There are two famous extinct volcanic craters boxing in Honolulu, Hawaii. Diamond Head, the one in the distance, is probably the more famous. But Punchbowl, in the foreground, is where ancient temples once stood and where those who broke the most serious tabus were executed. For more than one hundred years, artillery pieces were placed on its rim to protect the city, and since 1949, it has been the site of the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Rising more than 450 feet above Hawaii's capital city, there were no tall office buildings of resort hotels to hide its grandeur in this photo from around 1885.
Long after the temples disappeared, it was still seen as a place of religious significance, even after the local population largely converted to Christianity in the early 1800s. This photograph from 1910 - with Diamond Head in the background - shows the crowds for a sunrise Easter service.
Once roads were built to the summit, tourists and locals alike began flocking to the site, first with carriages and then in automobiles, like in this pre-World War II photograph.
A hike to the crater rim has offered spectacular views of Oahu for centuries.
Though a cemetery at the site had been discussed for decades, the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific opened in 1949 in the wake of World War II.
And has continued to grow with each successive military conflict... but that is a story for part two.
Today, Punchbowl crater, the Arlington of the Pacific, is a site to behold.
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