HAWAII

Local registration of automobiles began in Honolulu County with the passage of an ordinance requiring registration and license plates in 1906.  The other three counties followed suit, and by 1915, Hawaii and Honolulu counties were issuing plates instead of letting owners provide them.  The local era ended in 1922 when uniform territory-wide plates began to be issued.  For limited registration figures by county, see the Hawaii Pre-state State page.

Hawaii County (55,382)

It's not certain when the first ordinance providing for motor vehicle registration was passed, but registration was already in effect as of mid-1915 when a new ordinance was passed, practically a copy of Honolulu's recent ordinance.

Ordinance #64, was passed on August 7, 1915, effective September 7, 1915, and published in the Hawaii Herald in Hilo on August 13, 1915.  This measure provided for annual registration and county-issued pairs of plates for private automobiles and motorcycles.  The registration year was January 1 to December 31, but for the 1915 year, all old registrations were to expire on October 7.  This was delayed to November 1 since the 1915 plates ordered from the mainland had not arrived yet as of October 22.  The annual fee was $5 (or $3 for renewals) for automobiles, and $2 ($1 renewals) for motorcycles.  The plates were issued by the County Sheriff, and motorcycle plates were to include the abbreviation "HAW" as well as the prefix "A".

Vehicles owned by the county or territorial government, and by dealers, were not charged a fee, and such registrations were not annual.  It's possible plates were not issued by the county, but the ordinance did specify the letters "CH" or "TH" on plates carried by government vehicles.  Dealers used a master number followed by a letter from "A" to "J".  By permission, dealers could apply for additional letters starting with "K" for a fee of $5 each.

The registration year was shifted to July 1 to June 30 by 1917.  The late issuance of 1915 plates in November of that year likely led to a decision to extend them to June 30, 1916.

Ordinance #84, passed May 7, 1919, effective May 17, 1919, and published in the Hawaii Tribune-Herald in Hilo on May 28, 1919, made several changes to the registration system. To move the registration year to January 1 to December 31, all 1919 registrations were valid only from July 1, 1919, to December 31, 1919, and charged fees at half rate.  Vehicles owned by governments were charged no fee and there was no mention of plates, so it's likely they were issued passenger plates.  Dealers were now issued one pair of plates for a $5 annual fee, with no discount for renewals.

Some late-issued 1919 plates were restamped and repainted from leftover 1918 plates.  All 1921 plates were made in Chicago.  The highest county-issued plates, which started at #1 each year, are known for 1915-21 as follows:

      1915 Green on White porcelain       #941

      1916 Orange on Blue porcelain      #1500

      1917                                       (1,506 registered)

      1918 White on Dark Green embossed  #1444   [1,800 P ordered, + 50 Blank]

      1919 Yellow on Black embossed      #1444

      1920 White on Red embossed         #1444

      1921 Blue on White           [#1 - #3000]  [3,000 P ordered, + 25 P Blank]

Motorcycle plates began in 1915, but the earliest known are 1918 and 1919 double-sided plates.  The 1921 motorcycle plates were different:  Front plates were flat but double-sided, while rear plates were curved to fit the fender.  The following motorcycle plates are known:

      1915

      1916

      1917

      1918 White on Green porcelain        #20   [25 P ordered + 5 Blank]

      1919 Yellow on Black porcelain       #22

      1920

      1921                       [#A-1 - #A-50]  [50 P ordered]

Honolulu County (52,183)

Order #5, the earliest one in the territory, was passed May 1, 1906, and published in the Hawaiian Star the next day, requiring automobile owners to register with the sheriff, pay a $1 fee, and be issued a certificate.  The vehicle was required to display an owner-provided rear plate with 4-inch-tall numbers in white on black.  Registration was permanent and did not need to be renewed.  The Honolulu Advertiser of December 14, 1906, published a list of the registered auto owners as of December 12, 1906, including numbers from #1 to 100.

