Hilo () is the largest settlement in and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Hawaii County, Hawaiʻi, United States, which encompasses the Island of Hawaiʻi, and 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 counte ...

(CDP). The population was 44,186 according to the 2020 census. It is the fourth-largest settlement in the state of Hawaiʻi, the largest settlement in the state outside of

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

, and the largest settlement in the state outside of the Greater Honolulu Area. Hilo is in the District of South Hilo. The city overlooks Hilo Bay and has views of two

shield volcano A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more viscous lava ...

es, Mauna Loa, an

active volcano An active volcano is a volcano that is currently erupting, or has the potential to erupt in the future. Conventionally it is applied to any that have erupted during the Holocene (the current geologic epoch that began approximately 11,700 years ...

, and Mauna Kea, a

dormant volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often ...

. The Hilo bayfront has been destroyed by

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

s twice. The majority of human settlement in Hilo stretches from Hilo Bay to Waiākea-Uka, on the flanks of the volcanoes. Hilo is home to the University of Hawaii at Hilo, ʻImiloa Astronomy Center, as well as the

Merrie Monarch Festival The Merrie Monarch Festival is a week-long cultural festival that takes place annually in Hilo, Hawaii during the week after Easter. It honors King David Kalākaua, who was called the "Merrie Monarch" for his patronage of the arts and is cre ...

, a week-long celebration, including three nights of competition, of ancient and modern

hula Hula () is a Hawaiian dance form expressing chant (''oli'') or song (Mele (Hawaiian language), ''mele''). It was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Native Hawaiians who settled there. The hula dramatizes or portrays the words of the oli ...

that takes place annually after

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

. Hilo is also home to the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corporation, one of the world's leading producers of macadamia nuts. Hilo is served by Hilo International Airport.

History

Around 1100 AD, the first Hilo inhabitants arrived, bringing with them

Polynesia Polynesia ( , ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in ...

n knowledge and traditions. Although archaeological evidence is scant,

oral history Oral history is the collection and study of historical information from people, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people who pa ...

has many references to people living in Hilo, along the Wailuku and Wailoa rivers during the time of ancient Hawaiʻi. Oral history gives the meaning of ''Hilo'' as "to twist". Originally, the name "Hilo" applied to a district encompassing much of the east coast of the island of Hawaii, now divided into the District of South Hilo and the District of North Hilo. When William Ellis visited in 1823, the main settlement there was Waiākea on the south shore of Hilo Bay. Missionaries came to the district in the early-to-middle 19th century, founding Haili Church. Hilo expanded as sugar plantations in the surrounding area created jobs and drew in many workers from

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. For example, by 1887, 26,000 Chinese workers worked in Hawai'i's sugar cane plantations, one of which was the Hilo Sugar Mill. At that time, the Hilo Sugar Mill produced 3,500 tons of sugar annually. A breakwater across Hilo Bay was begun in the first decade of the 20th century and completed in 1929. On April 1, 1946, an 8.6-magnitude earthquake near the

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands ( ; ; , "land of the Aleuts"; possibly from the Chukchi language, Chukchi ''aliat'', or "island")—also called the Aleut Islands, Aleutic Islands, or, before Alaska Purchase, 1867, the Catherine Archipelago—are a chain ...

created a

that hit Hilo 4.9 hours later, killing 159 total in the islands, with 96 deaths in Hilo alone. In response, an early warning system, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, was established in 1949 to track these killer waves and provide warning. This tsunami also caused the end of the Hawaii Consolidated Railway, and instead the Hawaiʻi Belt Road was built north of Hilo using some of the old railbed. On May 22, 1960, another tsunami, caused by a 9.5-magnitude earthquake off the coast of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

that day, claimed 61 lives, allegedly due to the failure of people to heed warning sirens. Low-lying bayfront areas of the city on Waiākea peninsula and along Hilo Bay, previously populated, were rededicated as parks and memorials. Hilo expanded inland beginning in the 1960s. The downtown found a new role in the 1980s as the city's cultural center with several galleries and museums opening; the Palace Theater reopened in 1998 as an arthouse cinema movie palace. Closure of the sugar plantations (including those in Hāmākua) during the 1990s hurt the local economy, coinciding with a general statewide slump. Hilo in recent years has seen commercial and population growth.

Geography

Hilo is on the eastern and windward side of the island. It is classified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a

(CDP), and has a total area of , of which is land and of which (8.4%) is water.

