The T. R. Foster Building is one of the last buildings in Honolulu with a cast-iron-embellished facade. The cast-iron fluted pilasters and the concrete pedimented parapet emphasize the building's verticality and, in turn, its prestige. The building was constructed by the Inter-Island Steamship Company as a memorial to its founder. The company's ships traversed the waves between Honolulu and Kauai and the island of Hawaii's Kona coast from 1878 to 1905, when it merged with the Wilder Steamship Company.