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Kalapana house destroyed by lavaPhoto: United States Geological Survey · Public domain
–Not graded
History · Kalapana

Kalapana’s post office opened in 1900

Most of Kalapana was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2004. Below: 6 old photos and papers and maps from 1924 on.

1900first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Kalapana’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Kalapana began

When was Kalapana founded?

1900

The Kalapana post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 167126 years
Founding year: the first Kalapana post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Kalapana’s past

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

On the map since 19244 editions of the USGS map, 1924 to 1994. Watch Kalapana change.
★ What stands out · On the map

Kalapana on the map, 1924 to 1994

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

Kalapana on the 1924 USGS mapKalapana on the 1966 USGS mapKalapana on the 1981 USGS mapKalapana on the 1994 USGS map1924Kalapana sheet · 1:62,500

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

The story so far

Kalapana, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Kalapana yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Kalapana (Hawaiian for 'announce noted place') is a town and a region in the Puna District on the Island of Hawaiʻi in the Hawaiian Islands. The town was the original location of the Star of the Sea Painted Church. In 1990, lava flows from the Kūpaʻianahā vent of Kīlauea destroyed and partly buried most of the town, as well as Kalapana Gardens and nearby Royal Gardens subdivisions. The lava flow that destroyed Kalapana erupted from the southeast rift zone of Kīlauea. Along with the destruction of Kalapana were those of the nearby town of Kaimū and Kaimū Bay, both of which now lie buried beneath more than 50 feet (15 meters) of lava. The lava flow created a new coastline. In July 2010, lava …

Its first post office opened in 1900.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Kalapana, 1900 to 1973

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1900Post officeThe Kalapana post office opens
  3. 1910Post officeThe Kalapana post office closes
  4. 1923Post officeThe Kalapana post office opens
  5. 1924On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1930Post officeThe Kalapana post office closes
  7. 1950In the archive(Waves at Kalapana beach on Hawaii Island, United States) - DPLA - 872a83087fdda437cfe51d…
  8. 1973In the archiveCLOSED-OFF AREA EARMARKED FOR DEVELOPMENT. THE LAND USE COMMISSION HAS RECENTLY AWARDED D…
By decade

Kalapana, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1950s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1950s–1970s6 items
(Waves at Kalapana beach on Hawaii Island, United States) - DPLA - 872a83087fdda437cfe51d7c8d807d2d1950(Waves at Kalapana beach on Hawaii Island, United Sta…Kalapana Park, Hawaii Visitors Bureau Marker 19591959Kalapana Park, Hawaii Visitors Bureau Marker 1959CLOSED-OFF AREA EARMARKED FOR DEVELOPMENT. THE LAND USE COMMISSION HAS RECENTLY AWARDED DEVELOPERS A SPECIAL PERMIT... …1973CLOSED-OFF AREA EARMARKED FOR DEVELOPMENT. THE LAND U…CLOSED-OFF AREA EARMARKED FOR DEVELOPMENT. THE LAND USE COMMISSION HAS RECENTLY AWARDED DEVELOPERS A SPECIAL PERMIT... …1973CLOSED-OFF AREA EARMARKED FOR DEVELOPMENT. THE LAND U…CLOSED-OFF AREA EARMARKED FOR DEVELOPMENT. THE LAND USE COMMISSION HAS RECENTLY AWARDED DEVELOPERS A SPECIAL PERMIT... …1973CLOSED-OFF AREA EARMARKED FOR DEVELOPMENT. THE LAND U…DEVELOPERS SIGN, EVIDENCE OF LAND SPECULATION IN PUNA AREA NEAR KALAPANA. VOLCANIC SOIL AND ARID CONDITIONS INHABIT... …1973DEVELOPERS SIGN, EVIDENCE OF LAND SPECULATION IN PUNA…
1980s–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
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.

(Waves at Kalapana beach on Hawaii Island, United States) - DPLA - 872a83087fdda437cfe51d7c8d807d2d
Retake this view(Waves at Kalapana beach on Hawaii Island, United States) - DPLA - 872a83087fdda437cfe51d7c8d807d2d, 1950

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Kalapana had its own post office from 1900 to 1910. Another post office, Kalapana, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Kalapana
1900–1910
Kalapana
1923–1930
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Kaimū

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

Help out

Finish Kalapana’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view(Waves at Kalapana beach on Hawaii Isla…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Kalapana’s history

What year was Kalapana founded?

The Kalapana post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), 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.