Climate

Hilo has a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southeast Florida, United States ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''Af''), with substantial rainfall throughout the year. Its location on the

windward In geography and seamanship, windward () and leeward () are directions relative to the wind. Windward is ''upwind'' from the point of reference, i.e., towards the direction from which the wind is coming; leeward is ''downwind'' from the point ...

coast (relative to the

trade wind The trade winds or easterlies are permanent east-to-west prevailing winds that flow in the Earth's equatorial region. The trade winds blow mainly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere, ...

s), makes it the fourth-wettest city in the United States, behind the southeast Alaskan cities of Whittier, Ketchikan and Yakutat, and one of the wettest in the world. An average of around of rain fell at Hilo International Airport annually between 1981 and 2010, with 272 days of the year receiving some rain. Rainfall in Hilo varies with altitude, with more at higher elevations. At some weather stations in upper Hilo the annual rainfall is above . Monthly mean temperatures range from in February to in August. The highest recorded temperature was on May 20, 1996, and the lowest on February 21, 1962. The wettest year was 1994 with , and the driest was 1983, with . The most rainfall in one month was in December 1954. The most rainfall in 24 hours was on November 2, 2000. Hilo's location on the shore of the funnel-shaped Hilo Bay also makes it vulnerable to

Note

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2020, 44,186 people lived in 16,225 households in the census-designated place. The population density was . The 16,905 housing units reflected an average density of in 2010 (No update on the Census for 2020). The racial makeup was 32% Asian, 18.4%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 10% Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander, 0.8%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.1% American Indian & Alaska Native, 0.6% from other races, and 38.1% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino residents of any race were 13% of the population. 21.1% of the households had children under the age of 18 living with them. The average household size was 2.71. The age distribution was 21.1% under age 18, 4.5% under age 5, and 21.10% 65 or older. The percent of females are 51.1%. The median household income on the 2020 census was $70,356, and the per capita income was $34,678. 16.1% of the population is under the poverty line.

Transportation

Air

Hilo is served by Hilo International Airport (ITO), where Hawaiian Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Mokulele Airlines, among various helicopter tour groups.

Rail

Hilo was served by the Hawaii Consolidated Railway from 1899 until 1946. The railway ran northbound to Paʻauilo and southbound to Pāhoa, Glenwood (near

Volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

), and Kamaili.

Bus

Hilo is served by the county's Hele-On Bus.

Major highways

* * * *

Maritime

Hilo is served by the Big Island's largest harbor, Hilo Harbor, which is on Hilo Bay.

Education

Hilo is home to a number of educational institutions, including two post-secondary institutions, the University of Hawaii at Hilo and Hawaii Community College, and the Hilo and Waiakea primary and secondary school districts. Charter schools in the area serve primary and secondary students.

Government

Although sometimes called a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

, Hilo is not an incorporated city, and does not have a municipal government. The entire island, which is between the slightly larger state of

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

and smaller

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

in size, is under the jurisdiction of the County of Hawaii, of which Hilo is the county seat. Hilo is home to county, state, and federal offices.

Economy

The oldest city in the Hawaiian archipelago, Hilo's economy was historically based on the

sugar plantations Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tobac ...

of its surrounding areas, prior to their closure in the 1990s.

Tourism and events

While Hilo has a fairly significant tourism sector, it gets less than half the annual visitors as the western coast of the Big Island, which has much sunnier weather and significantly less rain, with sandy and swimmable beaches and numerous major resorts. A main source of tourism in Hilo is the annual week-long

, the world's preeminent

competition and festival, which brings in visitors and participants from all over the world. It is held in the spring of each year beginning on Easter Sunday. Hilo is often the initial air travel destination and accommodation location of choice from which to visit Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park and also, when active, the lava flows from Kīlauea volcano, since both are on the east side (often called "Hilo side") of Hawaiʻi island, and the other airport on the island, Kona International Airport, is on the west side ("Kona side") of the island. The local orchid society hosts the largest and most comprehensive orchid show in the state, the annual Hilo Orchid Show, which has been presented since 1951 and draws visitors and entrants worldwide. Hilo is home to Hawaii's only tsunami museum, mostly dedicated to the 1946 Pacific tsunami, and is notable for the

banyan tree A banyan, also spelled banian ( ), is a Ficus, fig that develops accessory trunks from Aerial root#"Stranglers" (prop-root), adjacent prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees ...

s planted by Babe Ruth,

Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( ; July 24, 1897 – January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer. On July 2, 1937, she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. During her li ...

and other celebrities. It is home to the Panaʻewa Rainforest Zoo, shopping centers, cafés and other eateries, movie theaters, hotels, restaurants, and a developed downtown area with a Farmers Market. Downtown Hilo is bounded approximately by the Wailuku River, Kamehameha Avenue, Ponahawai Street, and Kapiolani Street.

Corporations and science

The Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corporation is in Hilo, south of the main town off Hawaiʻi Belt Road, north of Keaau. Hilo is home to most of the

astronomical observatories An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...

on Mauna Kea as well as the ʻImiloa Planetarium and Museum. Astronomy has an economic impact of $100 million annually on the island. Astronomy on Mauna Kea was developed at the invitation of the Hawaiʻi Chamber of Commerce following the collapse of the

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

industry.

