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B−History
History · Kula

1 of Kula’s places is on the National Register

More historic than 51% of U.S. towns · #7 of 93 in Hawaii. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Holy Ghost Catholic Church. Most of Kula was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: 4 old photos and papers and maps from 1954 on.

1on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Kula’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

About Kula’s history

How historic is Kula?

B−

More historic than 51% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Kula’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kula is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns, #7 of 93 in Hawaii. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kula’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19407.8% of homes (±5.3) · typical HI town 1.7% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register1 listing, 1.5 per 10,000 residents · typical HI town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 51%
NewerOlder
Hawaii towns of 2,500+ (93)Ahead of 93%

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 Kula’s 1.5 sits above most of its state (69% of Hawaii towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.3 points).

Founding year: our sources. 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 Kula’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 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Kula, and 4 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Kula’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewStarr 980402-1353 Thunbergia alata: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Another post office, Waiakoa, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
ʻŌmaʻopioKaʻonoʻuluPūlehuWaiakoa

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

The story so far

Kula, in brief

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

Kula is a census-designated place (CDP) of Maui, Hawaii. It stretches across Upcountry Maui, the western-facing slopes of Haleakalā. Most residential areas lie between about 500 to 1,100 m (1,600 to 3,600 ft) in elevation. The district is distinct from the generally hotter and busier coastal areas. The population of the Kula CDP at the 2020 Census was 6,942, while the larger Kula Census County Division, which includes the communities of upland Keokea and coastal Wailea and Makena, had a population of 12,864.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 6,452 to 6,942 (+8%).

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

Timeline

Kula, 1901 to 1998

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1901Post officeThe Waiakoa post office opens
  3. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1961Born hereGregory Poirier is born here
  5. 1965Post officeThe Waiakoa post office closes
  6. 1998In the archiveStarr 980402-1353 Thunbergia alata
By decade

Kula, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1990s4 items
Starr 980402-1353 Thunbergia alata1998Starr 980402-1353 Thunbergia alataStarr 980402-1354 Thunbergia alata1998Starr 980402-1354 Thunbergia alataStarr 990105-2536 Cortaderia selloana1999Starr 990105-2536 Cortaderia selloanaStarr 990105-2901 Cortaderia jubata1999Starr 990105-2901 Cortaderia jubata
Today2 recent
Starr 010419-0016 Filicium decipiens2001Starr 010419-0016 Filicium decipiensFilicium decipiens - Fern tree2001Filicium decipiens - Fern tree
On the map

Kula on the map, 1954 to 1992

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

Kula on the 1954 USGS mapKula on the 1983 USGS mapKula on the 1992 USGS map1954Puu O Kali 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 Kula.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Kula

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
1983
Holy Ghost Catholic Church
Holy Ghost Catholic Church
Buildings
Holy Ghost Catholic ChurchBuilding

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Keokea1 historic placeCPukalaniIts storyD−OlindaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMakawao2 historic placesC

Questions about Kula’s history

How does Kula rank for history?

Kula is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns, #7 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 Kula?

One place: the Holy Ghost Catholic Church (listed 1983).

How old are the homes in Kula?

8% of Kula’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 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 Wikimedia Commons (6), 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) 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.