The Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...
, was established in 1920 by the Hawaiian Mission Children's Society, a private, non-profit organization and genealogical society, on the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the first
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
missionaries
A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
in Hawaii. In 1962, the
Mission Houses, together with
Kawaiahao Church, both built by those early missionaries, were designated a U.S.
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
(NHL) under the combined name
Kawaiahao Church and Mission Houses. In 1966 all the NHLs were included in the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.
The Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives collects, preserves, interprets, and exhibits documents, artifacts, and other records of Hawaii's "missionary" period from about 1820 to 1863. It interprets its historic site and collections and makes these collections available for research, educational purposes, and public enjoyment. The archive's collection holds over 3,000 Hawaiian, Western, and Pacific artifacts, and more than 12,000 books, manuscripts, original letters, diaries, journals, illustrations and Hawaiian church records. The historic site and archive is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The general admission charge is $12, with discounts for students, seniors, and the military.
Houses
The evolution of Mission House architecture illustrates the progressive adaptation of missionaries from
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
to the climate, culture, and building materials they encountered in the
Sandwich Islands.
Oldest Frame House
The materials to build the Oldest Frame House (Ka Hale Lāau 'the wood house') arrived by ship around
Cape Horn
Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramírez ...
from
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
in 1821. They had already been measured and cut, ready to assemble into a frame house suitable for the climate of New England: with small windows to help keep the heat inside and short eaves so as not to risk cracking under a load of snow.
Though principally occupied by the seven members of Daniel Chamberlain's family, it often housed as many as five other missionary families, along with occasional ailing sailors or orphans. The small parlor served as a schoolhouse, and the basement served as the dining hall. The cookhouse was a separate building.
Chamberlain House
The Chamberlain House (Ka Hale Kamalani) was built in 1831 from materials procured locally: coral blocks cut from reefs offshore and lumber salvaged from ships. Designed by the mission's quartermaster, Levi Chamberlain, to hold supplies as well as people, it had two stories, an
attic
An attic (sometimes referred to as a '' loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building; an attic may also be called a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because attics fill the space between the ceiling of the ...
, and a
cellar. The windows are larger, more numerous, and shuttered against the sun. The building now serves as the main exhibition hall for the Museum.
Print House
In 1841, a covered porch and balcony were added to the frame house, and an extra bedroom was built next door out of coral blocks. Both additions show further adaptation to an indoor-outdoor lifestyle appropriate to the climate. The extra coral building later became the mission's Print House (Ka Hale Pai) and now serves as a museum exhibit to show how the missionaries and native Hawaiians worked together to produce the first materials printed in the
Hawaiian language
Hawaiian (', ) is a Polynesian language of the Austronesian language family that takes its name from Hawaii, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language o ...
.
Gallery
Image:Honolulu-Mission-Houses-Bingham.JPG, The Oldest Frame House (Ka Hale Lāau 'the wood house'), 1821
Image:Honolulu-Mission-Houses-Chamberlain.JPG, The Chamberlain House (Ka Hale Kamalani), 1831
Image:Honolulu-Mission-Houses-Press.JPG, The Print House (Ka Hale Pai), 1841
See also
*
List of the oldest buildings in Hawaii
References
* Sandler, Rob, Julie Mehta, and Frank S. Haines (2008). ''Architecture in Hawai'i: A Chronological Survey,'' new edition. Honolulu: Mutual Publishing.
* Simpson, MacKinnon (1998). ''Museum Homes of Honolulu: A Guidebook.'' Honolulu: Mission Houses Museum.
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Museums in Honolulu
Institutions accredited by the American Alliance of Museums
Museums established in 1920
Hawaiian architecture
History museums in Hawaii
National Historic Landmarks in Hawaii
1920 establishments in Hawaii
National Register of Historic Places in Honolulu