--- description: Aug. 21, 1959: Hawaii becomes the 50th state, by Eisenhower’s executive order title: How Statehood Changed Hawaii's Economy image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt29c3246c38f33210/69885ee2cd1bba20896fcb00/hawaii1.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Economy](/tag/economy/) ## Economy Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # How Statehood Changed Hawaii's Economy by [Jennifer Latson](/author/jennifer-latson/) ## Jennifer Latson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 21, 2015 2:30 PM CUT  Aug. 21, 1959: The President of the United States Dwight Eisenhower signing the act which declares the islands of Hawaii as the 50th state of the United States of America. Aug. 21, 1959: The President of the United States Dwight Eisenhower signing the act which declares the islands of Hawaii as the 50th state of the United States of America.Gamma-Keystone / Getty Images by [Jennifer Latson](/author/jennifer-latson/) ## Jennifer Latson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 21, 2015 2:30 PM CUT Mainland Americans have been making their mark on Hawaii — in ways both welcome and unwelcome — since the early 1800s, when Protestant missionaries first landed there and, [per TIME](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,892320-1,00.html "undefined"), “devised a Hawaiian alphabet, soon printed a speller… promoted monogamy, \[and\] introduced the spare, hardy architecture of New England whaling ports.” While the U.S. annexed Hawaii as a territory in 1898 under [somewhat shady circumstances](http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/hawaii-petition/ "undefined") — and over the objections of many Hawaiians — by the 1950s [most Hawaiians were in favor](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,860189,00.html "undefined") of being admitted as a state. When the state reached that milestone, on this day, Aug. 21, in 1959, just seven months after Alaska had joined the Union, Hawaii underwent immediate and radical change, largely in the form of unprecedented economic growth. The cluster of islands that comprise America’s 50th state are some of the world’s [most isolated](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1917838%5F1917835%5F1917827,00.html "undefined"): 2,390 mi. from the West Coast and 4,000 from Japan. But with statehood came a proliferation of commercial flights that connected Hawaii to the mainland and brought a massive influx of tourists. Three days after Hawaii was admitted to the Union, Pan American became the first airline to provide jet service to the newest state, [according to the Los Angeles _Times_](http://www.latimes.com/newsletters/topofthetimes/la-tr-statehood26-2009apr26-story.html "undefined"). This convenience changed the face of Hawaiian tourism entirely. “The islands, which had been the playground of well-heeled visitors, most of whom traveled by ship, began welcoming middle-class travelers,” the _LA Times_ notes. As [TIME reported in 1966](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,836675,00.html "undefined"), the years after statehood became a “jet rush,” in which the number of passengers arriving annually at Honolulu’s airport more than doubled — many of them vacationers who snapped up $100 tickets for the five-hour flight from Los Angeles or San Francisco. TIME observed: --- > “” --- This jet-fueled increase in tourism was not Hawaii’s only area of growth. The state also saw a rapid expansion in light industry — companies producing “everything from muumuus to mirrors,” [per TIME](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,940538-1,00.html "undefined") — and diversification in agriculture. The flurry of commercial activity led to a corresponding boom in development: In 1964, construction spending was up nearly 20 percent from the previous year, and included a $27 million high-rise on Waikiki Beach that was then the world’s largest single-unit apartment building, according to TIME. Additional projects included a $14 million business complex in downtown Honolulu as well as freeway expansions and new planned communities. Other signs that 1964 was a banner year for the Hawaiian economy, by TIME’s account: “Four new mattress factories have been opened, and Schlitz is about to build a 100,000-barrels-a-year brewery near Pearl Harbor.” **_Read more from 1959, here in TIME’s archives_**: [Hawaii: The Big Change](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,811188,00.html "undefined") ### Hawaii Melting Pot, 1945  Caption from LIFE. Mary Lou Parker, 4, plays with Letty Mai Pang, 5, a Chinese \[schoolmate\], in the playground of a polyracial Honolulu school. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A young girl dances in a hula skirt. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A fishing net hangs out to dry in front of a fisherman's house, while a young child sits underneath. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A plantation worker comes home and washes off his boots after a day's work. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  An elderly Japanese man walks toward his house. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Children with an American flag hang out on a front porch. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Japanese boys jump from a sea wall while playing soldiers in the American army. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A fisherman sits near fishing nets by the sea. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. At dawn Hawaiians put out to sea to pull in their fish nets. By law, their boat flies the American flag at bow. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  An elderly man sits in the sun in Hawaii. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A fisherman with a spear prepares to make a catch. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Clemon Apeahi is Hawaiian. Rated as shiftless husbands, many Hawaiian men remain bachelors. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A portrait of two farmers in Hawaii. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A worker on the Dole plantation carries an armload of pineapples. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A worker on the Dole plantation gathers ripe pineapples. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Plant sprayers at the Dole Plantation in Hawaii pose for a portrait. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Eight University of Hawaii students are chosen by the student body to serve as Princesses and Queen in the annual May Day ceremony held at the University. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Caucasian-Hawaiian (Portuguese, Irish, Hawaiian) is Barbara Sylva, 20, Hawaii senator's daughter. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Women dressed in hula skirts dance onstage. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Asiatic-Caucasian (Korean, Spanish, Engish) is Lava Pak, 23, an Army translator, named for an eruption. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Two Hawaiian girls walk together along the shore. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Waikiki tomboys, under a banyon on beach are (from left) Marion Woolsley, 14, Chinese-Hawaiian-English; Patricia Cameron, 16, Portuguese-Scotch-Irish; Beatrice Clarke, 16, Hawaiian-Chinese-German. Canoes are stored under roots. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A couple in Hawaii poses for a portrait against a fake landscape backdrop. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A man and woman dance together at the Rainbow Club U.S.O., Hawaii. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Several pairs dance at the Rainbow Club U.S.O., Hawaii. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Indiana Quaker, Sam Lindley, married a Chinese Quaker and has two fair haired girls, Renie and Renda. He raises goats and works as librarian at the University of Hawaii. He studies Chinese, wants to visit China. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Chinese family includes elder Youngs, 78 and 71, and son, John, a painter. Chinese brought few wives from China because their bound feet were rated useless on plantations. Exclusion Act, which was repealed in 1943, shut out Chinese in 1900. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3994194/hawaii-statehood-economic-effects/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3994194/hawaii-statehood-economic-effects/"},"headline":"How Statehood Changed Hawaii's Economy","datePublished":"2015-08-21T14:30:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:02:04.511Z","description":"Aug. 21, 1959: Hawaii becomes the 50th state, by Eisenhower’s executive order","url":"https://time.com/3994194/hawaii-statehood-economic-effects/","keywords":["Economy","politics","hawaii"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt29c3246c38f33210/69885ee2cd1bba20896fcb00/hawaii1.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jennifer Latson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jennifer-latson/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt29c3246c38f33210/69885ee2cd1bba20896fcb00/hawaii1.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"RICHARD NIXON ET DWIGHT EISENHOWER SIGNENT L'ACTE PROCLAMANT LES ILES HAWAII 50ème ETAT AMERICAIN EN 1959","caption":"RICHARD NIXON ET DWIGHT EISENHOWER SIGNENT L'ACTE PROCLAMANT LES ILES HAWAII 50ème ETAT AMERICAIN EN 1959","creditText":"Gamma-Keystone / Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/economy/","name":"Economy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3994194/hawaii-statehood-economic-effects/","name":"How Statehood Changed Hawaii's Economy"}}]}] ```