Greenwell Store · Photo: W Nowicki · CC BY 3.0

History · Kealakekua

Kealakekua’s post office opened in 1900, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 38% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Greenwell Store. Below: maps from 1921 on.

1900first post office

1on the National Register

12%homes built before 1940

6famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

Quick answers

How Kealakekua began

When was Kealakekua founded?

1900

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

2020 census: 2,307126 years

How historic is Kealakekua?

C⁺

More historic than 38% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Kealakekua post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

History grade

What drives Kealakekua’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kealakekua is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C⁺

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kealakekua’s overall grade.

Founding era1900, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsD Homes built before 194011.5% of homes (±9.3) · typical HI town 1.7% · U.S. 8.4%B⁻National Register1 listing, 5.2 per 10,000 residents · typical HI town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B⁺

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 38%

NewerOlder

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 Kealakekua’s 5.2 sits above most of its state (81% 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 C− to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.3 points). 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 Kealakekua’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 Kealakekua are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages4 hamlets and corners are still on the map.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Kealakekua’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Kealakekua’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

Old corners

Kealakekua’s post office has been open since 1900.

Hamlets and corners on the map

KainaliuMonohaaOnouliWaihou

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

The story so far

Kealakekua, in brief

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

Kealakekua is a census-designated place (CDP) in Hawaiʻi County, Hawaiʻi, United States. As of the 2020 census, Kealakekua had a population of 2,307. It was the subject of the 1933 popular song "My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua, Hawaii" by Bill Cogswell, Tommy Harrison and Johnny Noble, which became a Hawaiian music standard.

Its first post office opened in 1900. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,019 to 2,307 (+14%).

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

Timeline

Kealakekua, 1900 to 1989

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

20th century
1900Post officeThe Kealakekua post office opens
1928On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1973Born hereDouglas A. Zembiec is born here
1978Born hereBrandon Cablay is born here
1980Born hereKeitani Graham is born here
1989Born hereBrandon Hardin is born here

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.

Add from your album

On the map

Kealakekua on the map, 1928 to 1996

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

1928Kailua 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 Kealakekua.

Every building

Kealakekua, building by building, 1921

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Kealakekua fire insurance map, 1921, sheet 1

1921Sheet 1 of 1

Sheets

BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Kealakekua

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

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1978

Greenwell Store

Buildings

Greenwell StoreBuilding

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

Famous people

6 famous people were born in Kealakekua

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

Keitani GrahamOlympic wrestler · b. 1980

Brandon CablayFilipino-American basketball player · b. 1978

Brandon HardinAmerican football player · b. 1989

Douglas A. ZembiecUnited States Marine Corps officer · b. 1973

Charles KekumanoAmerican priest · b. 1919

Keala KeanaainaAmerican football player · b. 1977

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

HonaloIts storyC Captain Cook2 historic placesC⁺Kahaluu-Keauhou4 historic placesC⁺

Questions about Kealakekua’s history

What year was Kealakekua founded?

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

How does Kealakekua rank for history?

Kealakekua is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns. 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 Kealakekua?

One place: the Greenwell Store (listed 1978).

How old are the homes in Kealakekua?

12% of Kealakekua’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.3 points), against a typical 1.7% for a Hawaii town; the median home was built in 1980.

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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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