::: Island of Maui Postmarks, Part 3 - Lahaina to Peahi :::

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Official mail (cover front) bearing the Lahaina custom seal, type 303, docketed June 9, 1860, and addressed to the Board of Education at Honolulu

Lahaina, Lahaina District
"cruel sun" - named for droughts
1851-1900

A mission station beginning in 1823 and favorite whaling port, Lahaina was favored by Kamehameha III as his residence (and thus where the royal court and government sat) until 1846, when the government seat moved to Honolulu. Lahaina remained a significant whaling port and in the sugar boom was home to the Pioneer Mill. Lahainaluna Seminary, located just uphill from Lahaina, accounted for some of the correspondence passing through the Lahaina post office. The seminary was established in 1831 and is where the first Hawaiian newspaper was printed in 1834. Starting at least by the early 1870's Lahaina declined as a center of society and commerce and around 1880 was overtaken as Maui’s principal town by Wailuku. In 1880, Lahaina lacked a hotel, but had three restaurants, around a dozen stores and about 250 houses.

Customs Collectors: Isaac Lewis (1844), Edward Hawks (1844), H. S. Swinton (1844-1851), R. H. Bowlin (1851), Svend Hoffmeyer (1851), George D. Gower (1851-1854).

Postmasters: Cornelius S. Bartow (1854-1862 [customs collector and postmaster]; T. H. Treadway (1862-1872) [sheriff]; Thom. W. Everett (1872) [sheriff]; William O. Smith (1872-1874); Thom. W. Everett (1874-1885); R. Newton (1885) [notary]; H. Turton, Sr. (1885-1887; but Harry Turton, Jr. signed as acting PM in 1886); T. E. Evans (1887)[deputy sheriff]; M. Makalua (1887)[deputy sheriff]; H. Turton, Jr. (1887)[laborer]; T. E. Evans (1887-1890)[deputy sheriff]; Capt. D. Taylor (1890-1891); T. C. Forsyth (1891-1896)[carpenter]; A. A. Hayselden (1896)[deputy sheriff]; G. W. Hayselden (1896-1899); and A. Waal (1899-1900).

Originally the post office was part of the customs officer’s duties. In 1860 the post office was moved into the court house. PMG Oat described Lahaina as a post and money order office in his 1893 trip report and said the post office was situated in the court house “where it has been located for years.” The office had 120 lock boxes, only a third were rented. Oat contrasted it to earlier years when 120 boxes were rented and weren’t enough. (Hawaiian Gazette, October 17, 1893, p. 10.) In February, 1892, PM Forsythe reported that every month he processed about 400 letters going to Hawaii, Molokai or other Maui towns, plus some unstated number of letters addressed to Oahu, Kauai or abroad.

Lahaina was home to several firms providing letter forwarding services. Whalers who set out for the hunting grounds before homeward bound ships were set to depart left their letters with forwarders to be put in a ship’s letter bag when the season arrived to round Cape Horn. Other sources of forwarded letters were American settlers in other places such as Oregon and Mexico’s Alta California who sent their letters to Hawaii in search of a homeward bound ship. Lahaina forwarders included von Pfister & Co. (1842), B. F. Bolles & Co. (late 1850's to 1861), Bush & Co. (1847-1855), G. D. Gilman (1855-1857), Waldo & Co. (1846-1847), Rev. Dwight Baldwin and the United States Consular Agent (technically, the Vice Commercial Agent) appointed for Lahaina.

Mail service between Lahaina, Honolulu and other interisland ports was direct by sailing ships or steamers. Lahaina was the hub for the overland mail service on West Maui. Stamp sales in 1884-1885 were about $365 annually and the postmaster was paid $100 per year. Stamp sales in 1898 were $900 and the postmaster received a salary of $75. Until 1860, the post office was located in the customs house and then was moved to the government office near the landing.

Rev. Serano Bishop, who received and retained much mail, moved to Lahainaluna Seminary in 1865. He carefully docketed each cover with the name of the sender, the date of the contents and the date acknowledged. Surviving covers from his correspondence constitute a large percentage of saved local mail and are keys to proving the printing shades of early Bank Note 2¢ stamps.

In 1896, the Lahaina PM reported that Chinese residents were sending large packages through the mail to someone in Honolulu with letters addressed to China. He complained that the post office was losing money on postage.

In addition to postmarks used at Lahaina, the first postmaster, C. S. Bartow, canceled stamps with a handstamp bearing his name. Bartow served as postmaster until 1862, when the job was combined with the sheriff and Treadway automatically became postmaster in the wake of funding cut backs necessitated from the loss of the whaling fleet in 1860.

Lahaina Sugar Co., Lahaina District
1861

Postmaster: O. R. Wood
If there was a postal service at this place independent of the Lahaina Post Office, it must have been a postal agency as there is no record of stamp sales for an office here. No postmarks are known.

Maalaea, Wailuku District
uncertain translation, possibly "ocherous earth beginning"
1884-1890

Before the wharf was completed at Kahului, on the opposite side of the isthmus, Maalaea was the principal landing for Maui, handling most mail and cargo, owing to its position on the leeward side of the island. After Kahului’s wharf was done, Maalaea handled less cargo but remained an important mail landing on the interisland steamship routes between Lahaina and the Big Island.

A postal facility at Maalaea was mentioned by Davey, but no listing for this office appears is in the post office reports. PMG Oat made no mention of Maalaea except as a landing place in his 1893 trip report. It is doubtful that a postal facility was located at Maalaea. (Hawaiian Gazette, October 17, 1893, p. 10.)

