A Little Lahaina History Lesson

Lahaina has a long history, with the arrival of Polynesian Settlers between 300 and 700 AD. Captain James Cook arrived in 1778.  In 1802 King Kamehameha makes Lahaina the Capital of Hawaii and it remained so until 1845.  In the 1820s over 100 Whaling ships would visit Lahaina annually.  The Missionaries arrived in Maui in 1821 and started to build schools and churches.  The Missionaries also developed the Hawaiian alphabet. Before this, the Hawaiians had no written language. The original Lahaina Harbor Light House was built in 1840.  It was rebuilt two more times and in 1905 the lighthouse was rebuilt for the last time and is now 26 feet tall. In 1873 the Lahaina Banyan Tree was planted.  By the 1850s over 400 ships made port in Lahaina. With the advent of petroleum, Whaling Ships were almost entirely obsolete by 1925.  In 1901 The pioneer Hotel was built and this was the beginning of tourism in Lahaina.  From the 1920s to the 1960s people moved away from Lahaina.  The pineapple and sugar cane trade was all that remained.  In the 1960s an effort to list Lahaina on the National Register. Since then Lahaina had developed into the historical tourist town it is today.