In the spring of 1969, every kid’s Tarzan and Jane dream of tree houses on a tropical beach came true at Kaua‘i’s Taylor Camp when Howard Taylor, brother of actress Elizabeth, bailed out a rag-tag band of 13 young Mainland
In the spring of 1969, every kid’s Tarzan and Jane dream of tree houses on a tropical beach came true at Kaua‘i’s Taylor Camp when Howard Taylor, brother of actress Elizabeth, bailed out a rag-tag band of 13 young Mainland hippies jailed for vagrancy and then invited them to camp on his oceanfront land, a news release states.
The previous year, right after purchasing the property, Howard learned of the government’s plan to condemn the land for a park, ending the Taylors’ dream of building a family compound on the 7-acre site.
So in an act of both compassion for the jailed hippies, and subtle revenge against the government for frustrating his plans, Howard informally established Taylor Camp. Soon after, he stepped back and left the campers to their own devices — without rules, restrictions or guidelines.
Soon waves of hippies, surfers and troubled Vietnam War veterans found their way to Howard’s land and built a clothing-optional, pot-friendly, grow your own village at the end of the road on the Kaua‘i’s North Shore.
By the summer of 1970, none of the original campers remained. The newcomers quickly abandoned tent living for more permanent and comfortable dwellings and the village population grew to over 100, with 17 tree houses and a scattering of tents.
After he and his sister celebrated Christmas dinner with the campers, Howard would never be seen on the site again.
By 1976, there were 32 structures, including a co-op store, community garden, church, sauna and toilet.
The county government picked up the garbage, and the school bus stopped for the children. To control growth, the campers established a building moratorium enforced by common consent, power politics and “vibes.”
Taylor Camp had become society of order without rules. There were no covenants, nothing to sign as you walked into camp. There were no elections; it wasn’t a democracy.
These refugees from the straight world built with the same materials as poor squatters throughout the tropics-bamboo, scrap lumber, rough logs and branches, salvaged tin roofing, plastic sheeting and screens, flimsy mosquito netting and cheap printed fabric.
But though the materials were the same, the manifestation was quite different. Guided by the spirit of whimsical creativity, these “refugees” lived in a lush forest at the mouth of a crystalline stream on a beach in paradise-catching fish in the ocean and picking fruit from the trees.
But not all of the hippies lived off the land. When some took advantage of Hawaii’s lax welfare laws and began receiving food stamps and financial assistance from the government, the resentment of many local people, already offended by the nudity and drug use, sparked violent confrontations between the locals and the hippies.
Eventually, in 1974, the state got a court order condemning Taylor Camp, but it wasn’t until 1977, after the hippies had used the Legal Aid Society to stave off eviction for three years, that the campers made a collective decision to leave.
Publishing a “Thank You” letter in The Garden Island newspaper, the campers withdrew their claims against the state for relocation assistance “to show our gratitude to the people of Kaua‘i for letting us stay here for so long.”
Before the last camper moved out, state officials torched the village, leaving little but ashes and memories of “the best days of our lives,” the release continues.
“Taylor Camp” tells the story of an experiment in benign anarchy, a community of young people from across the country and the world that came together and tried to live by the ideals of the ’60s.
The film, emotionally driven by powerful music from the era, reveals Taylor Camp’s eight-year history through a looking glass of evocative photographs and historic footage all narrated with brutally honest, humorous, often conflicting memories recorded 30-years later in interviews with the campers, their neighbors and the government officials who eventually got rid of them, the release says.
Though the freedom of that time and place left some struggling with alcoholism and drug addiction (one young woman eventually died of AIDS), in many ways Taylor Camp became just like any other community in America in the ’70s.
However, as one camper put it, “We did it naked in the trees at the end of the road on the last point on earth.”
