Tutuila - Places of Historical Interest

Places of Historical Interest

At Utulei, at Blunts Point there are two guns of World War II vintage dated to 1941, which are seen in the form of two metal tubes projecting from a wall. The guns are seen at two levels, the lower gun is above a green water tank. The second gun is located 200 m (660 ft) above the first gun above the ridge. Both guns are accessible through a staircase made of concrete. In addition, two more guns of identical dimensions are also seen fixed at the harbor mouth at a strategic location to create a cross fire. Concrete bunkers used during WWII are also seen at Pago Pago.

Notable buildings in Fagatogo are the Governor's Mansion (1903), the Sadie's restaurant where Somerset Maugham stayed in 1916 and wrote the story of hooker Sadic Thomson, Fono Building which is the state legislative building, the Jean P. Haydon Museum built in 1917, which was once the navy headquarters and Catholic Cathedral with painting of a Holy Family scene at the beach. Also seen are the Zion Church (1900) at Leon, the old capital of Tutuila and the monument in front of the church erected in honor of John William’s the first missionary to visit Tutuila in 1832, the Radio Towers at Mt. Olotele, the Massacre Bay in Assau village where a monument has been installed in 1883 with stone cross to honor of the 11 French sailors only who were members of the Astrolabe and Boussole ships during the La Parouse expedition who were killed by the local Samoans in a clash on December 11, 1787; 11 Chinese and 39 Samoans also died in this conflict but not mentioned in the honor list.

At the defunct cable car terminal on the Solo Hill there is monument built in honor of the six US Navy personnel who died in the plane crash which occurred as a result of hitting the cable way and crashed into the Rainmaker Hotel; two tourists staying in the hotel also died in the crash.