The Honolulu Military Academy was founded by its president, Col. L. G. Blackman, in 1911. It was controlled by a board of 10 trustees of which the president was a member and presiding officer ex officio. It had no endowment, but owned a fine piece of property consisting of about 100 acres (0.40 km2) of ground and six buildings, and was valued at $200,000. It was located at Kaimuki near Waialae Bay, a mile from the end of the Waialae street-car line. The buildings stood on high ground overlooking the ocean.
The school drew its cadets from all points in the islands. The 1918-19 roster showed 64 from Honolulu, 10 from Oahu outside of Honolulu, 16 from Hawaii, 11 from Maui, 10 from Kauai, 1 from Molokai, 2 from California, and 1 each from New York State, Minnesota, and Japan. The military regime as the title of the school indicates is was a dominant feature of its organization. It began at first with instruction only in the elementary grades; but it grew to offer a 12-grade program of studies, and was organized in three divisions, an elementary school, grades 1-6; a junior academy, grades 7, 8, 9: and a senior academy, grades 10, 11, 12.
Department of the Interior Bureau of Education Bulletin 1920, No.13 Educational Work of the Commercial Museum of Philadelphia by Charles R. Toothacker (Curator) Washington Gov. Printing Office 1921