The Honolulu Star-Bulletin of March 21, 1931, published a short article under the headline "Motor Relic Acquired", stating that "Dr. F. E. Clark, local dentist, donated to the Honolulu Automobile club the other day the earliest known form of Hawaiian auto license plate.  It is a small black plate bearing a white 57.  This type of license plate was used here in 1905.  It was good for several years, the owner simply reporting annually to pay the fee."

Ordinance #11 was passed August 27, 1909, effective September 11, 1909, and published in the Honolulu Advertiser on August 30, 1909.  Requirements were the same as in 1906, but the registration fee was raised to $5 and headlight numbers were also required.  Motorcycles were now included with a $2 fee.  Dealers were not required to register, but they were to display their initials on the vehicle.  The Hawaiian Star published a list on May 11, 1912, of automobile owners from #1 to 925 and motorcycle owners from #A1 to A138.  The Honolulu Star-Bulletin printed a list of owners on March 7, 1914, including automobiles from #1 to 1496 and motorcycles from #A1 to A334.  Passenger numbers were issued up to about #2200 by early 1915.

Ordinance #71, which required annual registration and county-issued pairs of plates for automobiles and motorcycles, was passed December 21, 1914, effective December 31, 1914, and published in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin on December 22, 1914.  Another amending ordinance, #73, was passed on March 1, 1915, effective March 10, 1915, and published March 3, 1915, in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.  The registration year was to be January 1 to December 31.  Plates were to be issued by the sheriff, and motorcycle plates were to have an "A" prefix.  Old registrations were to expire April 7, 1915.  The initial registration fee was $5 (and $1 for renewals) for automobiles and $2 (50 cents renewals) for motorcycles.  Registration began on March 15, 1915, but the plates hadn't arrived yet so they were distributed on June 2.  Owners were allowed to make temporary plates with their number, and most registrants reserved the same number they had before anyway.

Vehicles owned by dealers or by the City and County of Honolulu or the Territory of Hawaii were required to display plates in pairs, but there was no fee for registration and plates were not annually issued.  The government-owned vehicle plates were to have a prefix "C&C" or "TH" to identify them.  Dealer plates were to have a letter suffix from "A" to "J".  Dealers could order, by permission only, additional plates starting with suffix "K" for $5 each.  No plates have been seen in the government or dealer categories.

The highest 1915-21 passenger plates, which always started at #1, are known as follows:

      1915    White on Blue porcelain    #1935

      1916    White on Red porcelain     #2372   [2,250 ordered initially]

      1917    White on Green embossed    #2913   [3,400 ordered]

      1918-19 Black on White embossed    #3956   [5,000 ordered]

      1920    Black on Yellow embossed   #4526   [6,000 ordered]

      1921    White on Green embossed    #7319   [7,000 ordered initially]

The 1915 plates were made by the Baltimore Enamel & Novelty Co., the 1916 issue was made by the California Metal Enamel Co. of Los Angeles, and 1917 plates were manufactured by the National Colortype Co. of Newport, Ky.  The 1917 plates from #1 to 999 were two inches shorter than the other plates, causing dissatisfaction with county officials who withheld part of the contract payment.

The 1916 order listed passenger plates from #1 to 2250 except for 63 individual numbers:  321, 325, 327, 331, 332, 334, 336, 338, 339, plus 29 numbers for C&C vehicles and 25 numbers for TH vehicles, listed below.  It is possible the 9 skipped numbers were for dealers.  The C&C numbers were:  341-342, 345-349, 352-353, 355-356, 358, 360, 362-363, 366 and 368-369 (29 pairs).  The TH numbers were:  738, 741, 743-744, 746, 748, 751, 753, 755, 757, 759-762, 764-765, 768, 770-772, 778, 790, 792, 795 and 799 (25 pairs).  Motorcycle plates from #A1 to A500 were pairs, with one plate double-sided and the other single-sided.

The 1917 order organized the different types of plates into number blocks, as follows:

Passenger    #1 - 3400 (3,400 P)

C&C       #3401 - 3435    (35 P)

TH        #3436 - 3460    (25 P)

US        #3461 - 3500    (40 P)

Motorcycle  #A1 - A500   (500 P)

The 1921 order included pairs of plates for 7,000 passenger, 600 motorcycle, 290 dealer, 100 "T-H" (Territory of Hawaii) and 100 "C-C" (City and County of Honolulu).