No postmarks are known.

Makawao, Makawao District
"forest beginning"
1854-1900

Located upland on the northwest slope of Haleakala. Site of a church established by Rev. Jonathan Green in 1842 and headquarters for the McLane Sugar Plantation, a pioneer plantation started in 1846. Makawao remained a sugar plantation town for the remainder of the century and was the principal town of the district until overtaken by Paia in the 1880's. Makawao had two schools, a boarding school for girls run by Miss Carpenter and Miss Mary Parker and a military board school for boys run by Prof. F. L. Clarke.

Postmasters: L. L. Torbert (1854); G. M. Spencer (1856-1861); Needham & Co. (1861-1862); J. T. Wise (1862); T. H. Everett (1864); J. D. Gower (1864); P. J. White (1865); P. Cole (1865); J. D. Gower (1865); __ Fixen (1865); N. F. Sayre (1866-1869); J. J. Halsted (1875) [notary]; George Gray (1875-1877); W. L. Davis (1877-1880) [storekeeper and butcher]; James Anderson (1881-1889) [grocer]; John G. Anderson (1889-1894) [coffee planter, James Anderson’s nephew who served as PM while James Anderson was in the legislature]; and James Anderson (1894-1900). PMG Oat described Makawao as a post and money order office in his 1893 trip report. (Hawaiian Gazette, October 17, 1893, p. 10.)

Mail service was by the overland carrier. In 1854, Makawao was listed as a stop on the overland route and carried the name Makawao-Kula in 1859. A carriage road built in 1864 between Wailuku and Ulupalakua passed through Makawao. Weekly mail service existed until about 1889 when twice weekly service was started from Paia and became a daily service in 1890. In 1894, Makawao had a daily mail service from Wailuku.

Early postmasters were appointed by the postmaster of Lahaina. In 1859, the post office was located at Spencer's store near Paia. When Needham took over the post office, he moved it to Makawao. In the late 1860's, the office was using annually about 40 sheets of 2¢ stamps and 4 sheets of 5¢ stamps. In 1884-1885, stamp sales at Makawao were about $110 annually. From 1887-1894, Makawao sent 6,000 to 7,000 letters each year. Stamp sales in 1898 were $240.

Makena, Wailuku District
"abundance" [Pukui]; "mourning for the dead" [Davey]
1888-1900

Makena was a port where mail to or for other Maui post offices could be landed or loaded and processed at Ulupalakua.

Postmasters: J. Kukahiku (1888-1890); P. W. Simeona (1890-1894); J. M. Napoulou (1894-1900).

In 1888, the Ulupalakua PM wrote that J. Kukahiku lived at Makena landing and “takes care of the Kahoolawe letters and papers until their boat comes over.” In 1889, Thomas W. Gay of Kahoolawe Ranch wrote that a native living at Makena took care of the ranch mail but that the post office was at Ulupalakua. It seems Kukahiku was an informal postal agency more or less supervised by the Ulupalakua postmaster. Simeona’s official title might have been postal agent, but he was addressed as postmaster in correspondence from the PMG in 1890-1894. However, in his 1893 trip report (Hawaiian Gazette, October 17, 1893, p. 10.), PMG Oat only mentioned Makena as a landing. Makena was recognized as a post office during Napoulou’s tenure as postmaster.

From 1890 to 1894, about 2,500 letters were sent from Makena annually and about 2,000 letters were sent there annually but it all was from or to other places. Stamp sales in 1898 were $90 and in 1899 were about $55.

After port facilities were developed at Kahului, Makena continued to be an important landing for mail and stop for the interisland steamships, as is demonstrated by the mail bag shown below.

Nahiku, Hana District
"the sevens" (referring to the districts in the area)
1899-1900

Village situated in a valley on the north west coast of East Maui and center for rubber cultivation.

Postmaster: R. H. Worrall (1899-1900)

Mail service was by the semi-monthly overland carrier.

Nuu, Hana District
"terrace"
1858-1863

A small ranching village just west of Kaupo (see Kaupo map) on the south slope of Haleakala, East Maui.

Postmaster: A Garrett (1858). A postmaster listing for Garrett at Nuu in some references is curious and likely an error.

No postmarks are known.

Olowalu, Lahaina District
"many hills"
1886-1900

Village on the south coast of West Maui and site of a plantation owned by G. Armstrong & Co. Mail service was by the overland carrier between Lahaina and Wailuku.

Postmasters: August Hanneberg (1886); Sam Lung (1894-1900). Stamp sales in 1898 were unrecorded and no salary was allotted for the postmaster. PMG skipped this part of East Maui on his 1893 trip and made no mention of a postal facility here. (Hawaiian Gazette, October 17, 1893, p. 10.)

No postmarks are known.

Paia, Wailuku District
"noisy" [Pukui]; "fish yard" [Davey]
1881-1900

Located in the northeast section of Maui's isthmus (see area map at Haiku). Paia was the eastern terminus of the Kahului Railroad from September 21, 1880 until the extension to Haiku was opened in 1917. Paia became the prominent town of the Makawao District after aqueducts were completed in the late 1870s to bring enough water to the isthmus for growing sugar cane. Site of the Alexander & Baldwin sugar plantation, later known as Paia Plantation.

Postmasters: Chas. H. Dickey (1882-1888)[store owner]; G. Heinemann (1889-1890)[general merchant]; H. Laws (1891-1892)[Paia Plantation bookkeeper]; J. W. