The districts of the Big Island. From Northernmost, clockwise; North Kohala (highlighted), Hāmākua, North Hilo, South Hilo, Puna, Kaʻū, South Kona, North Kona, and South KohalaThe districts of the Big Island. From Northernmost, clockwise; North Kohala, Hāmākua, North Hilo, South Hilo, Puna, Kaʻū, South Kona, North Kona, and South Kohala (highlighted)This is the original statue of the two Kamehameha Statues; this one cast in Paris [1] and standing in the town of Kapaau.
Kohala (Hawaiian pronunciation:[koˈhɐlə]) is the name of the northwest peninsula of the island of Hawaiʻi in the Hawaiian Archipelago. In ancient Hawaii it was often ruled by an independent High Chief called the Aliʻi Nui. In modern times it is divided into two districts of Hawaii County: North Kohala and South Kohala. Locals commonly use the name Kohala to refer to the census-designated places of Halaʻula, Hāwī, and Kapaʻau collectively. The dry western shore is commonly known as the Kohala Coast, which has golf courses and seaside resorts.[2]
Description
This Landsat satellite image of Kohala shows the effect of trade winds on vegetation and valley erosionSouth Kohala District from Mamalahoa HighwayHilton Waikoloa in the South Kohala district
The natural habitats in Kohala range across a wide rainfall gradient in a very short distance - from less than 5 inches (130 mm) a year on the coast near Kawaihae to more than 150 inches (3,800 mm) year near the summit of Kohala Mountain, a distance of just 11 miles (18 km). Near the coast are remnants of dry forests, and near the summit is a cloud forest, a type of rainforest that obtains some of its moisture from "cloud drip" in addition to precipitation.
This precipitation allowed the northeast coast to be developed into sugarcaneplantations, including one founded by Rev. Elias Bond used to fund his church and girls' seminary.[5]
History
Kohala Historical Sites State Monument
The Kohala Historical Sites State Monument includes Moʻokini Heiau, a National Historic Landmark. King Kamehameha I, the first King of the unified Hawaiʻian Islands, was born in North Kohala west of Hāwī, at the ancient site called the Moʻokini Heiau. The heiau is a living spiritual temple, and not just an historic artifact of the Hawaiian culture.
The original Kamehameha Statue stands in front of the community center in Kapaʻau, and duplicates are found at Aliʻiolani Hale in Honolulu, and within the U.S. Capitol building's statue gallery in Washington, D.C.
Bond Historic District
The Bond Historic District is located in the North Kohala District, with structures from the Bond family's 19th century missionary and homesteading period on the Kohala peninsula. The Bond District has three sections:
Bond Homestead — the Bond House was built in the 1840s by the missionaries and later Kohala landowners Ellen and Reverend Elias Bond, and expanded by descendants through c. 1900.
Ranch lands on both sides of a coniferous-lined Highway 250.Views of ranch land may surprise some visitors to the Big Island. Looking southwest from the Kohala Mountain Road, Highway 250.
Major thoroughfares within Kohala include Akoni Pule Highway (Hawaii state route 270) which provides access to Pololū Valley.[8] The Hawaii Belt Road which connects in the southern end of the Akoni Pule Highway to Kona in the south and Hāmākua to the east. The Kohala Mountain Road (250) provides a link between Waimea and the Kohala CDP's of Halaʻula, Hāwī, and Kapaʻau.
