Walter F. Dillingham

From dKosopedia

Walter F. Dillingham, (1875 -1963) was the son of Benjamin Franklin Dillingham, founder of the Oahu Railway Company. Benjamin started a second railway on the Big Island, which, unlike Oahu Railway, put the Dillinghams $4 million dollars in debt. Walter was called home from Harvard to help the family business. When his father became ill, Walter took over the business.

In 1902, Walter Dillingham started the Hawaiian Dredging Company. The dredging company helped clear and deepen the mouth of Pearl Harbor. This same company helped fill out the marshy areas of Honolulu and also built the Ala Wai Canal. Effectively, he helped shape and fill Waikiki. Dillingham's enterprises came to be worth more than $150 million.

Walter Dillingham was a staunch Republican and was against statehood for Hawaii until it actually happened. His son, Benjamin F. Dillingham II ran for Hawaii's seat in the US Senate in 1962 and lost to Daniel Inouye.

External links

Tsai, Michael. Walter Dillingham Honolulu Advertiser, July 2, 2006.

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This page was last modified 22:43, 25 September 2006 by dKosopedia user Jbet777. Based on work by dKosopedia user(s) Allamakee Democrat. Content is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.