DK Travel : Maui : History & Culture

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Loren Thurston/Sanford Dole

The leaders of the “Bayonet Revolution,” responsible for ending the monarchy in Hawai’i.
Maria Lanakila Church

Although the Catholic priests who arrived on Maui in 1846 were unpopular with the established Protestant leaders, Catholicism quickly became the island’s largest denomination as a result of the influx of Catholic laborers from Portugal and the Philippines. The church was built in 1856 and enlarged in 1858. The beautiful structure, which now stands at Waine’e and Dickenson streets, is a replica of the 1858 church.
Master’s Reading Room

A beautifully preserved coral and fieldstone building. Its exterior hasn’t changed a jot since its completion in 1834, when it was built for ships’ officers and their families as a respite from the “heat and unpleasant dust of the market.” It now houses the Lahaina Restoration Foundation.
Maui Tropical Plantation

Located outside of Wailuku on Route 30, this attraction offers a glimpse into Maui’s agricultural industry. There are displays and exhibits showing how 14 varieties of fruits and flowers are cultivated and processed; a mini tram tour through fields of sugar cane, pineapple, bananas, coffee, papaya, and macadamia plants; plus a store where the finished products can be bought.
Maunalei Arboretum

D.T. Fleming, one of the first managers of the pineapple plantation on West Maui, established this privately owned arboretum in 1926. Fleming traveled the world collecting plants and trees, and his search has resulted in an abundance of introduced species coexisting with the endemic plant life. Native bird species also inhabit the arboretum.
Missionaries Arrive

April 19, 1820, is a momentous – some would say notorious – date, for it was on that day that the first American missionaries arrived in Hawai’i. The first group was made up of 23 New England Congregationalists, and they landed at Kailua on Hawai’i. Over the next 20 years, many more Christian missionaries would follow, taking up residence on all the major islands.
Nainoa Thompson

The navigator for the Polynesian Voyaging Society, he has led the revival of traditional voyaging arts.
Nākālele Point (Blowhole)

This is the most northerly point on Maui and the site of Hawai’i’s first lighthouse. When the surf is just right, sea water is forced as high as 100 ft into the air through a hole in the shoreline lava tube here. The blowhole is a short walk down the hill from the road, but be very careful because the waves and geysers are unpredictable.
Polynesian Migration

Scholars believe that Marquesan voyagers first came to Hawai’i as early as the 4th century, with Tahitians arriving later, in the 13th. It was these two great waves of migration by skilled Polynesian seafarers that first populated the Hawaiian islands.
Pu’u Kukui

One of the wettest places on earth, Pu’u Kukui is the highest point in the West Maui Mountains, and also the proper name of the entire range. The region is home to more rare native plants and birds than anywhere else in Hawai’i. Inhabitants include the ’Eke Silversword, which is found only in this mountain range and wild i’iwi birds, extinct in most of the rest of the island chain. Access to this 8,600-acre private preserve is granted by the Kapalua Nature Society, which uses a lottery system to choose just 12 hikers per year.