Architecture of Kalawao

Early picture of Kalawao.

NPS archives.

There has never been a "Parade of Homes" tour in Kalaupapa, but perhaps there will be some day. The settlement has a lot to offer serious students of architecture as well as visitors touring for the day. Kalaupapa has a wide range of structures, built from the 1910s to the 1960s, most in plantation Hawaiian style. The history of the settlement can be told through its buildings.

 

Kalawao

 

Early picture of Kalawao.

NPS archives.

In 1865 the Kingdom of Hawai`i set aside an isolation settlement for Hansen’s disease patients at Kalawao, on the eastern side of the Kalaupapa Peninsula. At its height in 1890, Kalawao was a large community, consisting of about 325 frame structures that provided homes and services to around 1,100 patients. The houses provided protection against the weather, and Father Damien, with the help of patients, was responsible for building about 300 of them. Today scattered building foundations, stone walls, cemeteries, and two churches, Siloama Congregational Church and St. Philomena Catholic Church, are all that remain of this once populous community.

 

St. Philomena Catholic Church.

NPS photo.

Click here for more views of St. Philomena Church including links to a panoramic view of the church interior.