In addition, a 1922 cardboard plate #2000 is known with "HON" vertically at left and "22" vertically at right.  This was found with matching 1922 and 1923 Hawaii plates with the same number, and can be assumed to be some sort of temporary marker issued by the county and used until the new territorial plates arrived.

The 1915-16 motorcycle plates are double-sided.  The following 1915-21 motorcycle plates are known:

      1915    Undated White on Blue porcelain #A243 - A492

      1916    Undated White on Red porcelain  (reported)             [500 ordered]

      1917                                                           [500 ordered]

      1918-19                                                        [800 ordered]

      1920                                                           [800 ordered]

      1921    Undated White on Blue porcelain #A289 with terr. disc. [600 ordered]

Kauai County (23,744)

Owner-provided pairs of plates seem to have been the rule here.  A period photo marked "touring car 1920" shows the front of a vehicle with a stenciled flat (metal?) plate #1204K.  An undated wooden plate #1642K is known, believed to be from 1921.

It is uncertain when automobile registration began, but it was in effect by 1911.  The Garden Island (Lihue) published a list of all automobiles registered on May 23, 1911.  This list included all numbers from #1 to 102, with numbers 50, 51, 71, 72, 81, 84, 88, 101 and 102 being assigned to motorcycles.  Similar lists were published on April 2, 1912, containing numbers up to #137, December 2, 1913, with numbers up to #227, and December 22, 1914, having numbers up to #304.  None of these lists mentioned motorcycles.  A new list published on January 4, 1916, included vehicles registered through December 31, 1915.  Automobile numbers ran from #1 to 367, and motorcycle numbers were listed from #K 1 to 8 plus 11.  The Honolulu Advertiser published a list of Kauai owners on June 10, 1917, which included automobiles #1 to 599 and motorcycles #K1 to K29.  On April 19, 1921, there were 1,564 automobiles registered.

Maui County (28,623)

Maui's first automobile registration was enacted by Ordinance #7, passed October 4, 1906, effective November 1, 1906, and published in the Maui News (Wailuku) on October 13, 1906.  Owners of motor vehicles were required to be register them with the sheriff, pay a $1 fee, and receive a certificate with the registration number.  Owners were required to display a rear plate with numbers at least 3 inches tall in white on a black background.  They were also to display the number on the headlights in figures at least 1 1/2 inches tall.  Motorcycles fell under the definition of "motor cars".  This ordinance was repealed by Ordinance #25, passed April 11, 1913, and published in the Maui News on April 26, 1913, but there appears to be no change to the sections on registration and plates.

Registration was probably continual from 1906 to 1915.  The Maui News reported on August 6, 1910, that 112 automobiles were registered, and listed the owners of plates from #1 to 115.  In contrast, the News listed automobile owners from #1 to 694 in its issues of April 13 and 20, 1917, revealing a six-fold increase in seven years.

Ordinance #31, passed on November 13, 1915, effective January 1, 1916, and published in the News on November 19, 1915, repealed Ordinance #25.  The only major change regarding registration was that plates were now to be county-issued in pairs, and presumably, on an annual basis.  By 1921, separate plates were issued for motorcycles.

A Maui News report on April 16, 1920, stated that "The new 1920 automobile number plates, several months over-due, arrived this week and are now being distributed from the sheriff's office.  The new plates are of metal instead of wood as heretofore, and are enameled in orange with black figures and letering.  They are sold to car owners at cost - 65 cents a pair."

A clear photo of a car's front plate shows a dark plate with metallic figures riveted, vertical "MAUI" left, vertical "1919" right, #1070.  Other photos show, in less detail, numbers ranging from #141 to #820, all in this same design, undoubtedly the wooden 1919 issue.  Finally, a 1920 embossed plate #394 exists with "MAUI" over "1920" at left.