Kaneohe’s post office opened in 1936, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 19% of U.S. towns · #41 of 93 in Hawaii. What drives it
Most of Kaneohe was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. Its Register listing is the Friendship Garden. Below: 2 old photos and papers and maps from 1954 on.
Founding year: the first Kaneohe post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Kaneohe’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kaneohe is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #41 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 Kaneohe’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 Kaneohe’s 0.3 sits near the middle of its state (57% of Hawaii towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±1.2 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 Kaneohe’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Kāneʻohe was home to the early rulers of the Hawaiian Kingdom and consisted of 30 royal fishponds.
From ancient times, Kāneʻohe was important as an agricultural area, owing to an abundance of rainfall. It was originally an agricultural area for the growing of taro and sweet potatoes.
Today, it is mostly a modernized residential and retail community, with very little agriculture in evidence. Modern commercial developments, townhome neighborhoods, and municipal structures dominate the valley floor, leaving banana orchards as the only remaining commercial crop of consequence in the area.
The Kaneohe post office opened in 1936, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Kaneohe rank for history?
Kaneohe is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #41 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 Kaneohe?
One place: the Friendship Garden (listed 2016).
How old are the homes in Kaneohe?
3% of Kaneohe’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 1.7% for a Hawaii town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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