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C−History
History · Kapaa

Kapaa’s post office opened in 1901, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 19% of U.S. towns · #40 of 93 in Hawaii. What drives it

Most of Kapaa was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Its Register listing is the Seto Building. Below: 1 old photo or paper.

1901first post office
1on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Kapaa’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Kapaa began

When was Kapaa founded?

1901

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

2020 census: 11,652125 years

How historic is Kapaa?

C−

More historic than 19% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Kapaa’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kapaa is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #40 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 Kapaa’s overall grade.
Founding era1901, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19402.1% of homes (±2.2) · typical HI town 1.7% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register1 listing, 0.9 per 10,000 residents · typical HI town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 19%
NewerOlder
Hawaii towns of 2,500+ (93)Ahead of 58%

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 Kapaa’s 0.9 sits near the middle of its state (64% 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 (±2.2 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 Kapaa’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Kapaa’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Kapaa’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewKapaa School, Auditorium, Kawaihau Road…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Kapaa, in brief

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

Kapaʻa (Kauaʻi dialect: Tapaʻa) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Kauaʻi County, Hawaiʻi, United States. It is the most populous town in the island of Kauai, with a population of 11,652 as of the 2020 census, up from 9,471 at the 2000 census. Kapaʻa is a Hawaiian word meaning "the solid one". It is formed from ka (the) and pa'a (solid). Notable people from Kapaʻa include Lokalia Montgomery.

Its first post office opened in 1901. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 10,699 to 11,652 (+9%).

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

Timeline

Kapaa, 1901 to 1930

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1901Post officeThe Kapaa post office opens
  3. 1905Post officeThe Kapaa post office closes
  4. 1918Post officeThe Kapaa post office opens
  5. 1930Born hereRay Yoshida is born here
By decade

Kapaa, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Kapaa School, Auditorium, Kawaihau Road & Maailihuna RoadDate?Kapaa School, Auditorium, Kawaihau Road & Maailihuna …
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.

Kapaa School, Auditorium, Kawaihau Road & Maailihuna Road
Retake this viewKapaa School, Auditorium, Kawaihau Road & Maailihuna Road

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Kapaa

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
Seto Building
Buildings
Seto BuildingBuilding

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Kapaa had its own post office from 1901 to 1905.

Kapaa
1901–1905
Kapaa
1918–today
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
KapahiKapaʻaKawaihau
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Kapaa
All Saints Episcopal ChurchKapaa - KealiaKapaa ChineseKapaa First Hawaiian ChurchKapaʻa Public

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Wailua Homesteads2 historic placesCWailua2 historic placesB

Questions about Kapaa’s history

What year was Kapaa founded?

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

How does Kapaa rank for history?

Kapaa is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #40 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 Kapaa?

One place: the Seto Building (listed 1979).

How old are the homes in Kapaa?

2% of Kapaa’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.2 points), against a typical 1.7% for a Hawaii town; the median home was built in 1984.

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 the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.