Lahaina Historic District | |
Location | W side of Maui on HI 30, Lahaina, Hawaii |
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Coordinates | 20°52′24″N156°40′41″W / 20.87333°N 156.67806°W |
Area | 1,671 acres (676 ha) |
NRHP reference No. | 66000302 |
HRHP No. | 50-50-03-03001 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 [1] |
Designated NHLD | December 29, 1962 [2] |
Designated HRHP | October 15, 1966 [3] |
Lahaina Historic District is a National Historic Landmark District encompassing most of the community of Lahaina, Hawaii, on the west side of the island of Maui in the US state of Hawaii. Designated in 1962, the district recognizes Lahaina for its well-preserved character as a 19th-century port, and for its social and economic importance in the 19th century as a major whaling center in the Pacific, and as one of the capital cities of the Kingdom of Hawaii. [4]
Lahaina was a popular residential center for the kings of Maui prior to the arrival of European explorers in the late 18th century. Kamehameha I made his landing here when he began the conquest of Maui in 1795, and Kamehameha II established a residence here in 1819. That same year, the first whaling ships arrived, beginning the community's rise in economic importance. Lahaina eclipsed Oahu as a preferred whaling port between 1840 and 1855, because of its better deep-water anchorage. When Kamehameha III ascended to the Hawaiian throne in 1825, he made Lahaina his capital, preferring it to the busier Honolulu. The town declined in economic importance in the 1860s, as the whaling industry waned. [4]
It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1962. [2] [4] The district is bounded on the north by Puʻuona Point, the south by Makila Point, and the east by the ridge of hills above the town. Its western bound extends all the way out to the island of Lānaʻi, encompassing the Lahaina Roads, the roadstead which enabled the town's growth in the 19th century. [4] Donn Beach and Pete Wimberly played an important early role in establishing building ordinances to govern restoration and preservation projects in Lahaina. [5] [6]
When the landmark district was designated in 1962, nine buildings were called out for their specific contribution to the district. [1] The Historic American Building Survey collected detailed drawings in the 1960s and 1970s. [7] The district suffered catastrophic damage in the 2023 Hawaii wildfires with historic structures being destroyed (highlighted with red background).
No | Name | Year | Notes | Thumbnail |
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1 | Baldwin House | 1835 | A two-story home used by early missionaries, including Rev. Dwight Baldwin. Destroyed in the 2023 Hawaii wildfires [8] | |
2 | Old Spring House | 1823 | Built by Rev. William Richards to enclose a spring and used for fresh water by the community. | |
3 | Court House | 1859 | Replaced the Hale Piula, a former palace used for government offices damaged during an 1858 windstorm. Rebuilt in 1925 with significantly altered appearance. Ruins of outer walls were left standing after the August 2023 wildfire, roof and interior destroyed. | |
4 | Old Prison (Hale Paʻahao) | 1852 | Main cell block (plank structure) completed in 1852, and enclosing coral-block wall completed in 1854. Original cell block burned in 1958; reconstructed in 1959 along with the wooden gate house. | |
5 | Waineʻe (now Waiola) Church | 1953 | Construction started in 1828 and completed in 1832. Destroyed by winds twice and again by fire in 1894. Present structure was completed in 1953, when the name was changed to Waiola. Hawaiian nobility are interred in the cemetery, which dates to 1823. Destroyed in the 2023 Hawaii wildfires [9] | |
6 | Hale Aloha | 1858 | Meeting house completed in 1858, replacing an earlier stone church dating to 1823. School house and church, restored in the 1980s | |
7 | United States Marine Hospital | 1842 | Herman Melville noted one of his shipmates died at this hospital in 1843. Sold in 1865 and served as a school for girls, then a vicarage for the Episcopal Church. Ruins of outer walls were left standing after the August 2023 wildfire, roof and interior destroyed. | |
8 | Maria Lanakila Catholic Church | 1858 | This church, erected in 1858, replaced an earlier church at the same site built in 1846. The present building was erected in 1928 on the same foundation, but is said to be an exact replica of the 1858 structure. Survived the 2023 Hawaii wildfires [10] | |
9 | Pioneer Inn | 1901 | Lahaina's first hotel. Destroyed in the 2023 Hawaii wildfires [11] [12] |
Lahaina is a census-designated place (CDP) in Maui County, Hawaii, United States, and encompasses Lahaina town and the Kaanapali and Kapalua beach resorts. As of the 2020 census, Lahaina had a resident population of 12,702. The CDP spans the coast along Hawaii Route 30 from a tunnel at the south end, through Olowalu, and to the CDPs of Kaanapali and Napili-Honokowai to the north.
The ʻIolani Palace was the royal residence of the rulers of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi beginning with Kamehameha III under the Kamehameha Dynasty (1845) and ending with Queen Liliʻuokalani (1893) under the Kalākaua Dynasty, founded by her brother, King David Kalākaua. It is located in the capitol district of downtown Honolulu in the U.S. state of Hawaiʻi. It is now a National Historic Landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places. After the monarchy was overthrown in 1893, the building was used as the capitol building for the Provisional Government, Republic, Territory, and State of Hawaiʻi until 1969. The palace was restored and opened to the public as a museum in 1978. ʻIolani Palace is the only royal palace on US soil.
Mauna ʻAla in the Hawaiian language, is the Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii and the final resting place of Hawaii's two prominent royal families: the Kamehameha Dynasty and the Kalākaua Dynasty.
