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CHistory
History · Lahaina

Lahaina’s post office opened in 1900, and 6 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 33% of U.S. towns · #23 of 93 in Hawaii. What drives it

Most of Lahaina was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. 6 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Lahaina Historic District, a National Historic Landmark, and a historic district with 9 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1956 on, and the census since 1980.

1900first post office
6on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
10famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Lahaina began

When was Lahaina founded?

1900

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

First census: 6,654 in 19802020 census: 12,702126 years

How historic is Lahaina?

C

More historic than 33% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Lahaina post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Lahaina’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lahaina is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #23 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 Lahaina’s overall grade.
Founding era1900, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19403.0% of homes (±2.4) · typical HI town 1.7% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register6 listings, 13 historic buildings, 12.8 per 10,000 residents · typical HI town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 33%
NewerOlder
Hawaii towns of 2,500+ (93)Ahead of 76%

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 Lahaina’s 12.8 sits above most of its state (93% of Hawaii towns have fewer) while its 13 historic buildings outnumber those of 77% 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 (±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 Lahaina’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.A National Historic Landmark6 places on the National Register, including Lahaina Historic District, a National Historic Landmark.Lost villages8 hamlets and corners are still on the map.Famous sons and daughtersKekauōnohi, Abigail Kuaihelani Campbell and 8 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lahaina’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lahaina’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 viewAnne Alexander Dickey: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

6 historic places in Lahaina

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
6
National Historic Landmark
1
Lahaina Historic District
historic buildings protected
13
each building in a district counts
first listed
1966
Lahaina Historic District
Hale Pa'i, built 1831Wo Hing Society BuildingKing Kamehameha III's Royal Residential ComplexWilliam K. Kaluakini HouseThe Bookkeeper's House, Pioneer Mill-Lahaina Ice Co.Lahaina Historic District★
BuildingsDistrictsSites★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Vernacular1
★ Landmark
Lahaina Historic DistrictDistrict
Hale Pa'iBuilt 1831
Wo Hing Society BuildingVernacular
King Kamehameha III's Royal Residential ComplexSite
All 6 listings
William K. Kaluakini HouseBuilding · listed 2013The Bookkeeper's House, Pioneer Mill-Lahaina Ice Co.Building · listed 2025

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

Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Lahaina’s post office has been open since 1900.

Hamlets and corners on the map
KapunakeaKelaweaLahainalunaLunavilleMālaNarushi CampPuunoaWaineʻe
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lahaina
Hale AlohaHanakao'oMaria Lanakila CatholicPuehuihueikiPuʻupihaWaiola Congregational Church

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

The story

How Lahaina came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lahaina.

Read it all →

Both Lahaina and Lāhainā are correct orthography in modern Hawaiian.

Protestant missionaries sent by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) began organizing a way to write the Hawaiian language with English letters between 1820–1826 after they reached Hawaii.

"The long English sound of i is represented by ai, as in Lahaina, where the second syllable is accented, and pronounced like the English word high".

According to Thrums Hawaiian Annual of 1921 the proper pronunciation of Lahaina is La-hai-ná.

Lahaina has different pronunciations depending on how diacritical marks are applied.

ChaptersNameEarly rulersWestern contact21st century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lahaina, 1805 to 1962

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1805Born hereKekauōnohi is born here
  3. 1831BuiltHale Pa'i is built
  4. 1835Born hereWilliam Nevins Armstrong is born here
  5. 1842Born hereHenry Perrine Baldwin is born here
  6. 1858Born hereAbigail Kuaihelani Campbell is born here
  7. 20th century
  8. 1900In the archiveAnne Alexander Dickey
  9. 1900Post officeThe Lahaina post office opens
  10. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1962LandmarkLahaina Historic District named a National Historic Landmark
By decade

Lahaina, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Anne Alexander Dickey1900Anne Alexander Dickey
1910s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today5 recent
Starr-120406-4533-aerial view-Lahaina-West Maui-Maui2012Starr-120406-4533-aerial view-Lahaina-West Maui-MauiStarr 050420-0505 aerial photograph of Maui2005Starr 050420-0505 aerial photograph of MauiParadise Lahaina - Maui - Hawaii2005Paradise Lahaina - Maui - HawaiiLahaina Shops - Maui - Hawaii2005Lahaina Shops - Maui - HawaiiLahaina Pizza Company (BJ's Chicago Pizzeria) - Front Street - Lahaina Maui Hawaii2005Lahaina Pizza Company (BJ's Chicago Pizzeria) - Front…
On the map

Lahaina on the map, 1956 to 1992

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

Lahaina on the 1956 USGS mapLahaina on the 1978 USGS mapLahaina on the 1992 USGS map1956Lahaina 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 Lahaina.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Anne Alexander Dickey
Retake this viewAnne Alexander Dickey, 1900

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Lahaina’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Lahaina, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,000198020002020Peak: 12,702

Between 6,654 and 12,702 people in every census since 1980.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lahaina’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

10 famous people were born in Lahaina

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

See all →
KekauōnohiHawaiian princess and queen consort of Kamehame… · b. 1805
Abigail Kuaihelani CampbellHawaiian noblewoman · b. 1858
Henry Perrine BaldwinAmerican politician · b. 1842
William Nevins ArmstrongAuthor, Attorney General Kingdom of Hawaii · b. 1835
John Makini KapenaHawaiian politician · b. 1843
Levi HaʻaleleaHigh chief of the Hawaiian Kingdom · b. 1822
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

LauniupokoIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townKaanapaliIts storyD

Questions about Lahaina’s history

What year was Lahaina founded?

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

How does Lahaina rank for history?

Lahaina is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #23 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 Lahaina?

6 listings: 4 buildings, 1 historic district, the Lahaina Historic District, with 9 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 13 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Lahaina?

3% of Lahaina’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 1983.

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 (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.