Siloama Church

Siloama Church built in 1871.

NPS / Glauco Puig-Santana

Quick Facts

Location:

Kalaupapa National Historical Park

Amenities

2 listed

Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Parking - Auto

In January 1866, the Hawaiian government exiled the first Hansen's disease patients into unimaginable isolation and deprivation on the Kalaupapa Peninsula. Within that first year, a church group was formed. Services were initially held on the verandahs of patients' houses. Three years later, in 1871, a church building was erected and named "Siloama" for the healing spring of Siloam where Jesus healed a blind man.

The church has undergone several restorations. In 1938 the first restoration efforts on the church began. The effort was led by Reverend Alice Kahokuoluna and members of Kaanaana Hou Church in Kalaupapa. During the restoration, Reverend Kahokuoluna discovered a vault beneath the building. It held an old church register book along with a minute-book documenting the early history of Siloama.

In 1966, the church was reconstructed. During that time, a bronze time capsule was placed in one of the church's cornerstones by members of its small congregation, to be opened in 50 years. In 2012 the time capsule was opened and found to contain a Hawaiian bible and several other documents. On July 17, 2013, members of Kaanaana Hou church (the predecessor to Siloama and based in the Kalaupapa settlement), the National Park Service, and other outside entities, witnessed the replacement of a time capsule within one of the church's cornerstones.