This cache overlooks a beautiful view of Apra Harbor. In ancient times, Apra Harbor was home to many Chamorro villages. While Umatac and Hagåtña were preferred ports during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, Apra Harbor was preferred by foreigners who wanted to avoid Spanish authorities. The British privateer, John Eaton is reported to have anchored there in 1685 to barter with Chamorros. In response to pirates or privateers that threatened Spain’s profitable galleon-trade and missionary efforts, several fortifications were built not only to protect from enemy attack, but also as a harbor that provided protection from inclement weather. From 1737 to 1801, the Spanish government ordered the construction of three fortifications to defend the harbor.
Apra Harbor became more important in the 19th century when the ports of the villages of Piti and Sumay came in to more frequent use. Piti was the primary port for the people of Hagåtña, while Sumay was a popular stopping place for whalers. At its height in the 1840s, as many as sixty whaling ships annually stopped at Apra Harbor. While Hagåtña was the capitol of the island, Sumay developed into a commercial and financial hub during the nineteenth century. During the whaling period, Apra Harbor was considered to be among the few outstanding ports throughout the Pacific, a sentiment later shared by American sea captains during the Pacific war period. By the end of the century, the whaling era was coming to an end and the island’s economy was in decline. When U.S. Naval Captain Henry Glass came into Apra Harbor on June 20, 1898 to claim the island for the United States he soon learned that forts Santiago and Santa Cruz had long been abandoned. With the coming of US Naval Government, were an accompanying detachment of US Marines and the establishment of a marine barracks at Sumay. During the naval administration, Apra Harbor was used as a coaling station for ships coming from the U.S. to Asia, and by the 1930s, the arrival of Pan American Clippers transformed the island’s communication and transportation patterns. In 1935, Sumay became the site of the Pan American Hotel and seaplane base, which brought business and high profile visitors. Pan Am ran flights from San Francisco to Manila and included layovers in Honolulu, Midway, Wake, and Guam. The airlines also operated a twenty-room hotel in Sumay. These flight routes made Guam the “Hub of the Pacific,” so the routes also extended into Macao, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. The flight routes also provided increased mail delivery by fifty percent, interrupted only by World War II. With the American recapture of Guam from the Japanese in July and August 1944, the U.S. Navy acquired all of the land abutting Apra Harbor as the island was transformed into a military fortress. The villagers of Sumay were relocated to the post World War II village of Santa Rita and other parts of the island while the village of Piti was also relocated so that today it no longer fronts the Piti Channel. The Inner and Outer Harbor underwent extensive dredging and the Glass Breakwater was constructed on Luminao (earthquake) Reef and the Calalan Bank. Today, most of Apra Harbor remains under US Naval control. Some areas, however, such as Sasa Bay, the Piti Channel, and parts of Glass Breakwater are accessible to the public. The land where the commercial port is located was transferred to the Government of Guam in 1969. Today, Apra Harbor is not only an important port but also a popular recreation area for personal watercraft use, boaters, and surfers. Apra Harbor is also home to several shipwrecks that are popular with scuba divers. The two most well-known wrecks are the World War I-era German merchant ship, SMS Cormoran, and the World War II-era Japanese freight