Culture

* East Hawaii Cultural Center * Lyman House Memorial Museum *

* Pacific Tsunami Museum

Notable residents

* Rodney Anoai * Matt Blair * Keiko Bonk * Ed Case * Titus Coan * Keenan Cornelius * Glenn Cornick * Kai Correa * Wesley Correira * Jennifer Doudna * David McHattie Forbes * Ryan Higa * Michael Rikio Ming Hee Ho * High Chiefess Kapiolani * Keōua Kūahuula * Harry Kim * Kimberly Kim * Darren Kimura * Kinooleoliliha * Robert Kiyosaki * George Lycurgus * Troy Mandaloniz * George Naope * Gerald Okamura * B.J. Penn * Benjamin Pitman * Bob Shane * William Herbert Shipman * Lani Stemmermann * Kolten Wong * Henry Bianchini

Points of interest

* Banyan Drive *

Coconut Island Coconut Island may refer to: * Coconut Island (Florida) * Coconut Island (Hawaii Island), in Hilo Bay * Coconut Island (Oahu Island), in Kaneohe Bay * Coconut Island (Queensland) * another name for St. Martin's Island, Bangladesh See also ...

* East Hawaii Cultural Center * Haili Church * Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden * Hilo Tropical Gardens *

Hoʻolulu Park Hoolulu Park (officially the Hoolulu Park Complex; sometimes shortened to Hoolulu Complex) is a park and recreation center operated by the Hawaii County, Hawaii, County of Hawaii in Hilo, Hawaii, east of the Wailoa River State Recreation Area and ...

* ʻImiloa Astronomy Center * James Kealoha Beach Park * Kalakaua Park * Liliuokalani Park and Gardens * Lower Waiakea Mountain Bicycle Park * Lyman Museum * Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corporation * Mokupāpapa Discovery Center for Northwestern Hawaii's remote coral reefs * Nani Mau Gardens * Naha Stone (associated with Kamehameha I) in front of the Hilo Public Library * Pacific Tsunami Museum * Pana'ewa Rainforest Zoo * Prince Kuhio Plaza * Rainbow Falls (Waianuenue) & Boiling Pots on the Wailuku River * University of Hawaii at Hilo Botanical Gardens * Wailoa River State Recreation Area with King Kamehameha Statue

Media

Hilo is served by KWXX (94.7FM Hilo/101.5FM Kona), B93/B97 (93.1FM Kona/97.1FM Hilo), The Wave (KHBC 92.7FM Hilo), and KPUA (970AM Hilo) radio stations. Public Access television is provided throug
Nā Leo TV
The '' Hawaii Tribune-Herald'', of Oahu Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press, is Hilo's primary newspaper distribution company along with other newspapers like the ''

Honolulu Star-Advertiser The ''Honolulu Star-Advertiser'' is the largest daily newspaper in Hawaii, formed in 2010 with the merger of '' The Honolulu Advertiser'' and the '' Honolulu Star-Bulletin'' after the acquisition of the former by Black Press, which already owned ...

''.

Sister cities

Since Hilo is not incorporated, its

sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is International relations, a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there ar ...

are congruent with those of the County of Hawaiʻi.

Legacy

Asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

(342431) Hilo is named after Hilo.

Hilo Districts

Hilo also referred to the District of Hilo when the Big Island was divided into six districts by the traditional '' moku'' land division. Hilo is now divided in two: North and South Hilo Districts.

North Hilo District

The District of North Hilo, along Hawaiʻi Belt Road from north to south, encompasses the following unincorporated towns and localities: * ʻŌʻōkala * Laupāhoehoe and the train museum * Nīnole There are locations inland along Route 200 including Mauna Kea mountain road, Puʻu Huluhulu, and others.

South Hilo District

Along the portion of Hawaiʻi Belt Road north of Hilo lies the following: * Honalo * ʻAkaka Falls * Pepeʻekeo * Wainaku Along Hawaiʻi Belt Road inside and south of Hilo are: * Hilo Bay * Wailuku River * Rainbow Falls and Boiling Pots waterfalls * Pacific Tsunami Museum * Hilo International Airport * Prince Kuhio Plaza Shopping Center * Panaʻewa Rainforest Zoo * Puainako Shopping Center Along Route 200 inside and west of Hilo are: * Kaumana Caves * University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo

In popular culture

Jasmin Iolani Hakes' 2023 book ''Hula: A Novel'', which won ''

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

'' magazine's award for Book of the Year About Hawaiʻi, is set in Hilo.

References

External links

Pacific Tsunami Museum
{{Authority control County seats in Hawaii Census-designated places in Hawaii County, Hawaii Populated coastal places in Hawaii