On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Urban Honolulu is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns, #1 of 93 in Hawaii. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Urban Honolulu’s overall grade.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Urban Honolulu ranks #193 on History.
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 Urban Honolulu’s 5.2 sits above most of its state (82% of Hawaii towns have fewer) while its 181 historic buildings outnumber those of 93% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±0.5 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: our sources. 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 Urban Honolulu’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. 4 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
Battery BirkhimermilitaryBattery DodgemilitaryBattery DudleymilitaryBattery HarlowmilitaryBattery HulingsmilitaryBattery RandolphmilitaryBattery S C MillsmilitaryBattery TiernonmilitaryBethel Missionary Baptist ChurchchurchBishop Wing Queens Medical CenterhospitalCamp McKinleymilitaryChiefs Childrens SchoolschoolHakaleleponi PukalocaleHale AkalabuildingHalehui PalacebuildingHalekauwila PalacebuildingHaleuluhe PalacebuildingHoihoikeabuilding
20cemeteries and burying grounds inside Urban Honolulu
Diamond Head Memorial ParkHonolulu Memorial ParkKauilani PortugueseKawaiahao ChurchKawaihao ManoaKet On Society ChineseKing Street CatholicMaʻemaʻe ChapelMakikiManoa ChineseMo’ili’ili JapaneseNational Memorial Cemetery of the PacificNuuanu Memorial Park and MortuaryOʻahu Cemetery and CrematoryPauoa Chinese ChristianPauoa HawaiianPu'ukamali'iPueaRoyal MausoleumYee King Tong
See all 20
Diamond Head Memorial Park · Honolulu Memorial Park · Kauilani Portuguese Cemetery · Kawaiahao Church Cemetery · Kawaihao Manoa Cemetery · Ket On Society Chinese Cemetery · King Street Catholic Cemetery · Maʻemaʻe Chapel Cemetery · Makiki Cemetery · Manoa Chinese Cemetery · Mo’ili’ili Japanese Cemetery · National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific · Nuuanu Memorial Park and Mortuary · Oʻahu Cemetery and Crematory · Pauoa Chinese Christian Cemetery · Pauoa Hawaiian Cemetery · Pu'ukamali'i Cemetery · Puea Cemetery · Royal Mausoleum · Yee King Tong Cemetery
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Urban Honolulu’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Urban Honolulu’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Urban Honolulu. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1953Honolulu 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 Urban Honolulu.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Urban Honolulu is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns, #1 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 Urban Honolulu?
92 listings, 4 of them National Historic Landmarks: 79 buildings, among them the Iolani Palace (a National Historic Landmark since 1962), 9 historic districts with 60 contributing buildings, 1 site, and 3 structures. 181 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Urban Honolulu?
5% of Urban Honolulu’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.7% for a Hawaii town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (92), 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.
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On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
