Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Brick Palace Site
In the small park between the harbor and the library is the foundation of an old house. If
you didn't know what it was, you'd most likely pass it by. The depressed, flat slab of con-
crete in the middle of an otherwise grassy park is the foundation of what is believed to
have been the first stone building ever constructed in the Hawaiian Islands, dating to 1801
and built for Kamehameha I (who used it as a storeroom). Two ex-cons from Australia su-
pervised the construction from locally made bricks. The building eventually fell into total
disrepair.
Hauola Stone
Another site which you would normally walk right by is the
Hauola Stone,
an ancient
birthing stone which was reserved for Hawaiian royalty. At the tip of the breakwall on the
north side of Lahaina Harbor, this large, smooth stone stands out from the others along the
shoreline and is best viewed at low tide. Pregnant
ali'i
would come here to give birth in
a natural chair surrounded by the soothing waters, and it's an interesting spot to reflect on
what life was like only a short few hundred years ago.
Baldwin Missionary House
On the inland side of Front Street on the corner with Dickenson Street, you will notice the
sprawling green lawn and whitewashed front of the historic
Baldwin Missionary House
(10am-4pm daily, $7 adults, $5 seniors). Established in 1834, this restored and peaceful
property has stood since the days of the earliest missionaries, and was the home of Doctor/
Reverend Dwight Baldwin, his wife Charlotte, and their eight children. Baldwin was the
first modern doctor and dentist in Hawai'i (having studied at Harvard), and in the back of
the museum are his tools of the trade. This building also served until 1868 as a dispensary,
meeting room, and boardinghouse, and Rev. Baldwin was instrumental in not only educat-
ing scores of Hawaiian citizens, but also in helping to fight the smallpox epidemic which
struck the island in 1853. Various rooms contain period furniture and artifacts indicative
of missionary life in Lahaina, and coin collectors will appreciate the array of historic coins
that were used as legal tender in early Hawai'i, including silver bullion which was minted
in Bolivia as early as the 1500s. Entrance to the museum also covers the Wo Hing Museum
up the street, and if you purchase a $10 Passport to the Past, admission to the A&B Sugar
Museum in Kahului and the Bailey House Museum in Wailuku are also included. While
visiting in the daytime is educational enough, for a true experience of missionary life, take
part in a candlelit tour 6pm-8:30pm every Friday evening.
