Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 5% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Kaanapali was built recently: 0.7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Below: maps from 1956 on.
The Kaanapali post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 5% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kaanapali is more historic than 5% of U.S. towns. 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 Kaanapali’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 Kaanapali’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Kaanapali.
Amfac, Inc. started to develop Kaanapali Beach Resort in the 1960s, on mile-long Kaanapali Beach on the western shore of Maui, a couple miles north of the old whaling town of Lahaina. Since that time, many more hotels and condos have been built both on Kaanapali Beach and for several miles up and down the coast, and Lahaina has turned into a tourist shopping area.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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 Kaanapali. 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 Kaanapali.
Nobody well known was born in Kaanapali itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Kaanapali had its own post office from 1902 to 1907.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Kaanapali post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Kaanapali is more historic than 5% of U.S. towns. 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.
0.7% of Kaanapali’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 1.7% for a Hawaii town; the median home was built in 1981.
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.
