Business and Finance District.2
Melchers Building (1854). This is the oldest commercial structure in downtown Honolulu. Offices of the City and County of Honolulu now occupy this coral block building.
Kamehameha V Post Office (1871). As Hawaii's first all concrete building, this structure was constructed with pre-cast concrete blocks and iron bar reinforcement. Its Renaissance revival style shows Hawaiian royalty's attraction to things European. The main post office was located here from its opening until 1992, and since, it has been used for various governmental offices. In its old post office days it had separate windows for ladies, foreigners, Hawaiians, Japanese, Portuguese, and stamps. In front of the building there are two upright cannons embedded in the sidewalk that were used as hitching posts for horses. It is generally thought that they came from the fort that was torn down in 1857.
Yokohama Specie Bank (1909). The first Japanese bank to open in Honolulu, this building features a Renaissance style (triumphal arch corner entrance, elaborately decorated overhanging cornice, and garland-ornamental porthole windows). The building was completely restored in 1983 by historic preservation architect Spencer Leineweber.
