.fm/venue/diamond-head-state-monument-honolulu-hi-usa-4bd2b3f6.html|title=Diamond Head State Monument Honolulu Concert Setlists|work=setlist.fm|access-date=January 31, 2018}} First held on New Year's Day 1969, and often known as Hawaiian Woodstock, Diamond Head Crater Festivals, sometimes called Sunshine Festivals, were all-day music celebrations held in the 1960s and '70s, attracting over 75,000 attendees for performances of the Grateful Dead, Santana, America, Styx, Journey, War, and Tower of Power, alongside Hawaiian talent like Cecilio & Kapono and the Mackey Feary Band.{{cite news|url=https://archives.starbulletin.com/1999/11/01/special/story7.html|title=Rebellion & Renaissance, Groovin' in the crater with music and mindbenders: In the '60s and '70s, music moves Hawaii's youth to come together and to speak out|last=Borreca|first=Richard|date=November 1, 1999|newspaper=Star-Bulletin|access-date=January 31, 2018|location=Honolulu}}{{cite news|url=https://www.hawaiimagazine.com/memories-of-the-diamond-head-crater-festivals-hawaiis-own-woodstock/|title=Memories of the Diamond Head Crater Festivals, Hawaii's own 'Woodstock'|last=Dekneef|first=Matthew|date=April 20, 2016|work=Hawai'i Magazine|access-date=November 29, 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://www.midlifecrisishawaii.com/2012/03/22/do-you-remember-crater-festivals/|title=Do You Remember... Crater Festivals|date=March 22, 2012|work=Midlife Crisis Hawaii|access-date=January 31, 2018}} The one-day festivals became two-day events in 1976 and 1977, but were canceled by the Hawai'i Department of Land and Natural Resources because of community noise and environmental impact concerns. Many items from the bands were brought into and out of the Crater by helicopter.
File:Diamond head bay view.jpg|A view from the ocean of Diamond Head
Image:Diamond Head.jpg|Diamond Head cone seen from the coast off Waikiki
Image:Diamondhead.png|View from Rocky Hill, which resides over Punahou School
Image:Diamond_Head_Kapiolani_Park.jpg|Diamond Head peak from Kapiolani Park
File:Waikiki shore - diamond head - 1800s.jpg|Diamond Head seen from Waikiki in the 1800s
Image:Waikiki Diamond Head CC.jpg|Waikiki Beach facing Diamond Head, 1958
File:Diamond Head Hawaii - panoramio.jpg|Aerial view of the cone, and the Kahala and Kaimuki neighborhoods
File:Diamond Head East View ^ Eric Tessmer Hawaii - panoramio.jpg|Aerial view of the Diamond Head
File:USCGC William Hart transits Diamond Head, 2019-08-17 - 190817-G-US251-218.jpg|A view from the south, including Diamond Head Lighthouse
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Diamond Head}}
- [http://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dsp/parks/oahu/diamond-head-state-monument/ Official website] Hawaii State Parks - Diamond Head State Monument
- {{osmway|38547440}}
- [https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=21.262695,-157.806916&spn=0.016630,0.023475&t=k&hl=en Satellite image of Diamond Head (Google Maps)]
{{Honolulu}}
{{Protected areas of Hawaii}}
{{authority control}}
Category:National Natural Landmarks in Hawaii
Category:Pleistocene volcanoes
Category:Extinct volcanoes of the United States
Category:Monogenetic volcanoes
Category:Geography of Honolulu County, Hawaii