Lahaina Harbor as we know it today was originally dredged in 1955 in front of what was once known as
Lahaina Landing at the waterfront of the Old Lahaina Fort. But the Port of Lahaina goes back almost two
centuries since Lahaina was the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1820 to 1845.
It was once an important destination for the 19th century whaling fleet, whose presence at Lahaina frequently
led to conflicts with the Christian missionaries living there. On more than one occasion the conflict was so
severe that it led to the shelling of Lahaina by whaleships.
Whaling ships hunting sperm whales in the Pacific began to arrive in Hawaiʻi in 1819, and many ships anchored in
Honolulu and Lahaina. The impact of the whaling fleets on the Hawaiian Islands during the reign of Kamehameha
III (1825–1854) shaped the entire Hawaiian economy and was the primary source of income for the islands until
the discovery of oil in Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1859 and the onset of the American Civil War (1861–1865).
Ships would generally seek repairs in Honolulu, but captains preferred anchoring off Lahaina because of its easy
access from the Lahaina Roads and for the fresh provisions available in town. According to Henry L. Sheldon, "the
business of the entire population was the furnishing of supplies to whalers and entertaining the crews". Sailors
who had been hunting whales for months at a time went to Lahaina to drink grog and meet women.
By 1825 a kapu prohibiting women from going out to ships for the purpose of prostitution was proclaimed by the
Hawaiian chiefs (ali'i ). Enraged that they could not cajole, coax, or coerce Hawaiian women into violating the
kapu, the sailors turned their frustrations on the American missionaries, whom they blamed for the emergence of
this new unreasonably strict moral law.
Whalers opposed any rules governing alcohol and prostitution, and blamed missionaries for influencing the
Kingdom of Hawaii to enforce such rules. Riots broke out at least four times—in 1825, 1826, 1827, and 1843. In
the 1827 riots, sailors on the John Palmer fired their cannons at the home of missionary William Richards and
threatened the safety of the community.
Rear View of Lahaina by Edward T. Perkins circa 1854.
Queen Kaʻahumanu (1768–1832) visited Maui in February 1832, just months before she died, to support the
construction of a new fort to protect the town from whalers. With her help, Hoapili (1775–1840), Royal
Governor of Maui, built the fort on the Lahaina waterfront and it was completed within a month. The fort was
constructed from coral blocks with walls approximately 15–20 feet high topped with 47 cannons. An 1848
inventory lists 6 large cannons, 21 small cannons, 6 breech-loaders, and 8 which did not work. The fort stored
quantities of gunpowder, guns, rifles, and swords, and was used as a prison. Sailors who docked at Lahaina
were subject to a sunset curfew; it they did not return to their ship when the drums sounded they would be
imprisoned in the fort.
In 1841, American naval officer Charles Wilkes (1798–1877) visited Lahaina Fort as commanding officer of the
United States Exploring Expedition. Wilkes observed, "After the king's palace, the fort is the most conspicuous
object: it is of little account, however, as a defence, serving chiefly to confine unruly subjects and sailors in.
As the whaling industry declined and the California Gold Rush gained prominence in the late 1840s, Hawaii's
population dropped, and infectious disease epidemics contributed to the loss of local populations. The fort was
restored in 1847 but was now used more as a prison than for defending the Kingdom. The cannons were
rusting and the fort was mostly empty of personnel except for a few soldiers and the Governor of Maui who
lived there. When Henry Augustus Wise visited in 1848, he met James Young (1797–1851), then Governor of
Maui, who was living in the fort.
Wise wrote that it was: "an oddly assorted battery of some thirty pieces of artillery, of all sorts of carriages and
calibre—long, short, and mediums; they command the usual anchorage, and no doubt do very well to prevent
any acts of violence from merchant ships; but it is a question, if, at the second discharge of shot, they do not
tumble to pieces."
In the 1850s, whaling began its steep decline. The forts in the Hawaiian Islands were in poor condition due to
damage and neglect, and were either abandoned or removed. Lahaina Fort was demolished in 1854. Its coral
blocks were reused to build Hale Paʻahao, a new prison at Wainee Street and Prison Road. In 1964, the State
Parks Department placed a reconstruction of the old fort wall in the southwest corner of the park.
The Lahaina Lighthouse has been a beacon for Lahaina Harbor since
Kamehameha III commissioned it in 1840. Originally only 9 feet tall, the
top of the lighthouse held a lamp lit with whale oil harvested just off its
shore.
The Lahaina Lighthouse was not only the first navigation aid in the
Hawaiian Islands, it was the first lighthouse in the entire US Pacific since it
was first lit on November, 4, 1840.
With an increase in whaling and more ships arriving, the lighthouse grew
to a height of 26 feet in 1866 and began burning kerosene.
When Hawai‘i was annexed by the US, the harbormaster assumed
responsibility for the Lahaina Lighthouse. A new 55 foot-tall lighthouse
was constructed in 1905 and was equipped with a fresnel lens. The Coast
Guard took it over in 1916 and it was then automated with electricity in
1937.
Today the Lahaina Lighthouse is maintained by the Lahaina Restoration
Foundation. and donations are appreciated.
Oldest Pacific Lighthouse
LAHAINA HARBOR
675 Wharf Street, Lahaina, Hawaii 96761
Office: (808) 662-4060
HARBORS:
LAHAINA HARBOR HISTORY
The Old Lahaina Fort was originally built in
1831 by Hoapili, the Royal Governor of Maui.
He built the fort to protect the town from
riotous sailors when Lahaina was used as an
anchorage for the North Pacific whaling fleet.
After the fort was demolished in 1854, a
courthouse was built on the site. A portion
of the old Lahaina Fort was reconstructed in
1964. The old Lahaina Courthouse was
recognized as a contributing property of the
Lahaina Historic District in 1965, and is currently
used by the Lahaina Arts Council and the
Lahaina Historic Society.