Honokaa is a
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...
(CDP) in the
Hamakua District of
Hawaii County
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
,
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
, United States. The population was 2,699 at the
2020 census.
Geography
Honokaa is located on the north side of the island of
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
at (20.077617, -155.464074).
Hawaii Route 19
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
runs through the southern part of the community, leading southeast to
Hilo and west to
Waimea.
Hawaii Route 240 branches off Route 19 and runs through the center of Honokaa, then continues west to its terminus at the
Waipio Valley
Waipio Valley is a valley located in the Hamakua District of the Big Island of Hawaii. "Waipio" means "curved water" in the Hawaiian language.
The valley was the capital and permanent residence of many early Hawaiian Aliʻi (chiefs/kings) up ...
lookout.
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...
, the CDP has a total area of , all of it land.
Demographics
2000 Census data
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
of 2000, there were 2,233 people, 761 households, and 563 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 835 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 25.03%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...
, 0.09%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.04%
Native American, 42.86%
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 3.94%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...
, 1.03% from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 27.00% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...
or
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 9.63% of the population.
There were 761 households, out of which 29.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.1% were
married couples living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.9% were non-families. 23.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.88 and the average family size was 3.37.
In the CDP the population was spread out, with 25.2% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 24.4% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 21.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.4 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $41,964, and the median income for a family was $45,962. Males had a median income of $28,359 versus $23,750 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the CDP was $17,226. About 6.0% of families and 9.6% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 11.5% of those under age 18 and 4.5% of those age 65 or over.
History
Honokaa's economy was based primarily on the sugar production of the Hāmākua Sugar Company from 1873 to 1994. With the closing of the Honokaa sugar production and the most recent staggered tourism, the local economy has been in decline. It has become increasingly a bedroom community for
Hilo. As the gateway to the
Hāmākua Coast, Honokaa provides the first unobstructed view of the Pacific Ocean traveling downslope from
Waimea.
The Hāmākua Coast was the classic plantation community in the early 20th century, but since the closing of the Big Island's sugar industry, the district has had to diversify its economy. Presently, with much of the district still zoned for agriculture, Hāmākua has seen rising prospects in other crops including
pineapple
The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuri ...
s,
coffee
Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world.
Seeds of ...
,
papaya,
macadamia
''Macadamia'' is a genus of four species of trees in the flowering plant family Proteaceae. They are indigenous to Australia, native to northeastern New South Wales and central and southeastern Queensland specifically. Two species of the genus ...
nuts, and
tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of ''Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...
.
People
Honokaa is the home of the fourth
governor of Hawaii
The governor of Hawaii ( haw, Ke Kiaʻaina o Hawaiʻi) is the head of government of the U.S. state of Hawaii and its various agencies and departments, as provided in the Hawaii State Constitution Article V, Sections 1 through 6. It is a direct ...
since statehood,
John D. Waihee III, who served from December 2, 1986, to December 2, 1994. Waihee is the first
Native Hawaiian
Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands.
Hawa ...
to hold that office anywhere in the United States.
Honokaa was also home to
Yoshito Takamine
Yoshito Takamine (June 24, 1924 – October 27, 2015) was an American politician and labor leader in Hawaii. Takamine, who was first elected to the Hawaii House of Representatives in 1958, when the state was still the Territory of Hawaii, served ...
, the late Hawaii state representative and labor leader.
Roseanne Barr
Roseanne Cherrie Barr (born November 3, 1952) is an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and former presidential candidate. Barr began her career in stand-up comedy before gaining acclaim in the television sitcom ''Roseanne'' (1988–1 ...
, an American actress, comedian, writer, producer and politician, resides in Honokaa.
Culture
![Honoka'a, Hawai'i](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Honoka%27a%2C_Hawai%27i.jpg)
Honokaa boasts a historic downtown district. In 1930, the Honokaa People's Theatre was built on Māmane Street by the Tanimoto family. The theater hosted the Hāmākua Music Festival every fall from 1993 to 2006, and again in 2009. Proceeds went to fund local music education on the island. The festival has hosted a number of jazz, classical, and Hawaiian folk musicians, including
Ray Brown,
Gene Harris
Gene Harris (born Eugene Haire, September 1, 1933 – January 16, 2000) was an American jazz pianist known for his warm sound and blues and gospel infused style that is known as soul jazz.
From 1956 to 1970, he played in The Three Sounds tri ...
,
James Moody,
Howard Alden
Howard Vincent Alden (born October 17, 1958) is an American jazz guitarist born in Newport Beach, California. Alden has recorded many albums for Concord Records, including four with seven-string guitar innovator George Van Eps.
Early life
How ...
,
Big Brother and the Holding Company
Big Brother and the Holding Company is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Jefferson Airplane. After som ...
and
Hubert Laws
Hubert Laws (born November 10, 1939) is an American flutist and saxophonist with a career spanning over 40 years in jazz, classical, and other music genres. Laws is one of the few classical artists who has also mastered jazz, pop, and rhythm- ...
.
![Konokaa, Big Island, Hawaii](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Konokaa%2C_Big_Island%2C_Hawaii.jpg)
Ranching, along with nascent diversified agriculture, is the primary industry in Honokaa and the
Hamakua District. Honokaa hosts a Saturday
farmers' market
A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or o ...
, held on Māmane Street, The Farmers' Market at Hāmākua Harvest on Sundays from 9:00am – 2:00pm on the corner of Māmane Street and Māmalahoa Highway, and the Honoka'a Country Market features Hawaii Big Island Beef, a locally raised and grass-fed beef.
While ranching and rodeos may seem idiosyncratic to some visitors,
ranch
A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most ofte ...
ing in Hawaii has a long history. This tradition has been celebrated annually on Western Weekend beginning in 2006, and included children's activities, country western bands, a block party with
paniolo
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...
barbecue, a rodeo, and the ribald Saloon Girl Contest. Western Weekend was sponsored in part by a grant from the County of Hawaii Department of Research & Development, Hawaii Tourism Authority.
Cinema
Honokaʻa is the namesake and setting in the 2009 Japanese film ''Honokaʻa Boy'' (Japanese: ホノカアボーイ). The world premier occurred in the Honokaʻa People's Theatre, which was featured prominently in the film.
There is reference to a marketplace in the town in the film ''
Cloud Atlas
A cloud atlas is a pictorial key (or an atlas) to the nomenclature of clouds. Early cloud atlases were an important element in the training of meteorologists and in weather forecasting, and the author of a 1923 atlas stated that "increasing use ...
.''
School
Honokaa High & Intermediate School is located in the CDP. Honokaʻa Elementary School shares some campus facilities such as the cafeteria and library.
See also
*
List of places in Hawaii
This is a list of census-designated places in Hawaii. There are no separately incorporated cities in the entire state; Honolulu is both a city and county. Population data from the 2020 Census.
Cities, towns and villages of Hawaii
See als ...
References
External links
{{Authority control
Census-designated places in Hawaii County, Hawaii
Populated places on Hawaii (island)