Hawaiian Mission Houses, Honolulu

The Mission Houses Museum collects and exhibits documents and artifacts relating to Hawaiian history between 1820 and 1863, the “missionary” period. Today, the museum holds more than 3,000 Hawaiian, Western, and Pacific artifacts, as well as over 12,000 books, manuscripts, original letters, diaries, journals, illustrations, and Hawaiian church records.

The houses themselves are interesting because they show how New England missionaries gradually adapted to the Hawaiian environment. The Oldest Frame House was built from materials shipped from Boston around 1821. These materials were precut and premeasured, so the house mostly needed to be assembled on site. What is curious about the Oldest Frame House is its style: it was built with small windows and short eaves to help it withstand Boston winters, which made it rather unsuitable for Hawaii’s climate.

The Chamberlain House was built in 1831 from local Hawaiian materials, including coral blocks and salvaged lumber from ships. This house has larger windows and shutters to provide shade, features that the Oldest Frame House did not have. The Print House was added to the Oldest Frame House. Originally a bedroom, the coral-block addition later served as the missionaries’ print house. Today, the Print House is an exhibit showing how Native Hawaiians and New England missionaries developed the first materials printed in the Hawaiian language.