HONOLULU (KHON2) - In the ahupuaʻa of Waikīkī, which lies in the moku of Kona here on Oʻahu, stands a street named after the gentleman nicknamed the “Father of Baseball.”  We are speaking of Cartwright Rd. Born in 1820, New Yorker Alexander Joy Cartwright Jr. laid the first baseba ll diamond as it is used today. In 1842, he founded the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club, said to be the first organized baseball team. In 1849, Cartwright arrived in Hawaiʻi and two years later, chartered a ship and transported potatoes to San Francsico. With the money earned, he returned to Hawaiʻi and establish his own firm as a whaling agent and commission merchant. In 1852, Cartwright continued his baseball influence by laying out field bases and lines at Makiki Park.  Today’s its known as Cartwright Field. While still living in New York, Alexander Joy Cartwright Jr served as a volunteer firefighter. After he moved to Hawaiʻi, King Kamehameha III established the Honolulu Fire Department. Cartwright would play an instrumental role. Chosen by the king, Cartwright became Honolulu’s first appointed Fire Chief, serving two terms. Then, later in his life, he helped to establish the Honolulu Library Reading Room Association, Hawaiʻi’s second subscription library. As a founding member, Cartwright objected to the exclusion of women from membership, which included royalty. The constitution was amended and the rules changed.  In 1913, the library relocated and opened at its present site. It was in 1945 when the Friends of the Library of Hawaiʻi formed.  Today, the library continues, and the Cartwright legacies live on. Did you know?  Now you do! ...read more read less