Day 234: Hale Pa’i, Maui, Hawai’i
📌APIA Every Day (234) - Hale Pa'i was a printing facility established in 1834 at Lahainaluna Seminary (now Lahainaluna High School) in Maui, Hawaii. The operation began with a Ramage Press housed in a thatched-roof hut on the seminary grounds. In 1837, a permanent two-room stone building was constructed using local materials: fieldstone from the hillsides, timber from across the island, and mortar made from burned coral gathered from offshore reefs.
The facility's first major publication was Ka Lama Hawaii, released on February 14, 1834, marking it as the first newspaper published in the Hawaiian Islands and the first west of the Rocky Mountains. Between 1834 and 1846, Hale Pa'i produced numerous significant documents, including portions of the Hawaiian Bible translation, the 1840 Hawaiian Constitution, property and taxation laws, school regulations, and the kingdom's first paper currency. The facility also printed the first written histories of Hawaii in both Hawaiian and English languages.
The printing house served as both an educational facility and a production center. Students at Lahainaluna Seminary learned typesetting, press operation, copper engraving, and bookbinding. The seminary, established in 1831, operated under missionary control until 1850, when it was transferred to the Hawaiian monarchy and became a public institution. Notable Hawaiian scholars who worked or studied at the facility included David Malo and Samuel Kamakau.
Operations at Hale Pa'i ceased in 1846 due to rising costs and labor challenges, with printing activities relocating to Honolulu. A lithograph press was installed in 1870, though it produced little of significance. The building fell into disrepair by the 1960s and was restored in 1983 through state funding. It currently functions as a printing museum and archive center, housing original publications and printing equipment from its operational period.
LEARN MORE:
Historic Hawai’i Foundation: Hale Pa‘i (House of Printing)
Lahaina Restoration Foundation: Hale Pa'i Printing Press
Ka’iwakiloumoku Pacific Indigenous Institute: Lahainaluna and Hale Pa‘i
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