Hawaii's famous Waikiki Beach sand came from this California town

"It wasn't easy to get to Hawaii 100 years ago. The Pacific Ocean made for a daunting doormat, keeping most casual boat visitors well away. And with jet age air travel still largely in its infancy, the 2,400-mile trip from the mainland to Oahu was not one undertaken easily - unless, of course, you were a big barge full of sand."

"As Southern California legend has it, a century ago, a chain of sandy freighters dared to make the cross-ocean journey from California to Hawaii, in hopes of solving two problems at once. In the early 1900s, Manhattan Beach, today a high-end coastal enclave in the greater Los Angeles area with multimillion-dollar homes right on the shore, was absolutely swimming in sand. Dunes towered high over the waves, their loose construction making development of the prized seashore difficult."

"Over in Hawaii, a similar redevelopment was underway in Honolulu's Waikiki area, formerly the home of Hawaii royalty. The extensively modified coastal area was for most of its existence a place of wetlands, streams and vital springs, but the encroachment of hotels and other private property at the end of the 1890s led to thoughts about what could be. Over the decades, seawalls, piers and dredging efforts helped to overcome the ocean,"

"Seeking help, Honolulu is said to have turned to California, convincing South Bay developers in the 1920s to ship them enough sand to, in essence, fill in paradise's watery potholes. The Kuhn Brothers Construction Company led the effort, selling off barges full of sand to Hawaii, an effort that continued passively for a decade, by some estimates. Locally, the fine sand of Manhattan Beach was powdery enough to be practically unmanageable, piling up against homes and in alleyways with even the slightest wind."

A century ago, long ocean crossings made travel to Hawaii difficult, but barges could cross with bulk cargo. Manhattan Beach contained abundant, powdery sand that hindered local development. Honolulu's Waikiki required large volumes of sand to convert wetlands and shorelines for redevelopment, beyond what local sources could provide. In the 1920s, South Bay developers and the Kuhn Brothers Construction Company arranged and executed shipments of sand by barge from California to Hawaii. The operation continued intermittently for about a decade, while Manhattan Beach residents dealt with loose sand piling against homes and streets.

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