Editing Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (section)

==History==
{{Infobox NRHP
| name         = Whitney Seismograph Vault No. 29
| nrhp_type    =
| image        =
| caption      =
| nearest_city = [[Volcano, Hawaii]]
| coordinates  = {{coord|19|25|12|N|155|17|17|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin     = Hawaii
| area         = {{convert|18|ft}} by {{convert|17.5|ft}}
| built        = 1912
| architect    =
| architecture =
| added        = July 24, 1974
| refnum       = 74000292<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref>
}}
Besides the oral history of [[Ancient Hawaii]]ans, several early explorers left records of observations. [[William Ellis (British missionary)|Rev. William Ellis]] kept a journal of his 1823 missionary tour,<ref>{{cite book|author=William Ellis|title=A journal of a tour around Hawaii, the largest of the Sandwich Islands|publisher=Crocker and Brewster, New York, republished 2004, Mutual Publishing, Honolulu|url=https://archive.org/details/ajournalatourar00elligoog|isbn=1-56647-605-4|page=282|year=1825}}</ref> and [[Titus Coan]] documented eruptions through 1881.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Life in Hawaii|last=Coan|first=Titus|year=1882|publisher=Anson Randolph & Company|location=New York|url=http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/GG/HCV/COAN/coan-intro.html|isbn=0-8370-6036-2}}</ref>
Scientists often debated the accuracy of these descriptions. When geologist [[Thomas Jaggar]] of the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] gave a lecture in [[Honolulu]] in 1909, he was approached by businessman [[Lorrin A. Thurston]] (grandson of [[Asa Thurston]] who was on the 1823 missionary tour) about building a full-time scientific observatory at Kīlauea. The Hawaiian Volcano Research Association was formed by local businessmen for its support. [[George Lycurgus]], who owned the [[Volcano House]] at the edge of the main caldera, proposed a site adjacent to his hotel and restaurant.

In 1911 and 1912, small cabins were built on the floor of the caldera next to the main active vent of Halemaʻumaʻu, but these were hard to maintain.<ref name=buildings>{{cite web|url=http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/observatory/hvo_history_bldgs.html|title=Buildings and Facilities|access-date=2009-06-24|publisher=United States Geological Survey}}</ref>
MIT added $25,000 in support in 1912 from the estate of Edward and Caroline Whitney to build a more permanent facility. The first instruments were housed in a cellar next to the Volcano House called the Whitney Laboratory of Seismology.<ref>{{cite web|author=Russell A. Apple|url=http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/observatory/hvo_history.html|title=HVO History|access-date=2009-07-11|publisher=United States Geological Survey HVO web site}}</ref> Inmates from a nearby prison camp had excavated through {{convert|5.5|ft}} of [[volcanic ash]]. Massive reinforced concrete walls supported a small building built on top of the structure. Professor [[Fusakichi Omori]] of Japan, now best known for his study of [[aftershock]]s, designed the original seismometers. This seismograph vault (building number 29 on a site inventory) is state historic site 10–52–5506,<ref>[http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/hpd/register/reghaw.pdf Historic Places in Hawaii County] on official state web site</ref> and was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] on July 24, 1974, as site 74000292.<ref name="vault">{{cite web|author=Russell A. Apple|url={{NRHP url|id=74000292}}|title=Whitney Seismograph Vault #29 nomination form|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service|year=1972}}</ref>

[[File:Scientist collecting pahoehoe, Kilauea.jpg|thumb|upright|HVO [[volcanologist]] collecting pahoehoe samples, Kilauea, 1972]]
From 1912 until 1919, the observatory was run by Jaggar personally. Many important events were recorded, although as pioneers, the team often ran into major problems. For example, in 1913 an earthquake opened a crack in a wall and water seeped in. The windows meant to admit natural light caused the vault to heat up in the intense tropical sun.<ref name="buildings"/> The opening of the national park in 1916 (at the urging of Thurston) brought more visitors to bother the scientists, but also park rangers who would take over public lectures. The prison that had supplied laborers was replaced by the Kīlauea Military Camp.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kmc-volcano.com/about0808.asp|title=About KMC|publisher=Kīlauea Military Camp|access-date=2009-06-25|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090423061424/http://www.kmc-volcano.com/about0808.asp|archive-date=2009-04-23}}</ref>

In 1919, Jaggar convinced the National Weather Service to take over operations at the observatory. In 1924, the observatory was taken over by the [[United States Geological Survey]] and it has been run by the USGS ever since (except for a brief period during the [[Great Depression]], when the observatory was run by the [[National Park Service]]).<ref name=hvo1997>{{cite web|title=Thomas Jaggar, HVO's founder|url=http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/volcanowatch/1997/97_03_21.html|publisher=Hawaiian Volcano Observatory's Volcano Watch|date=March 21, 1997|access-date=2009-06-21}}</ref>
When the Volcano House hotel burned to the ground in 1940, the old building was torn down (although the instruments in the vault continued to be used until 1961).

