Founding year: the first Kurtistown post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Kurtistown’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kurtistown is more historic than 2% of U.S. towns, #89 of 93 in Hawaii. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kurtistown’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 Kurtistown’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 range from D− to D. The pre-1940 share (±1.1 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 Kurtistown’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Kurtistown. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1917Hilo 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 Kurtistown.
The story so far
Kurtistown, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Kurtistown yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Kurtistown is a census-designated place (CDP) in Hawaiʻi County, Hawaiʻi, United States, in the District of Puna. As of the 2020 census, Kurtistown had a population of 2,515.
Its first post office opened in 1903. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,298 to 2,515 (+94%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
The Kurtistown post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Kurtistown rank for history?
Kurtistown is more historic than 2% of U.S. towns, #89 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 Kurtistown?
0.0% of Kurtistown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 1.7% for a Hawaii town; the median home was built in 1994.
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 (2), 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.
2021
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