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Bailey’s paintings may not have sold well enough to help him financially, but they have provided an accurate and fascinating record of Maui in the 19th century. He did not have formal training, but visiting artists encouraged him to take up oils. The landscapes of Wailuku were exhibited in San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Paris in the 1870s.

In the 1860s, Bailey attempted to support his family by growing and milling sugar cane on this site, an endeavor that proved too small to be profitable. The Bailey and Sons Plantation later became part of Wailuku Sugar Company.

The stone waterworks still visible on the property adjoining the house were built by Bailey to bring water from ’Īao Stream to run his sugar mill.

The museum houses an outstanding collection of more than 1,000 ancient Hawaiian artifacts dating from the time before Western contact was made. There are pieces made of bone, stone and feathers, as well as practical items such as bowls and fish hooks.

The exhibits offer a glimpse of missionary life through furniture, clothing, quilts, and cooking utensils. The fine koa table was to be a gift for U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant in 1869, but Congress forbade the president from accepting gifts from foreign nations.

A fascinating trawl of photographs, books, newspapers, and maps of Maui dating back to the 1880s. Documents include a letter from Samuel Clemens – aka 19th-century author Mark Twain – and detailed charts of the island’s archaeological sites.

Hōnaunau is a 200-year-old fishing canoe built from a single koa log. During Hawai’i’s “Beach Boy Era” of the 1930s and ’40s, the canoe was used by the Outrigger Canoe Club in Waikīkī. It is proudly displayed in a separate hale , or house, outside the main building.

Kapa is a traditional cloth made from the bark of the paper mulberry tree, and its production was the preserve of women in old Hawai’i. The clothing, blankets, and capes on display are imprinted with the signatures of the women, who created their own designs with plant dyes.

A regular performer at Bailey House, Uncle Sol is a Hawaiian master who embodies the true spirit of slack key (see Slack-Key Guitar) through the aloha of his voice and guitar music.

Many of the plants in the gardens had medicinal uses in old Hawai’i. ’Uki’uki, used to dye kapa, grew in ’Īao Valley before settlers changed Hawai’i’s natural vegetation.