Thomas Square Park

I was looking for information on when the banyans were planted (1877!) and came across these reviews. I could not get them out of my head all week, so I dusted off my Unilocal ID to get on my soapbox a bit.
Yes. Yes, there are people of the neighborhood in the park. If it keeps away the pearl-​clutching crowd in the comment section then I guess I’m fir it to an extent. If I’d been around during the ‘occupy’ protests, I’d imagine my opinion of that would have been different.
Honolulu is perhaps the highest cost of living, depending on how calculated, in the nation and ranks globally. It is an island as small as Maui, but with steeper and more abundant inclines, leaving only a ribbon of saleable land around the perimeter. To not find compassion in a situation such as this is to show true colors.
Drugs and attendant social distortions? check! I can’t think of many parks in the city and really all around the island which do not have that to one degree or another. In the wealthier parts, it is merely behind curtains, done primarily with prescriptions.
The park is scheduled to be revamped soon! Some of the originally planned features from the 1800’s, such as a band shell are being dusted off. The fountain and irrigation are to be replaced and have one of those squirting pools. The park itself is wonderful.
With a Warden, perhaps one hired from the ranks of street veterans, it could be a safe and nice place. I think it would be wonderful if, in addition to the planned vendor booth, there was also a way to shower safely and orderly, with an attendant. One can dream. Or, possibly a compassionate way to let people sleep at night, a way to keep it from being scary or too crowded. In exchange, people might skiddadle in the daytime.
In the meantime, it is safe, really. Don’t be one of the people who writes a review about the scent of urine here and there… say hello and talk story with the people. I do! I know most of them by name. Some is what you would expect, quite a bit is not.
Dan

Pulling up to the curb alongside Thomas Square I knew we arrived in an historic part of town. After taking up most the afternoon at the Museum across the street, I just had to take a walk through this park.
Somewhere along the way the importance of this landmark has faded through memories and time. The park sign has graffiti on it, the grass has seen better days and the restrooms are dark, unclean and scary for a girl to go in by herself.
Still I persisted in my stroll throughout the park and I’m glad I did. The centerpiece is the beautiful, lovely fountain, perfectly surrounded by celestial Banyan trees. Homeless can be viewed in various states of undress, wakefulness and sleep. They don’t seem to notice anyone beside them selves.
If the Banyan trees could only talk, they would tell you what happened so long ago to make this place an historical landmark.
The trees draw the abandoned, forgotten and homeless near to her center. An abundance of peace and love emanate from the tree’s beautiful, magical center causing water cascading down, marking the entrance to another place in time. Nobody else seems to notice this place of deep significance. The trees care for and sing their special song, only to those who will listen. I’ll save this story for another time.
On July 26, 1843 Admiral Richard Darton Thomas sailed into Honolulu harbor with the intention to end the occupation by Lord George Paulet. On July 31, 1843 he handed the islands back to King Kamehameha III, who said, «The sovereignty of the land is perpetuated in righteousness», in a speech during a ceremony to mark his restoration. This became the state motto of Hawaii, incorporated into the Seal of Hawaii. Kamehameha III named the place where the ceremony was held in downtown Honolulu, Thomas Square in his honor. In 1925 it was made into a park managed by the City and County of Honolulu. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places, on April 25, 1972. It is state historic site, 80−14−9990.
Wikipedia

This is a nice break area to get away from all the concrete jungle coming up all over in Kaka’ako. I wish the mayor of this city would remove those hideous planter boxes along the South King St and Beretania St sides. They created laws to prevent the sit-​lie from happening so those planter boxes are NOT NEEDED anymore. Two average size mobility chairs have difficulty in passing each other and it is sometimes uncomfortable passing another person during the night. I’ve seen pedestrians step out onto the stupid, oversized and unsafe bicycle lane just to avoid brushing up against another person or to avoid violating someone’s personal space while trying to walk on that restricted park sidewalk. There are a lot of roaches and insects that come out of those boxes and when it comes time to trim the plants in those planters, the sidewalk space is even more narrower. Please restore the sidewalks of Thomas Square Park to it’s original function!

