More historic than 4% of U.S. towns · #88 of 93 in Hawaii. What drives it
Most of Pukalani was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: 6 old photos and papers and maps from 1954 on.
Founding year: the first Pukalani post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Pukalani’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pukalani is more historic than 4% of U.S. towns, #88 of 93 in Hawaii. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Pukalani’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 Pukalani’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 (±1.7 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 →
The story so far
Pukalani, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Pukalani yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Pukalani is a census-designated place (CDP) in Maui County, Hawaiʻi, United States. The population was 8,299 at the 2020 census. The western volcano-slope region of Haleakalā, including nearby Makawao and Kula, is referred to as Upcountry Maui by locals, and is one of the four major population centers on Maui (the other three being Kahului, Lahaina and Kīhei, all of which are at sea level).
Its first post office opened in 1950. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 7,574 to 8,299 (+10%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Pukalani, 1902 to 1998
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Pukalani post office opened in 1950, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Pukalani rank for history?
Pukalani is more historic than 4% of U.S. towns, #88 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 Pukalani?
1% of Pukalani’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 points), against a typical 1.7% for a Hawaii town; the median home was built in 1987.
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), 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.
1968
1998
1998
1998
