The beach front right off Germaine's Luau site is Barbers Point Beach.
Barbers Point was named after Henry Barber, the captain of the Arthur, a 100-foot British vessel that sank during a storm at the point in 1796. Barber was on his way from Honolulu to Kauai to pick up a load of yams when a typhoon slammed Oahu, according to several accounts.
Barber “determined to get underway despite the storm, hoisted anchor… While Arthur was battered by wind, rain, and pounding waves, all the other captains kept their ships in port." Six crew members perished when the ship went down. The survivors waded ashore at a stretch of land known to native Hawaiians as "Kalaeloa" (long cape or headland), which is said to be the legendary birthplace of Hawaiian kings. Barbers Point was later named after Kalaeloa. Today, both names are utilized.
The Navy leased some property from the James Campbell estate to moor a blimp in the early 1930s, and NAS Barbers Point was born (dirigible). After the original lease ended in 1940, the Navy purchased an additional block of 3500 acres to expand the outlying field and build the Ewa Marine Corps Air Station. It was completed in 1941. Around the same time, the Navy decided to expand its aircraft complex at Barbers Point, but the attack on Oahu on December 7, 1941 halted work. Although the attack was focused on Pearl Harbor, several other locations, including the Ewa Marine Corps Air Station and a large amount of equipment, were severely damaged.
Following the attack, there was an immediate need for extra facilities to train pilots, thus work at Barbers Point resumed. The new mission was designed to prepare carrier air squadrons for deployment in the western United States. The air station had 6,500 active duty soldiers, family members, and civilians at its peak during the conflict. Barbers Point served as the homeport for many naval and defense organizations, including maritime surveillance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft squadrons, the Defense Investigative Service, the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office (DRMO), a Hawaii Air National Guard (297th Air Traffic Control Squadron) air traffic control facility, Fleet Imaging Facility, and Commander, Patrol Wings, US Pacific Command.
Historical Timeline of NAS Barbers Point – A Vital Part of Hawai‘i’s Military History:
1796 Henry Barber shipwrecks the Arthur at Kalaeloa
1930’s Navy leases its first 3,000 sq. ft. parcel of land from the Campbell Estate to moor a blimp
1940 Navy buys 3500 acres from the Campbell Estate to build the Ewa Marine Corps Air Station
1941 Japanese attack Oahu and destroy 34 aircraft at the Ewa MCAS
1942 Navy commissions NAS Barbers Point
1949 Ewa Marine Corps Air Station was incorporated into NAS Barbers Point
1949 US Coast Guard air facility becomes operational
1965 Coast Guard air facility is commissioned USCG Air Station Barbers Point
1993 The Base Closure and Realignment Commission decides to close the NAS
1997 Hawaii legislature establishes 2150 acres as the Kalaeloa Community Development District
1998 Federal government transfers 500 acres to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands
1999 NAS Barbers Point officially closes
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