Banyan Drive

In the early 1930's, tourism was still new to Hawaii and local leaders on all of the islands were seeking ways to make their locations stand out. In 1933, the city fathers of Hilo decided to invite famous visitors to plant banyan saplings along a circular drive on Waiakea Peninsula, near Hilo International Airport. This campaign began with American director Cecil B. DeMille in 1933. Later that year, after the World Series, baseball star Babe Ruth visited Hawaii for some exhibition games and also planted a tree in front of what is now the Hilo Hawaiian hotel.  At the time, "The Babe" was perhaps the most famous person in America.

Over time, the area disappeared from the tourists' radars as the drier Kona coast took most of the Big Island's vacationers.  Plans for more hotels were never completed.  One of the attractions in the area, Uncle Billy’s Hilo Bay Hotel, was closed, condemned, and left vacant, attracting drugs and illegal activity to the area. Today, the Hawaii state government is attempting to restore the area to something approaching its former glory.

More than two trees were planted in the 1930's — there are some which were planted by Amelia Earhart, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, and several notable actors.  Though not all banyans survived the tsunamis that hit Hilo in 1946, 1960 and 1964, those that did are now past 90 years old and far grander than saplings!