Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 8% of U.S. towns · #68 of 93 in Hawaii. What drives it
Most of Anahola was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. Below: maps from 1963 on.
The Anahola post office opened in 1934, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 8% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Anahola is more historic than 8% of U.S. towns, #68 of 93 in Hawaii. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
Few Hawaii towns list much on the Register (a typical Hawaii town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Anahola’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Hawaii towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Anahola’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Anahola.
During the reign of King Kamehameha I, the island of Kauaʻi was the last of the Hawaiian islands to join Kamehameha's Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. The ruler, Kaumualiʻi, resisted Kamehameha for years, surviving two attempts to invade Kauaʻi.
Anahola is the site of an ancient surfing area, Ka-nahā-wale, which literally translates to "easily broken".
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Anahola. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Anahola.
The Anahola post office opened in 1934, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Anahola is more historic than 8% of U.S. towns, #68 of 93 in Hawaii. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
2% of Anahola’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.4 points), against a typical 1.7% for a Hawaii town; the median home was built in 1992.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
