An "ahupuaa" in ancient Hawaii was a land division that stretched from a mountain to the sea. The area called Moanalua eventually became the property of the estate of Samuel M. Damon. Before him, it belonged to the House of Kamehameha. Damon was involved with the Provisional Government of Hawaii that took power after the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii and abdication of Queen Liliuokalani. Damon later became one of the first trustees of the Kamehameha Schools with his business partner philanthropist Charles Reed Bishop. The Damon estate sold some of the land to commercial and residential developers in 1956. After statehood, Governor of Hawaii John A. Burns promoted the development as a modernization project.