Kahului’s post office opened in 1900, and 2 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 18% of U.S. towns · #43 of 93 in Hawaii. What drives it
Most of Kahului was built recently: 0.8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Its Register listings are the Puunene School and the Kahului Railroad Administration Building. Below: 2 old photos and papers from 1866 on.
Founding year: the first Kahului post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Kahului’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kahului is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #43 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 Kahului’s overall grade.
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 Kahului’s 0.7 sits near the middle of its state (61% of Hawaii towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to C. The pre-1940 share (±0.6 points) is firm at this size. 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 Kahului’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Ah Fong VillageAlabama VillageMcGerrow VillagePuʻunēnēSam Sing VillageSpanish B VillageVillage EightVillage FiveVillage FourYung Hee Village
Gone or out of use
Puunene HospitalhospitalWalbridge Ditchcanal
1cemetery inside Kahului
Kahului Catholic
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Kahului, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Kahului yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Kahului (Hawaiian pronunciation: [kəhuˈluwi]) is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Maui County in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It hosts the county's main airport (Kahului Airport), a deep-draft harbor, light industrial areas, and commercial shopping centers. The population was 28,219 at the 2020 census. Kahului is part of the Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina Metropolitan Statistical Area which comprises all of Maui County, including nearby Wailuku and the West Maui town of Lahaina. Kahului is a retail center for Maui County and contains several shopping centers, including the Queen Kaahumanu Center. Attractions in Kahului include the Alexander & Baldwin Sugar Museum, Kanaha P…
Its first post office opened in 1900. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 26,337 to 28,219 (+7%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Kahului, 1866 to 1946
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
The Kahului post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Kahului rank for history?
Kahului is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #43 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 Kahului?
Two places: the Puunene School (listed 2000) and the Kahului Railroad Administration Building (2016).
How old are the homes in Kahului?
0.8% of Kahului’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.7% for a Hawaii town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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