Time Capsule: 1959

August 21, 1959: Fifty years ago today, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a proclamation making Hawaii the 50th state. Hawaii had been considered for a state as far back as 1919 but it took another four decades to make it happen (read more about that here).

A century before, the islands were known as the Sandwich Islands and this is where President James Buchanan sent former Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court Abner Pratt to serve as ambassador. It was this tour of duty as Hawaiian Consul that enabled Pratt to contribute what is probably the most tangible of his legacies to Michigan, the famed Honolulu House.

Celebrate Hawaii Admission Day and take in some Hawaiian architecture at the Honolulu House, which later served as inspiration for Brad Strickland’s house where nobody lived.