Kalapana, Hawaii: The Fishing Village Kīlauea Buried

01A Fishing Village on the Puna Coast

Kalapana is described as a town and a region in the Puna District. Map listings for Kalapana place it at roughly 19.35°N, 154.98°W, only about 13 feet above sea level. It sat on a low coast, directly in the path of a volcano that had been erupting nearby for years.

Little is documented about the village's earliest days. An archaeological and historical report on the Puna coast describes early habitation, heiau (temples) and trails in the area, including the trail between the volcano and Kalapana. It gives no founding date, and none turned up elsewhere. A later account from Ke Ola Magazine calls Kalapana a fishing village.

The postal record is thin but specific. According to one postal-history site, a Kalapana post office operated from 1895 to 1900 under postmaster H. E. Wilson. Mail reportedly arrived by overland carrier from Hilo. In 1899 the office sold only about $9 in stamps, the smallest total of any post office on the island that year. That account is the only source for these details, and the office's closing date and any later office remain unconfirmed.

02What Happened to Kalapana?

The destruction began before 1990. According to the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO), lava turned toward Kalapana in late 1986 and burned 18 homes before veering west again.

The decisive flows came in April 1990. Between mid-April and early May, lava covered most of the Kalapana Gardens subdivision and destroyed 60 homes. Kalapana Village was briefly enclosed in a kipuka, an island of untouched land surrounded by lava. Lava also entered the ocean at Harry K. Brown Park.

The flows did not stop there. The Smithsonian's Global Volcanism Program reports that lava buried Harry K. Brown Park and an adjacent playground in the week of 17–23 July 1990, then entered Kaimū Bay on 29 July. Neighboring Kaimū and its bay were buried too.

The totals vary by source. HVO says it took 10 months to cover the area with an average of 10 meters (33 feet) of lava, destroying "more than 100" residences. Other accounts put the loss at more than 150 or more than 180 homes and structures, and the depth at anywhere from 50 to 85 feet in places. The sources appear to count different things and measure depth differently. All agree on the core fact: a community of more than 100 homes was buried. Weather.com reports that no lives were lost.

03The Church That Was Carried Away

One building left before the lava arrived. The Star of the Sea Painted Church was built in 1927–28 under Belgian missionary Fr. Evarist Gielen, who painted the interior himself with housepaints. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 14, 1997.

A UPI report from May 5, 1990, says the church was hauled on a flatbed truck about half a mile to a site near Harry K. Brown park, on the western edge of town. The same story said lava was then heading for a store and drive-in and the Kalapana Congregational Church. The Hawaii Catholic Herald later reported that the church now stands in neighboring Kaimū, and that a Protestant church and a decades-old family store were buried.

The move itself was contested. Former Hawaiʻi County mayor Billy Kenoi, who grew up in Kalapana, told Ke Ola Magazine that the decision to move the church divided the community.

04What Remains of Kalapana Today

The old village is lava rock, with a new subdivision built on top. The abandoned Kalapana site is a fresh coastline, because the flow created new shore.

Yet people came back. The Honolulu Advertiser reported in August 1990 that Kalapana Gardens had "died this year," but the Star-Advertiser noted in 2018 that the obituary was premature. The subdivision had 738 house lots. Since about 2004, more than 75 homes have been built on the lava. Fresh flows in July 2010 destroyed a five-year-old home and left 35 homes standing in Kalapana Gardens. They also partly covered the 1986–1992 flow field again, drawing thousands of visitors a day.

The modern community called Kalapana is a separate census entity, and its 2020 population of 167 says nothing about the village that was buried. The old Kalapana now lies under the lava, with a rebuilt neighborhood above it.