George Lycurgus convinced friends in Washington D.C. (many of whom had stayed in the Volcano House) to build a larger building farther back from the cliff, so he could build a new larger hotel at the former HVO site. By 1942, the "Volcano Observatory and Naturalist Building" was designated number 41 on the park inventory. However, with the advent of [[World War II]], it was commandeered as a military headquarters. HVO was allowed to use building 41 from October 1942 to September 1948, when it became the park headquarters (and still is today, after several additions).<ref name="buildings"/>

About two miles west, in an area known as ''Uwekahuna'', a "National Park Museum and Lecture Hall" had been built in 1927. The name means roughly "the priest wept" in the [[Hawaiian language]], which indicates it might have been used to make offerings in the past.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ulukau.org/cgi-bin/hpn?e=q-0mahele--00-0-0--010---4----dtt--0-0l--1en-Zz-1---20-about-Uwekahuna--00031-00010escapewin-00&a=d&c=mahele&cl=search&d=HASH01306cc89e621a1f47c1600b|title=Lookup of "Uwekahuna"|publisher=on Hawaiian Place Names web site|access-date=2009-06-25}}</ref> The HVO moved there in 1948 after some remodeling of the building. This site was even closer to the main vent of Kīlauea. In 1985 a larger building was built for the observatory adjacent to the old lecture hall, which was turned back into a museum and public viewing site. In the mid-1980s, HVO launched the Big Island Map Project (BIMP) to update the geologic map of the island of Hawai'i. Its major publication is the 1996 ''Geologic Map of the Island of Hawai'i'' (1996) by E.W. Wolfe and Jean Morris, digitized in 2005.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Wolfe (compiler)|first1=E. W.|last2=Morris|first2=Jean|date=1996|title=Geologic map of the Island of Hawaii|url=http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/i2524A|journal=IMAP|volume=2524-A|doi=10.3133/i2524A|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Poland|first=Michael P.|last2=Takahashi|first2=T. Jane|last3=Landowski|first3=Claire M.|date=2014|title=Characteristics of Hawaiian volcanoes|url=http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/pp1801|journal=Professional Paper|location=Reston, VA|volume=1801|pages=442|doi=10.3133/pp1801|doi-access=free|editor-last1=Poland|editor-last2=Takahashi|editor-last3=Landowski|editor-first1=Michael P.|editor-first2=T. Jane|editor-first3=Claire M.}}</ref>

=== Leadership ===
The scientist-in-charge has three main duties: manage funding and equipment availability to ensue smooth operation; direct staff on how to monitor and respond to volcanic events; and engage in outreach to the public.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Volcano Watch – HVO people and jobs, Part 2: Who and what is the Scientist-in-Charge? {{!}} U.S. Geological Survey|url=https://www.usgs.gov/news/volcano-watch-hvo-people-and-jobs-part-2-who-and-what-scientist-charge|access-date=2023-05-28|publisher=United States Geological Survey}}</ref>
;HVO Directors
*1912 to 1940, [[Thomas Jaggar]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Babb|first1=Janet L.|last2=Kauahikaua|first2=James P.|last3=Tilling|first3=Robert I.|date=2011|title=The story of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory—A remarkable first 100 years of tracking eruptions and earthquakes|url=https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/gip135|journal=U.S. Geological Survey General Information Product 135|series=General Information Product|pages=i-63|doi=10.3133/gip135|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
*1940 to 1951, [[Ruy Finch]]<ref name=":0" />
*1951 to 1955, [[Gordon A. Macdonald]]<ref name=":0" />
*1956 to 1958, [[Jerry P. Eaton]]<ref name=":0" />

;HVO Scientists-in-Charge
*1958 to 1960, [[Kiguma Jack Murata]]<ref name=":0" />
*1960 to 1961, [[Jerry P. Eaton]]<ref name=":0" />
*1961 to 1962, [[Donald H. Richter]]<ref name=":0" />
*1962 to 1963, [[James G. Moore]]<ref name=":0" />
*1964 to 1970, [[Howard A. Powers]]<ref name=":0" />
*1970 to 1975, [[Donald W. Peterson]]<ref name=":0" />
*1975 to 1976, [[Robert I. Tilling]]<ref name=":0" />
*1976 to 1978, [[Gordon P. Eaton]]<ref name=":0" />
*1978 to 1979, [[Donald W. Peterson]]<ref name=":0" />
*1979 to 1984, [[Robert W. Decker]]<ref name=":0" />
*1984 to 1991, [[Thomas L. Wright]]<ref name=":0" />
*1991 to 1996, [[David A. Clague]]<ref name=":0" />
*1996 to 1997, [[Margaret T. Mangan]]<ref name=":0" />
*1997 to 2004, [[Donald A. Swanson]]<ref name=":0" />
*2004 to 2015, [[James P. Kauahikaua]]<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Volcano Watch – Ken Hon returns to HVO as Scientist-in-Charge|url=https://www.usgs.gov/news/volcano-watch-ken-hon-returns-hvo-scientist-charge|publisher=United States Geological Survey}}</ref>
*2015 to 2020, [[Christina Neal]]<ref name=":1" />
*2021 to present, [[Ken Hon]]