Hawaii may be America’s youngest state, but it was home to fascinating history and culture long before 1959. While historic sites abound throughout the islands, there is perhaps no destination more fascinating that the almost-ghost town of Laupahoehoe, a quaint community on Hawaii Island's eastern coast that is now a shell of its former self.
Black, jagged lava rocks along the coastline contrast with coconut palms, grass, and the strikingly blue Pacific Ocean near the historic Laupahoehoe Point.
Today, you can stop to take a few photographs or watch the waves crash into the lava rocks and tide pools dotting the coast, this destination was once home to a thriving community that was struck by tragedy more than 70 years ago.
On April 1, 1946, there was an earthquake in the Aleutian Islands off Alaska. Five hours later, the largest and most destructive tsunami waves recorded hit Hawaii, known as the "April Fools Day tsunami." Because no advance warning was given, 159 people died during the disaster, mainly as a result of curious individuals who ventured into the exposed reef area, unaware of what was about to hit them. In some areas, the waves penetrated nearly half a mile inland and caused $26 million in property damage.
While Hilo was hit the hardest, the school building at Laupahoehoe Point was inundated, and four teachers and twenty students were drowned. A monument to the dead now stands at Laupahoehoe Point.
The town's location as a major stop along the Hawaii Consolidated Railway as well as the Laupahoehoe Sugar Company meant this community once thrived.
In its heyday during the 1800s, Laupahoehoue was home to a hotel, restaurants, post office, homes, farms and taro fields, and even a harbor.
Though not technically a ghost town, it might as well be: Laupahoehoe is currently a census-designated place home to less than 600 residents, a dwindling number in comparison to the 3,000 residents that once called this community home.
Do you remember the once-thriving community of Laupahoehoe? What about the 1946 tsunami that struck the town?
To discover another Hawaii ghost town, click here.
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