During the ongoing campus riots in America and police brutality in the spring of 1969, Howard Taylor (brother of actress Elizabeth) bailed out thirteen hippies seeking refuge. The camp, formed on the idea of free-living, settled in a treehouse village on Kauai’s shore. This village was a utopia in paradise with clothing-optional, pot-friendly, rent-free, and no politics. In addition to fishing and farming, they relied on welfare programs and food stamps. At times, the community swelled to 150 residents. Some of the campers came from California, Florida, New York, Canada, and even Europe. Some of the attendees were Vietnam vets, outlaws, surfers, hippies, or children. The community built a church, which served as the camp’s spiritual center.
John Wehrheim, a former Taylor Camp resident, took these nostalgic photos. He captured such magical images of this village, which many views as having been their “happiest days”. Unfortunately, the community was destroyed in 1977, so a state park could be built. Most of the campers were ultimately persuaded to leave camp of their own volition, relocating to different parts of the island and country, even though the evictions were delayed over a few years. Those who remained were robbed and beaten by local mobs until they were carted out by the authorities and the camp was burned to the ground. There were only a few survivors, including a mother and her infant.
#1 A group of young people started camping out on the beach in Kauai in the late 1960s, and over the next several years, built a community of treehouses known as Taylor Camp.
#2 The community didn’t have any specific rules, but supported a clothing-optional lifestyle, developed a communal garden, and encouraged smoking marijuana.
#3
#4 The community swelled to as many as 150 inhabitants at certain points.
#5 The residents of the camp came to Hawaii from as far as California, Florida, New York, Canada, and even Europe.
#6 The community built a church, which served as a spiritual center for the camp.
#7 “It was a great experimental living situation,” Cherry Hamilton said in Wehrheim’s book titled Taylor Camp.
#8 Diane Upstairs in tne Bedroom
#9 Hawk, Cherry and Moses
#10 The camp was named for its benefactor — Howard Taylor, the brother of Elizabeth Taylor.
#11 They attempted a back to the land ideology, fishing and farming, while also relying on welfare and food stamps.
#12 People came from all walks of life — some of them were Vietnam vets, outlaws, surfers, hippies, or children.
#13 Even though people loved to be naked at Taylor Camp, “free love” wasn’t the norm — most people coupled up, forming relationships that for some have lasted a lifetime.
#14 Lots of babies were conceived and born in the treehouses.
#15 There was a resident doctor, who was a Vietnam vet, and several midwifes who would help.
#16 It was named the Church of the Brotherhood of the Paradise Children:
#17 Residents of the camp often repaired or sewed their own clothes.
#18 A favorite pastime was nude volleyball, played daily at sunset.’
#19 Sports in general were very popular among members of the community. Yoga was another common activity.
#20 Among the drugs used at camp was plenty of acid.
#21 Eventually cocaine became prevalent — often passed around at parties on an abalone shell.
#22 Pot was grown in the garden, which became a means to connect with some of the local community, which was looking for new ways to make revenue in the wake of closed pineapple plantations on Kauai and the loss of jobs.
#23 Taylor Camp was still met with hostility from some locals, who called them haoles — a slur for white foreigners — and did not endorse their alternative lifestyle.
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#25 Limahuli Stream Sunrise
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Aloha. I lived in the ironwood forest just on the other side of this stream when Taylor Camp was there. There were several other people who were also living in camps in that forest. It was also part of Taylor’s property, but we didn’t build houses. I was a single pregnant mother and almost had my baby there, but the day before his birth we were told that we had to leave the property, because Taylor had sold the land. So, I caught a ride with one of the other people who living there who had invited anyone who wanted to go with him up to my friend, Wheatberry’s cabin near Kalalau Lookout on Kokee Mt. Consequently, I gave birth to Flaming Moon there on August 21,1973.
