Small island in the Central Pacific. Located 352
nautical miles north of the equator. It is about 120 miles northwestward
of Washington Island, 200 miles northwest of Fanning Island, 33
miles southeastward of Kingman Reef, and 960 miles south by west
of Oahu.
History
On August 19, 1922, Leslie and Ellen Fullard-Leo, of Honolulu, acquired title
from Judge Cooper to all except two isles. After the death of Judge Cooper,
May 14, 1929, title to these two, known as Home Islets, passed to his heirs.
But, in the late 1930s, the atoll has been declared a U.S. Naval defense area,
and all foreign public and private vessels and planes are prohibited. The 76th
U.S. Naval Construction Battalion (Seabees) dredged a channel during WWII so
that ships could enter the protected lagoons and bulldozed coral rubble into
a long, unpaved landing strip for refuelling transpacific supply planes.
Today
By the time the war ended the military was
reluctant to lose its mid-ocean depot. The Fullard-Leos spent years
fighting for Palmyra's return. The U.S. Supreme Court finally
ruled in 1947 that they had title. The property remained in
the hands of this family until the year 2000. There had been many
offers to buy the island from people who wanted to turn it into something
useful such as a big resort, an offshore bank, a commercial fish
processing plant and an equatorial launch site for missiles and satellites.
Twenty years ago there were howls of outrage when the U.S. Government
sent a team of inspectors to scout the atoll as a possible site to
store nuclear waste. All these were rejected as the Fullard-Leos
chose to leave Palmyra exactly as it was. Today, The Nature Conservancy
concluded years of negotiations and finally took title to Palmyra
for thirty million U.S. dollars.
Palmyra Field (Lowe Field)
Built by US Navy prewar, used on the ferry route to the South Pacific.
