About the Lahaina Restoration Foundation
The Lahaina Restoration Foundation is the nonprofit that for six decades cared for the historic buildings of Lahaina on the west coast of Maui, the town that served as capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom in the early nineteenth century and later as a Pacific whaling port. Its properties, listed on the Foundation's website, were the Baldwin Home, the Old Courthouse, Hale Aloha, Hale Pa'i, the Old Prison, the Pioneer Mill Company (PMCo) smokestack and the Wo Hing Museum. Together they told the story of the missionary period, the plantation economy, Lahaina's Chinese community and the town's civic life, and for generations of visitors the Baldwin Home at 120 Dickenson Street, which also housed the Foundation's office, was the starting point of a walking tour of the old town.
On August 8, 2023, a wind-driven wildfire destroyed most of Lahaina. In the Foundation's own words, "almost all of Lahaina's historic properties were destroyed in the fire," and the organization now states plainly that "these properties can no longer be visited." The Foundation did not dissolve. It has reorganized around a single goal, stated on its website as the effort to "rebuild Lahaina's historic sites," and it is raising funds and documenting what was lost so that reconstruction can be grounded in the record rather than in guesswork.
Because the Foundation's physical headquarters was among the buildings lost, it now operates from a mailing address in Puunene, in central Maui, and continues to host community events, some of them free, that are announced on its website.
Collections and Research Services
The Foundation maintains a Collections section on its website and holds photographs and video of its historic properties, including documentation made after the fire. For anyone studying a Lahaina family, business or building, those images are now among the most important surviving visual records of structures that no longer stand, and the Foundation is the natural first contact for questions about them. There is currently no public reading room, so inquiries should go by email to info@lahainarestoration.org or by phone to (808) 661-3262. Genealogists working on Maui families should pair the Foundation's material with the statewide records described in our guide to free family history research, and anyone trying to reconstruct the look of a lost Front Street storefront will find a method in how to find old photos of a house or neighborhood.
Planning Your Visit
As of this writing, none of the Foundation's historic sites can be visited, and travelers should not plan a trip to Lahaina around them. The historic district remains an active recovery zone, and access to the town changes as rebuilding proceeds. Before traveling, check lahainarestoration.org for the current status of each property, upcoming events and ways to support the rebuilding effort; the Foundation accepts donations directly through the site. Elsewhere on Maui, Hawaii's state and county cultural institutions remain open, and the Foundation's website is the best place to learn when any Lahaina site reopens.
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