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The monument to the victims of tsunamiPhoto: Brocken Inaglory · CC BY-SA 3.0
–Not graded
History · Laupahoehoe

Laupahoehoe’s post office opened in 1900, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1914 on.

1900first post office
0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Brocken Inaglory · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Laupahoehoe began

When was Laupahoehoe founded?

1900

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

2020 census: 1,147126 years
Founding year: the first Laupahoehoe post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Laupahoehoe’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 Laupahoehoe are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19154 editions of the USGS map, 1915 to 1992. Watch Laupahoehoe change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Laupahoehoe’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Laupahoehoe’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
On the map

Laupahoehoe on the map, 1915 to 1992

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

Laupahoehoe on the 1915 USGS mapLaupahoehoe on the 1966 USGS mapLaupahoehoe on the 1980 USGS mapLaupahoehoe on the 1992 USGS map1915Honomu 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 Laupahoehoe.

The story

How Laupahoehoe came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Laupahoehoe.

Read it all →

On April 1, 1946, the Hawaiian Islands were struck by the so-called "April Fools Day tsunami", originating from the Aleutian Islands earthquake. Approximately 159 people in the islands were killed. The tsunami had the largest impact on the Big Island, with the greatest number of deaths occurring in Hilo with 96 fatalities. The school building at Laupāhoehoe was inundated by the tsunami and 24 people drowned. Of the dead, 16 were schoolchildren, four were teachers, and four were residents. A monument to the dead now stands on Laupāhoehoe Point.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Laupahoehoe, 1900 to 1915

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1900Post officeThe Laupahoehoe post office opens
  3. 1900Post officeThe Papaaloa post office opens
  4. 1915On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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
Every building

Laupahoehoe, building by building, 1914

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.

Laupahoehoe fire insurance map, 1914, sheet 11914Sheet 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.

Famous people

Famous people close to Laupahoehoe

Nobody well known was born in Laupahoehoe itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Robert KiyosakiAmerican finance author and investor · b. 1947
Kamehameha IIMonarch of the Hawaiian Islands · b. 1797
Ryan HigaAmerican Internet personality and actor · b. 1990
KapiolaniQueen consort of the Hawaiian Islands · b. 1834
John D. Waihee IIIAmerican politician · b. 1946
J
Jimmy FeigenAmerican swimmer · b. 1989
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Laupahoehoe’s post office has been open since 1900.

Laupahoehoe
1900–today
Papaaloa
1900–today
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
LaupāhoehoePāpaʻaloa
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Laupahoehoe
Laupahoehoe PointSaint Anthony's Catholic Church

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

Questions about Laupahoehoe’s history

What year was Laupahoehoe founded?

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

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikipedia, 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.