Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 16% of U.S. towns · #46 of 93 in Hawaii. What drives it
Below: maps from 1963 on.
The Lawai post office opened in 1949, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 16% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lawai is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #46 of 93 in Hawaii. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Lawai’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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lawai’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Lawai yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Lāwaʻi is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kauaʻi County in the U.S. state of Hawaiʻi. The population was 2,718 at the 2024 census, up from 1,984 at the 2000 census.
Its first post office opened in 1949. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,363 to 2,578 (+9%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lawai. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lawai.
Lawai’s post office has been open since 1949.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Lawai post office opened in 1949, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Lawai is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #46 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.
11% of Lawai’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.1 points), against a typical 1.7% for a Hawaii town; the median home was built in 1983.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (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.
2021
