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History · Punaluu

Punaluu’s post office opened in 1903

Most of Punaluu was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: 3 old photos and papers and maps from 1954 on.

1903first post office
0on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Punaluu’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Punaluu began

When was Punaluu founded?

1903

The Punaluu post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 1,374123 years
Founding year: the first Punaluu post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Punaluu’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 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Punaluu’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Punaluu’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo2 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewBeach house, palm trees, the Pacific Oc…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Punaluu, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Punaluu yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Its first post office opened in 1903. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,164 to 1,374 (+18%).

Timeline

Punaluu, 1903 to 1996

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1903Post officeThe Punaluu post office opens
  3. 1923Post officeThe Punaluu post office closes
  4. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1996In the archiveBeach house, palm trees, the Pacific Ocean, Punaluu, Oahu
By decade

Punaluu, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1990s1 item
Beach house, palm trees, the Pacific Ocean, Punaluu, Oahu1996Beach house, palm trees, the Pacific Ocean, Punaluu, …
Date unknown2 to date
Hawaiian marshDate?Hawaiian marshPunalu'u - Green Sea Turtle2Date?Punalu'u - Green Sea Turtle2
On the map

Punaluu on the map, 1954 to 1992

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

Punaluu on the 1954 USGS mapPunaluu on the 1967 USGS mapPunaluu on the 1978 USGS mapPunaluu on the 1983 USGS mapPunaluu on the 1992 USGS map1954Kahana 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 Punaluu.

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.

Hawaiian marsh
Retake this viewHawaiian marsh

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Punaluu had its own post office from 1903 to 1923.

Punaluu
1903–1923
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Punaluʻu

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

HauulaIts storyD

Questions about Punaluu’s history

What year was Punaluu founded?

The Punaluu post office opened in 1903, 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 Wikimedia Commons (3), 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.