November 2, 2025October 2, 2025 photobyjohnbo

Cellpic Sunday—Russian Fort Elizabeth

*I didn’t do my homework, and this happened.*

May 2025.
Kauai, Hawaii.

We’d stayed on Kauai in 2013, so when we spent two months there in 2025, I was determined to see places and things we hadn’t seen on our first visit to the Garden Isle. In researching places to see, I found Russian Fort Elizabeth, now known as Pāʻulaʻula State Historic Site. I was unaware that Russia was involved with the Hawaiian Islands until I read the details. The tale of Russian Fort Elizabeth is one of diplomacy, ambition, and a bit of deception.

On a beautiful Hawaiian day, we drove 20 minutes west from our rental in Kalaheo to the site. We saw the gates as we pulled off the main highway into the site. I’d put the address into the navigator, but neglected to notice that the site is temporarily closed for construction. Ah, well, we’ll save the visit for another trip to Kauai. In the meantime, I thought the story so interesting that I decided to share it anyway.

In the early 19th century, Kauai’s ruler, King Kaumualiʻi, found himself in a precarious position. He had pledged allegiance to King Kamehameha I, who had unified the Hawaiian Islands, but Kaumualiʻi still sought a way to reclaim his independence. Dr. Georg Anton Schäffer was a German physician working for the Russian-American Company. Schäffer arrived in Hawaii in 1815, tasked with recovering goods seized by Kaumualiʻi from a Russian shipwreck.

Instead of retrieving the cargo, Schäffer struck a deal with Kaumualiʻi, convincing him that Russia could help him break Kamehameha’s rule. In return, Kaumualiʻi granted Russia a protectorate over Kauaʻi, allowing Schäffer to construct Fort Elizabeth near Waimea in 1817. The fort, built in a star-shaped design, was intended to serve as a Russian foothold in the Pacific, providing a fueling station and a stable trading post.

However, the grand Russian plan quickly unraveled. Schäffer had no official backing from the Russian government, and when Kamehameha caught wind of the scheme, he forced the Russians out. By 1817, the Russian presence in Hawaii had collapsed, leaving Fort Elizabeth in Hawaiian hands for forty years. After that, the fort was no longer actively used for defense, and its significance shifted as Western influences reshaped Hawaiian governance and society.

The site was largely abandoned by the late 19th century, and historical surveys mistakenly labeled it as a “Russian fort”, despite its Hawaiian origins. The name “Russian Fort Elizabeth” persisted for over a century until 2022, when its identity as Pāʻulaʻula was restored to better honor its Native Hawaiian heritage. Pāʻulaʻula translates to “red-brown earth” in Hawaiian. The name reflects the distinctive red soil in the Waimea area of Kauai, where the historic site is located. Pāʻulaʻula State Historic Site was closed for construction improvements on March 24, 2025. There is no specific reopening date currently available.

About the photo: I captured it with my Samsung S23U and processed it minimally in Luminar Neo. I used the new automatic adjustment in the develop module and tweaked Enhance’s Accent AI to about 40%.

I encourage fellow bloggers to create their own Cellpic Sunday posts. I never assign a specific theme to this feature—the primary rule is that the photo must be captured with a cell phone, iPad, or other mobile device. The second rule: link your challenge response to this post or leave a comment here with a link to your post. Oh, and there’s no penalty if you don’t post it on a Sunday.

John Steiner