Kilauea’s post office opened in 1900, and 6 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 42% of U.S. towns · #10 of 93 in Hawaii. What drives it
Most of Kilauea was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. 6 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 5 buildings. Below: maps from 1963 on.
Founding year: the first Kilauea post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Kilauea’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kilauea is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #10 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 Kilauea’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 Kilauea’s 47.7 sits above most of its state (98% of Hawaii towns have fewer) while its 15 historic buildings outnumber those of 78% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.5 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 Kilauea’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
The story so far
Kilauea, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Kilauea yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Kīlauea is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Kauaʻi County, Hawaii, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 3,014. Kīlauea shares the name of the active volcano Kīlauea on the island of Hawaii. The name translates to "spewing" or "much spreading" in the Hawaiian language.
Its first post office opened in 1900. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,803 to 3,014 (+8%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Kilauea, 1900 to 1963
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Kilauea post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Kilauea rank for history?
Kilauea is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #10 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 Kilauea?
6 listings: 5 buildings and 1 historic district, the Daniel K. Inouye Kilauea Point Lighthouse, with 5 contributing buildings. 15 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Kilauea?
7% of Kilauea’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.5 points), against a typical 1.7% for a Hawaii town; the median home was built in 1985.
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 National Register of Historic Places (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.
