Albert S. Morgan Sr.'s Lydgate Pools

In 1942, Albert S. Morgan, Sr., a native Hawaiian, married Helen Farias and raised five children. The family lived in the community of Wailua, where Morgan served a term as president of the Wailua House Lots Community Association. As the children grew, outdoor recreation became increasingly important, and Helen Morgan frequently took them to Lydgate Park, where there was no sheltered swimming area but they enjoyed the beach. On a 1958 European trip, Albert and Helen visited Sorrento on the southwestern Italian coast, and while viewing a beautiful bay with protected swimming areas, Morgan was inspired. After returning to Kauai with pictures, he contacted Senator Billy Fernandes, and together they prepared and presented to the State of Hawaii a proposal to create a 2.6 acre rock barrier and impoundment along Lydgate beach. In 1964, $18,000 was appropriated to build the children's wading pool and the adult's swimming pool. A crane was floated into Lydgate beach to lift and place the boulders donated by Lihu'e Plantation, and the entire project was completed in nine months.

Wailua, Hawaii · United States