Kalawao () is a location on the eastern side of the Kalaupapa Peninsula of the island of

Molokai Molokai , or Molokai (), is the fifth most populated of the eight major islands that make up the Hawaiian Islands, Hawaiian Islands archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is 38 by 10 miles (61 by 16 km) at its greatest length an ...

, in

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 stat ...

, which was the site of Hawaii's

leper colony A leper colony, also known by many other names, is an isolated community for the quarantining and treatment of lepers, people suffering from leprosy. '' M. leprae'', the bacterium responsible for leprosy, is believed to have spread from East Af ...

between 1866 and the early 20th century. Thousands of people in total came to the island to live in quarantine. It was one of two such settlements on Molokai, the other being

Kalaupapa Kalaupapa () is a small unincorporated community on the island of Molokai, within Kalawao County in the U.S. state of Hawaii. In 1866, during the reign of Kamehameha V, the Hawaii legislature passed a law that resulted in the designation ...

. Administratively Kalawao is part of

Kalawao County Kalawao () is a location on the eastern side of the Kalaupapa Peninsula of the island of Molokai, in Hawaii, which was the site of Hawaii's leper colony between 1866 and the early 20th century. Thousands of people in total came to the island to ...

. The placename means "mountain-side wild woods" in Hawaiian. After the colony was established in 1866 by the legislature, with the intention of preventing the transmission of leprosy to others, a hospital, two churches and a number of homes were built here.

Father Damien Father Damien or Saint Damien of Molokai, SS.CC. or Saint Damien De Veuster ( nl, Pater Damiaan or '; 3 January 1840 – 15 April 1889), born Jozef De Veuster, was a Roman Catholic priest from Belgium and member of the Congregation of the Sacr ...

, a Belgian Catholic missionary, came to the island in 1873 to serve the lepers. In 1886 Brother

Joseph Dutton Joseph Dutton (April 27, 1843 – March 26, 1931) was a Civil War veteran and Union Army lieutenant, who converted to Catholicism and later worked as a missionary with Father Damien. Biography He was born Ira Barnes Dutton in Stowe, Vermont, so ...

went to the colony to aid the dying Father Damien. After Father Damien's death Dutton founded the Baldwin Home for Men and Boys in Kalawao. In the early 1900s the Hawaii Board of Health began relocating patients to

, the settlement on the western side of the peninsula. Its climate was warmer and drier, and access by sea was easier. A hospital complex was built at Kalawao to conduct research into

Hansen's disease Monster Beverage Corporation is an American beverage company that manufactures energy drinks including Monster Energy, Relentless and Burn. The company was originally founded as Hansen's in 1935 in Southern California, originally selling juice ...

, and from 1909 to 1913 the US Leprosy Investigation Station was operated there. When that facility was closed, the settlement was abandoned in favor of Kalaupapa on the western side of the peninsula, about 3 miles away. Kalawao, while on Molokai Island, is not part of Maui County. It is politically separated as its own county, the smallest one in the United States, both in land size and population, with a population of 82 people. The only buildings now remaining at Kalawao are the two churches, Siloama Congregationalist Church, established in 1866, and St. Philomena Catholic Church, associated with Father Damien. In 1889, after 16 years service in the colony, Father Damien died of leprosy and was buried in the churchyard. In January 1936, at the request of the Belgian government, Damien's body was repatriated to Belgium. After his beatification in June 1995, the remains of his right hand were returned to Hawaii, and re-interred in his original grave at Kalawao. Near the two churches is Judd Park, a picnic site used by visitors, with dramatic views of the north shore of Molokai.

References

Unincorporated communities in Kalawao County, Hawaii Unincorporated communities in Hawaii Leper colonies Former populated places in Hawaii Populated places on Molokai Populated places established in 1866 1866 establishments in Hawaii 1913 disestablishments in Hawaii {{Hawaii-geo-stub