This park is beautiful minus the homeless people. We should as a community figure out how to help them.
I really like coming here for the flower sale. It’s awesome and cheep.

I love doing sprints at this place. It use to be a camp ground, for homeless, which made it a uncomfortable place to run. Its alot better now. It looks like a very peaceful place, during the day. Perfect place for picnics.

Thomas Square Park has to be one of the oldest parks in Honolulu. It takes up an entire city block and has a nice fountain and huge Banyan trees in the middle of the park. The park is reasonably well kept up, but some trees seem to be dying. And, the big plus for the park is that they allow dogs.
I like the park and visit it a few times a year for plant sales and dog shows.
The downside is that the Beretania Street side of the park became the center of the Occupy movement and the park also draws a lot of homeless. While I do sympathize to a certain degree with homeless, this makes the park far less inviting to those of us that use the parks. You would think that a park like this that is adjacent to the city police station would have the regulations better enforced.
As some other reviewers have pointed out, parking is somewhere between difficult and a nightmare; this is especially true on the weekends. There are some metered stalls in the neighborhood and their are some pay-​to-​park lots. The Blaisdell parking lot usually has plenty of parking but you may pull in when there is an event at the Blaisdell and they are charging $ 6 to park.
The park is nice and is a decent place to visit if there is an event there in the park, but if you just want a nice, relaxing walk outdoors without being bothered by homeless and shady people then try Ala Moana Beach Park or Kapiolani Beach Park.

Thomas Square Park used to be a really pretty place, a green oasis smack dab in the middle of town, with large banyan trees hanging over a cool running fountain, native Hawaiian plants and well-​maintained greenery, now over-​run with the homeless, the drug addicts, the prostitutes and the occupy hawaii movement (all lower case)…the occupy hawaii people have been there for over two years and its been a moot point that: yeah, we get your protest messages but hey, two years? Maybe a bit of history may shed some light on the insanity behind the name of Thomas… as in Thomas Square.
Apparently, a Royal Navy captain named George Paulet (British Navy), landed on Oahu on Feb 11, 1843 after hanging out in Mexico in 1842 and talking to a dude named Richard Charlton, the British Consul to the King of Hawaii, who, probably after a few late-​night tequilas, told Admiral Paulet that British subjects in the Hawaiian Islands were being denied their «basic rights’…and oh yes, he also had some unclaimed land near Honolulu Harbor there as well… so if he could go check it out, he’d be really grateful.
Paulet of course went to Oahu and started causing a ruckus and acting like an ass, demanding an audience with King Kamehameha the III, who was off-​island at the time. To make a long story short, Paulet became mad when the King personally could not meet with him and sent correspondence through an appointed chief government minister, Gerrit Judd which pissed Paulet off no end. Paulet said if his demands were not met to cede all Hawaiian lands to the British crown, he would personally attack the city of Honolulu from his warship, the HMS Carysfort.
Paulet ordered the burning of all Hawaiian flags he could find on the island and raised the British flag during the occupation. He cleared 156 people on the contested Charlton land and basically terrorized the King for those five months. Paulet even had cojones to appoint himself and three others to basically be the new government and in charge of all land transactions. Paulet was lucky he didn’t land in Hawaii and started waving his ass-​hattery around when Captain Cook landed in 1779 and was killed and subsequently eaten on Valentine’s Day all those years prior, because that’s what would have happened to him… ironically due to King Kamehameha the III’s refinement and cultural cavorting with the British, made him a more «genial» King.
In the old days before the internet and text messaging, everything had to be sent by boat, so Judd and Paulet both sent envoys to Britain to argue their side; Paulet argued for ceding the land the British and Judd argued for an independent Hawaii… well guess who won?
By this time, Paulet’s boss, an Admiral in the Royal Navy, caught wind of his underling’s crazed antics and was really embarrassed. His boss was none other than the Admiral Richard Thomas, and since he out-​ranked the unstable captain, the fiasco and occupation ended after Admiral Thomas handed back the Hawaiian Islands to King Kamehameha the III, who, gratefully named a park in honor of Admiral Thomas… which is called Thomas Square, today.
Equally fascinating, is the fact that King Kamehameha the III uttered these words at the inauguration of the park on July 31, 1843 — Ua Mau ke Ea o ka Aina i ka Pono which became the state motto and translates to «The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness».
So, let me get this straight: George Paulet occupied the islands, terrorizing the Hawaiians, burning all the Hawaiian flags and kicking off 156 residents off his friend’s land and planted his butt in Honolulu Harbor, claiming he had the right, along with his three-​other appointed cohorts, to take over the entire island of Oahu for the British Crown until he was relieved of duty by Admiral Thomas for a sovereign Hawaii… and the occupy hawaii peeps pick this place for their drawn-​out protest???
The history of the park is fascinating, only marred by lack of parking, the dirty bathrooms and the scary people that frequent the park at all hours of the day (including the occupy hawaii folks from two years ago — Hello, do you guys even know the history of this park (how IRONIC this is) ??), drug addicts and hookers. The homeless, I don’t mind so much… I’ve actually given more than a few shares of my 7 – 11 Lemon Bundt Cakes to them but it does mar the beauty of the park for families and people who want to experience the magic of such a pretty place.
I only frequent this park when they have plant sales (with pretty hibiscus you cannot find anywhere else), other than that this is a place I choose to de-​occupy.

