Maui History & Cultural Activities
Museums & Historical Landmarks
West Maui
Hale Pai
History &
Information
One of the earliest Lahaina Restoration Foundation projects
was the restoration of Hale Pa’i (the house of printing). It
is located on the Lahainaluna Campus. The missionaries who
arrived in Lahaina in 1823 explained to the Hawaiian Royalty
the importance of an educational institution. Lahainaluna
Seminary was founded in 1831. It was the first school West
of the Rockies and survives today as Lahaina’s public high
school.
In 1834, an old Ramage Press was shipped from Honolulu and
installed on campus in a small thatched roof building.
Students were taught how to set type, operate the press,
create copper engravings and bind books. Text books and
teaching aids were created and continually improved. The
original press printed the first newspaper West of the Rocky
Mountains on February 14, 1834. It was a four page weekly
school paper called Ka Lama Hawaii. The students also
composed a classic tale of ancient Hawaiian life and
traditions titled Mo o olelo Hawaii. An original 1838 copy
is on display in the museum.
In 1837 work began on a new building. Fieldstone was gathered from the
surrounding hillsides. Timbers were cut from the forests on
the opposite sides of the island and laboriously hauled to
the site. Lime for mortar was made down at the seashore by
burning coral that had been chopped from offshore reefs. The
result was a strong handsome building. Hale Pa i served the
school for many years. In the mid-1960’s it was opened to
the public.
By the late 1960’s, the building had fallen into such
serious disrepair from dry rot and termites that it was no
longer used and the State declared it unsafe for occupancy.
A citizen’s movement lobbied to restore Hale Pa’i. A long
process of fund raising and political lobbying finally
resulted in Lahaina Restoration Foundation being awarded the
first outright grant in State history for the restoration of
a State owned building. The project took two years and was
completed in 1983.
