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C+History
History · Haleiwa

Haleiwa’s post office opened in 1901, and 3 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 42% of U.S. towns · #11 of 93 in Hawaii. What drives it

Most of Haleiwa was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. Its Register listings are the Waialua Fire Station, the Kawailoa Ryusenji Temple and the Waialua School. Below: 10 old photos and papers and maps from 1953 on.

1901first post office
3on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
10old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Haleiwa’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Haleiwa began

When was Haleiwa founded?

1901

The Haleiwa post office opened in 1901, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 4,941125 years

How historic is Haleiwa?

C+

More historic than 42% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Haleiwa post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Haleiwa’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Haleiwa is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #11 of 93 in Hawaii. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Haleiwa’s overall grade.
Founding era1901, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19408.6% of homes (±5.5) · typical HI town 1.7% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register3 listings, 6 historic buildings, 12.1 per 10,000 residents · typical HI town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 42%
NewerOlder
Hawaii towns of 2,500+ (93)Ahead of 89%

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 Haleiwa’s 12.1 sits above most of its state (92% of Hawaii towns have fewer) while its 6 historic buildings outnumber those of 72% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 →

What stands out about Haleiwa’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages4 hamlets and corners are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Haleiwa had its own post office from 1901 to 1923.

Haleiwa
1901–1923
Haleiwa
1949–today
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
HaleʻiwaKamoʻoloaKapaeloaKawailoa Beach
Gone or out of use
Ashley StationlocaleHaleiwa Landing Fieldairport

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Haleiwa came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Haleiwa.

Read it all →

In 1898 a businessman named Benjamin Dillingham opened a hotel in the North Shore area and named it Haleʻiwa. In the Hawaiian language, hale means 'house', and the ʻiwa means 'frigatebird'. He also built a railway line from Honolulu to Waialua along the west coast around Kaena Point, which opened the same year and ended in front of his hotel. The railroad inaugurated a passenger train, the Haleiwa Limited, which took two hours for this trip. This railroad was chartered as the Oahu Railway and Land Company.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Haleiwa, 1898 to 1953

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1898In the archiveHaleiwa Hotel, photograph by Frank Davey
  3. 20th century
  4. 1901Post officeThe Haleiwa post office opens
  5. 1902In the archiveHaleiwa Hotel, Honolulu [i.e., Haleiwa town, Honolulu County]
  6. 1917In the archiveHawaii
  7. 1923Post officeThe Haleiwa post office closes
  8. 1933In the archiveHaleiwa Fighter Strip - Hawaii - 1933
  9. 1949Post officeThe Haleiwa post office opens
  10. 1953On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Haleiwa, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s–1900s5 items
Haleiwa Hotel, photograph by Frank Davey1898Haleiwa Hotel, photograph by Frank DaveyInterior of Haleiwa Hotel, photograph by Frank Davey1898Interior of Haleiwa Hotel, photograph by Frank DaveyHaleiwa Hotel, Honolulu [i.e., Haleiwa town, Honolulu County]1902Haleiwa Hotel, Honolulu [i.e., Haleiwa town, Honolulu…Haleiwa Hotel, Honolulu1902Haleiwa Hotel, HonoluluHaleiwa Hotel, Honolulu21902Haleiwa Hotel, Honolulu2
1910s–1930s5 items
Hawaii1917HawaiiHawaii1917HawaiiHaleiwa Fighter Strip - Hawaii - 19331933Haleiwa Fighter Strip - Hawaii - 1933Hawaii1935HawaiiHawaii1935Hawaii
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today2 recent
Nord shore2002Nord shoreFord Model B near Aloha General and Shave Ice stores at Haleiwa, Oahu, Hawaii, United States of America, Winter, 20022002Ford Model B near Aloha General and Shave Ice stores …
On the map

Haleiwa on the map, 1953 to 1999

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Haleiwa. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Haleiwa on the 1953 USGS mapHaleiwa on the 1960 USGS mapHaleiwa on the 1977 USGS mapHaleiwa on the 1983 USGS mapHaleiwa on the 1999 USGS map1953Haleiwa sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Haleiwa.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Haleiwa Hotel, photograph by Frank Davey
Retake this viewHaleiwa Hotel, photograph by Frank Davey, 1898

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Haleiwa’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in Haleiwa

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
6
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Kawailoa Ryusenji Temple
Waialua Fire StationKawailoa Ryusenji TempleWaialua School
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Mission/Spanish Revival1
Japanese Plantation Temple1
Spanish Mission Style1
Waialua Fire StationMission/Spanish Revival
All 3 listings
Kawailoa Ryusenji TempleBuilding · listed 1978Waialua SchoolBuilding · listed 1980

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Help out

Finish Haleiwa’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHaleiwa Hotel, photograph by Frank Davey: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

WaialuaIts storyC−Pupukea1 historic placeC+

Questions about Haleiwa’s history

What year was Haleiwa founded?

The Haleiwa post office opened in 1901, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Haleiwa rank for history?

Haleiwa is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #11 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.

What is on the National Register in Haleiwa?

Three places: the Waialua Fire Station (listed 1980), the Kawailoa Ryusenji Temple (1978) and the Waialua School (1980).

How old are the homes in Haleiwa?

9% of Haleiwa’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 1.7% for a Hawaii town; the median home was built in 1973.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 Wikimedia Commons (12), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.