Came here to cheer on a friends dog at the annual wiener race. The grounds are kept pretty descent. There is blotches of dirt here and there and dont look like the grass grows evenly.
Passed many a times and really never walked through the park until this day. There is adequate coverings from the trees in the surrounding area. The fountains were working today. I’ve passed from time to time where it wasn’t working. Trashcans were filled from the activities that day, not much was litter around.
The park is nice, good for dogs to run through in the middle of the city.
Parking is a hassle, not much other than street or you could always park at the Blaisdell center and pay an arm and a leg.

After reading previous Unilocal reviews I was a bit apprehensive about this park. I mean I pass it quite often and it looks so inviting and nice. Well just about everyone was spot on about the homeless people and Occupy Wall Street tents chilling in and around the park. That aside, the park is still pretty cool. I enjoyed having a mini photo shoot amongst trees and fountain, watching people play with their dogs, and smelling the grill from the family that was BBQ-​ing. Overall its a decent park, but could use more of a family friendly ambiance.

I’ve been to many parks, old ones and new ones. This park seems to have showed it’s age over the years. I’ve been here for craft fairs and such as it’s nice and all. I wouldn’t really go here for like a picnic or something because of the awkwardness that you feel and probably occurs around the area. The park area really lives up to it’s name because it is literally a square with surrounding trees and grass. Sometimes they have other events like Dog walks, festivals, etc. If you have ever in town driving down South Beretania or King St. you can’t miss it. The park is right across the Honolulu Academy of Arts, Straub Hospital, and the Blaisdell Center. There is metered parking also surrounding the park. It’s always good to come on Sundays because parking is free along the meters and it’s the closest to the park if you have a vehicle. I would say it’s a good park to jog and take laps around. The banyan trees and fountain is what makes the park unique and visible. It’s a great area in the day time to talk your pets to and just run around with them. There is a lot of grass and space. If you ever think about coming to the park at night then you best make sure you have a damn good reason to go down there. On the other hand, I don’t know why you would want to go to this park at night for any reason. There is hardly anything that happens at the park during the evening except for some other stuff.
Unilocal 365 Challenge #242/​365

Sometimes I come here just to get away from it all, but in recent times, this place has been the staging ground for Occupy Honolulu, that grassroots movment that seems to be more of a homeless encampment than anything else. The park itself has its share of homeless population in recent years, especially during the economic downturn, where you could visably see them sitting there and doing nothing all day. But that’s life, I guess.
This place is situated in urban Honolulu, minutes away from the downtown urban core. Sometimes I will see those seasonal craft fairs and managed to just stop by and check things out, but that was 2 years ago. It is a nice park though during the day, but I could feel unsafe here during the evenings whenever I am in the vicinity. I have heard some criminal activity sometime here recently, but I am glad I am not awake when those types of things happen.

