former Taylor Camp

 campsite / caravan site, place with historical importance, abandoned / shut down, anarchism

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Howard Taylor, brother of American actress Elizabeth Taylor, bought this property in the 1960s and was stymied in his attempt to get any permits to build on it, as the State had plans to turn this land into a state park. Left in limbo with no way forward, Howard bought land elsewhere on the island and abandoned his Haena land, until he found a purpose for it in 1969. It was then that he learned that 13 hippie campers, men, women and children, were arrested on the island for vagrancy at a beach near Lihue after overstaying their permit. A judge sentenced all of them to 90-day jail sentences. Howard and his wife picked them all up from the jail and took them to his Haena property to live. Thus began the Taylor Camp experiment, which lasted until 1977 when the state forcibly evicted the tenants - the last one being dragged off with his hands and legs in cuffs - then torched all the buildings and treehouses.

The "camp" ran from 1969-1977 with as many as 100 residents who created about 2 dozen structures. As the years went on, the camp created its own water system and landfill. It had a communal toilet and negotiated with the county for a local school bus stop and garbage pickups. Meanwhile, the newspapers focused their attention on the camp’s use of cannabis, potential for diseases and politicians’ complaints.