Hippies - Part 1

Taylor Camp

Taylor Camp was a hippie community on the island of Kauai, Hawaii from 1969 to 1977, and its story was told in a documentary The Edge of Paradise.

It was originally a 7-acre beachfront property on the island of Kauai, owned by Elizabeth Taylor's brother, Howard Taylor.  Brother and sister are seen above in 1965.  The property, now part of Haena State Park, was on the north shore of Kauai where the road ends and the Kalalau Trail begins.

Howard Taylor wanted to build on his property, but his building permit was denied, because the state had future plans to acquire the property and turn it into a park.  However, the state was in no rush to acquire it.  Meanwhile, Howard was left owning the property, but he couldn't live there.  He was understandably irritated.  In 1969, when a group of 13 hippies on Kauai were arrested for vagrancy, Howard bailed them out and invited the hippies to camp on his land for free, as a way of giving the finger to the government.

In 1969, Nixon was in the White House and the Vietnam War raged on.  Hippies opposed the war and middle-class values.  They embraced peace, love, personal freedom, and psychedelic drugs.  They lived by the mantra "make love, not war."

More people arrived in the camp: hippies, surfers, Vietnam vets looking to escape what they saw as a world that had gone mad.  They build "treehouses" such as the one above, raised above ground in case of high tides or storm surges.  There were ultimately more than 30 of these structures.  The guy on the right strolling past the house is casually naked.  Clothing was optional.

Above, a guy named Tony lying naked in his treehouse, looking out the window.

Here's a view of Tony from inside his treehouse.  Most of these photos were taken by photographer John Wehrheim, who didn't live in the camp but was a repeat visitor.  He ultimately published a book and made a movie about Taylor Camp.

Wehrheim wrote, "Taylor Camp wasn’t a commune. It had no guru, no clearly defined leadership, and never had a single voice. It had no written ordinances. It wasn’t a democracy. It was much more than that: a community guided by a spirit that created order without rules." 

However, Wehrheim was not completely starry-eyed about the camp.  He wrote that it was "a whimsical experiment in living, ostensibly supported with the back-to-the-land ethos of fishing and farming (while actually propped up with food stamps and welfare)."

Babies were born in the camp, and kids grew up there (they took a school bus to school).  One of the residents was a doctor, a Vietnam vet who had been a flight surgeon.

The camp had some surprising amenities, including a piano up on the third floor of a treehouse.

They had toilets and running water, and there was also a nearby waterfall for washing.  

Most residents were at least partially clothed most of the time – shorts were common – but nudity was also common, especially for outdoor activities.  After all, they were living on the beach.

Activities included volleyball.

Another volleyball game.  Click on photos for larger images.

And the surfing was great, whether clothed or naked like this guy.

In 1977, after several years of legal battles, the state acquired the property, the residents were evicted, and their treehouses were burned.

In the state's defense, the place is now beautiful Haena State Park, which can be enjoyed by everyone, and the treehouses really didn't belong in a park.  I've been there and enjoyed Ke'e Beach.  At the time, I had no idea that the place had once been a hippie paradise.

But those who lived there remember it as the best time in their lives.