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Kapalua-molokai-view2-npPhoto: Andwhatsnext at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
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History · Kapalua

Half of Kapalua’s homes were built after 1978

Most of Kapalua was built recently: 0.2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: maps from 1956 on.

0on the National Register
0.2%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Andwhatsnext at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0

What stands out about Kapalua’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Kapalua are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Kapalua, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Kapalua’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Honalua
1900–today
Honolua
1901–1902
Honokohau
1902–1955
Honokohua
1955–1957
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
HonokahuaHonolua

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

The story so far

Kapalua, in brief

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

Kapalua (Hawaiian for 'two borders') is a census-designated place (CDP) in Maui County, Hawaiʻi, United States. A resort development by the Maui Land & Pineapple Company extends inland from Kapalua Bay and Honolua Bay. The population was 495 at the 2020 census.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 353 to 495 (+40%).

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

Timeline

Kapalua, 1900 to 1956

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1900Post officeThe Honalua post office opens
  3. 1901Post officeThe Honolua post office opens
  4. 1902Post officeThe Honolua post office closes
  5. 1902Post officeThe Honokohau post office opens
  6. 1955Post officeThe Honokohau post office closes
  7. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Kapalua, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Coastline2009CoastlineCliffside2009CliffsideStarr 070515-6983 aerial photograph of Maui2007Starr 070515-6983 aerial photograph of MauiStarr 070515-6980 aerial photograph of Maui2007Starr 070515-6980 aerial photograph of MauiKapalua-molokai-view2-np2007Kapalua-molokai-view2-npKapalua Coast2006Kapalua Coast
On the map

Kapalua on the map, 1956 to 1997

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

Kapalua on the 1956 USGS mapKapalua on the 1983 USGS mapKapalua on the 1997 USGS map1956Honolua sheet · 1:24,000

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Kapalua

Nobody well known was born in Kapalua itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Danny OngaisRacecar driver · b. 1942
KeōpūolaniQueen consort of Hawaiʻi and the highest rankin… · b. 1778
E
Eddie AikauHawaiian surfer and lifeguard · b. 1946
K
Kurt SuzukiAmerican baseball player and manager · b. 1983
Shane VictorinoBaseball player from the United States · b. 1980
Shan TsutsuiAmerican politician · b. 1971
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Napili-HonokowaiIts storyD−

Questions about Kapalua’s history

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.