Rating: ³⁄₅
Date (s) visited: 2008-​present.
Atmosphere: ⁴⁄₅
Available Activities: ³⁄₅
Restrooms: ³⁄₅
Parking: ²⁄₅
Any park, is a great park, for any neighborhood/​community. I’ve seen many uses for this park. Once I saw a dog training class. I’ve also seen this park used as a Market Place to sell plants.
Atmosphere:
You’d never know that you were in the City, if it weren’t for all the buildings around it.
Available Activities:
Picnic’s, walking, and events that use tent’s.
Restrooms:
Okay.
Parking:
Street parking only.

I love the old fountain and huge banyan tree at the center. Not the prettiest, but always feels good to be in nature.
This park occasionally has events: seasonal craft fairs, plant sales (gotten smaller) on weekends and dog classes during the week (haven’t seen recently).
I often see a lot of homeless people on beretania side early in the morning, but not this morning. Usually some resting/​napping on S. King side. At night some suspicious activities around the bathroom… JFYI.
Unilocal 365 — ¹¹⁄₃₆₅

I think this is a beautiful park right in the middle town but it’s sad that I don’t feel comfortable coming here anymore because of all the sketchy characters. My baby and I had an hour to kill so I decided to take her to the park. I feel bad because I often stay indoors all day which means that my little Isabel has seen more wood floor and concrete walls than trees and grass during her short life of six months.
Thomas Square is near our house so we drove down and I found street parking right away. We only stayed for 10 minutes because I suddenly realized how many shady people there were at the park. Over the years Thomas Square has become riddled with crazy homeless people and meth heads. I know that parks are public places which anyone can use but I’m bummed that so many parks located in town have been taken over by less than savory citizens. How am I suppose to feel good about taking my children to play outdoors at a park when there are people as my son likes to say «camping» out?
I’ll probably return when there’s a big festival at Thomas Square but most likely not when it’s just me and the kiddies. Plus, the smell of old pee really freaks me out.

One of the few parks that actually allow dogs so you’ll see quite a number of dog related activities here, during the week is is basically quiet and they actually have the fountain working as previously when I used to walk by it was inoperative quite often. The ring of banyans create a quiet spot to take a quiet moment amongst the hustle and bustle of work and what’s nice is it is near The Academy of Arts right across the street. There are some homeless nearby but they basically are on the outskirts of the park and don’t bother anyone. Sometimes it’s nice to see someone playing with their dog in the park and gives you that carefree feeling while taking a break there. Maybe not the most beautiful of parks but still it is a decent park to go to.

This place is a nightly gay hook up spot! Holla!

Located right across the street from the Blaisedell Concert Hall (
), this small oasis in the middle of Oahu gives many a respite from the hustle and bustle of urban island life. I walk thought this park on the way home and it’s actually pretty nice during the daytime. The fountain in the middle seems to keep the immediate area a bit cooler in addition to the large banyan trees. I think maybe the fountain needs a bit of chlorine since the water is a pearly green.
Although there is a shady/​homeless element here, it’s actually better than many parks in the area. You’ll often see people playing with kids and dogs along the Beretania side because it’s generally walled off over there.
Want to know how it got its name and the significance?

I’ve been coming here for years and just love being in a nice open space in the middle of town. There’s a beautful fountain in the center of the park surrounded by banyan trees. I like how the banyan tree branches and root systems anchor themselves to the ground creating a sort of jungle gym for adults and kids alike.
There are often activities on the weekends like a craft fair or an orchid show but I’d rather be there the weekends when there is nothing going on and it’s nice and quiet. It’s just so great to be there in the evenings when it’s cool and sit on one of the benches and unwind. There are usually a few other park goers there looking to unwind too so it’s nice way to relax and chat, I actually still keep in contact with some people I’ve met there years ago.
In recent years there seemed to be a lot more homeless and junkies that hang out there which is a real shame since it makes the park a bit more trashy; the reason I’m now only giving it 3 stars. It’s just not the same anymore during those great dusk hours. Hopefully one day it’ll be back to the Thomas Square that I remember from the past.