More historic than 8% of U.S. towns · #69 of 93 in Hawaii. What drives it
Most of Kaunakakai was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: 5 old photos and papers and maps from 1952 on.
Founding year: the first Kaunakakai post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Kaunakakai’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kaunakakai is more historic than 8% of U.S. towns, #69 of 93 in Hawaii. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kaunakakai’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 Kaunakakai’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Hawaii towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be D. The pre-1940 share (±2.4 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 Kaunakakai’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In the mid-1800s, King Kamehameha V sometimes spent his summers on Moloka'i at a home in Kaunakakai. The main street of Kaunakakai, Ala Malama Avenue, was named after the king's summer home.
Around mid-1935, the song was written for the celebration of the first honorary mayor, 'The Cockeyed Mayor of Kaunakakai', during the vacation visit by Academy Award-winning Best Actor in 1929, Warner Baxter. The "election" was a seven-day celebration by the locals and Baxter's vacation party.
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.
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 Kaunakakai post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Kaunakakai rank for history?
Kaunakakai is more historic than 8% of U.S. towns, #69 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.
How old are the homes in Kaunakakai?
2% of Kaunakakai’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.4 points), against a typical 1.7% for a Hawaii town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 (18), 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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