The following is an alphabetical list of articles related to the U.S. state of Hawaii:
Downtown Honolulu is the current historic, economic, and governmental center of Honolulu, the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. It is bounded by Nuʻuanu Stream to the west, Ward Avenue to the east, Vineyard Boulevard to the north, and Honolulu Harbor to the south. Both modern and historic buildings and complexes are located in the area, with many of the latter declared National Historic Landmarks on the National Register of Historic Places.
Maria Lanakila Catholic Church is a parish of the Catholic Church of Hawaii in the United States. Located in Lahaina on the island of Maui, the church falls under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Honolulu and its bishop. The parish has a mission in Kapalua under the title of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Maria Lanakila means "Victorious Mary", the Hawaiian language equivalent to the English language epithet "Our Lady of Victory", which refers to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Wo Hing Society Hall was a building located at 858 Front Street in the Lahaina Historic District in Lahaina, Hawaii. Built around 1912, it served the growing Chinese population centered in Lahaina, primarily those working in the sugarcane industry as a social and fraternal hall for the Wo Hing Society. By the 1940s the declining Chinese population in Lahaina slowly made the building redundant and the property was neglected.
At their peak, there were six Chinese Society Halls on Maui. Operated by the Gee Kung Tong Society, these halls were created to provide services to immigrant Chinese workers, mostly working for the sugarcane plantations. All provided religious and political help, in addition to mutual aid. Only the Wo Hing Society Hall in Lahaina and the Ket Hing Society Hall in Kula have survived. Both were placed on the Hawaii State Register of Historic Places on July 30, 1982, and placed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 15, 1982. The Chee Kung Tong Society Hall was placed onto both State and Federal registers, but collapsed in 1996.
Mokuʻula was a tiny island that has been buried beneath a baseball field in Maluʻulu o Lele Park, Lahaina, Hawaiʻi, United States. It was the private residence of King Kamehameha III from 1837 to 1845 and the burial site of several Hawaiian royals. The 1-acre (4,000 m2) island is considered sacred to many Hawaiians as a piko, or symbolic center of energy and power. It was added to the Hawaiʻi State Register of Historic Places on August 29, 1994, and to the National Register of Historic Places on May 9, 1997, as King Kamehameha III's Royal Residential Complex.
The island of Maui with a relatively central location has given it a pivotal role in the history of the Hawaiian Islands.
Dwight Baldwin was an American Christian missionary and medical doctor on Maui, one of the Hawaiian Islands, during the Kingdom of Hawaii. He was patriarch of a family that founded some of the largest businesses in the islands.
Waiola Church and Cemetery in Lāhainā is the site of a historic mission established in 1823 on the island of Maui in Hawaiʻi. Originally called Waineʻe Church until 1953, the cemetery is the final resting place for early members of the royal family of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
Ulumāheihei Hoapili was a member of the nobility during the formation of the Kingdom of Hawaii. He was a trusted military and political advisor to King Kamehameha I, known as "Kamehameha the Great". Although trusted with one of the last symbolic rites of the Hawaiian religion, he later became a supporter of Christian missionaries.
Lahaina Banyan Court Park is a public park located at the corner of Front Street and Canal Street in the town of Lahaina, Hawaii, which was the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1820 to 1845. The 1.94 acres (0.79 ha) park, also known as Lahaina Courthouse Square and commonly called Banyan Tree Park, contains multiple heritage sites on the Lahaina Historic Trail, and a self-guided walking tour through the Lahaina Historic Districts.
William Pūnohuʻāweoweoʻulaokalani White was a Hawaiian lawyer, sheriff, politician, and newspaper editor. He became a political statesman and orator during the final years of the Kingdom of Hawaii and the beginnings of the Territory of Hawaii. Despite being a leading Native Hawaiian politician in this era, his legacy has been largely forgotten or portrayed in a negative light, mainly because of a reliance on English-language sources to write Hawaiian history. He was known by the nickname of "Pila Aila" or "Bila Aila" for his oratory skills.
The Pioneer Inn was a 34-room inn in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii, built in 1901. It was the oldest hotel in Lahaina and on the island of Maui and the oldest in continuous operation in the state of Hawaii. It was a contributing building in the Lahaina Historic District, a U.S. National Historic Landmark, and since 2016 was one of the Historic Hotels of America. It joined Best Western in 1997.
In early August 2023, a series of wildfires broke out in the U.S. state of Hawaii, predominantly on the island of Maui. The wind-driven fires prompted evacuations, caused widespread damage, killing at least 115 people and leaving 385 others missing in the town of Lāhainā. The proliferation of the wildfires was attributed to dry, gusty conditions created by a strong high-pressure area north of Hawaii and Hurricane Dora to the south.
The Lāhainā Lighthouse is a historic lighthouse and landmark in Lāhainā, Hawaiʻi. This lighthouse is managed by the United States Coast Guard and the Lāhainā Restoration Foundation maintains it. At the time of its unveiling in 1840, it was the first lighthouse built in Hawaiʻi.
The U.S. Marine Hospital, also known as the U.S. Seamen's Hospital, was one of the earliest remaining buildings in Lahaina, Hawaii. It is listed as a contributing property to the Lahaina Historic District.
The Lahaina Heritage Museum was a heritage museum and history museum located in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii. It was a part of the Old Lahaina Courthouse on the second floor, having opened in 2004, years after the courthouse was restored yet again in 1990.
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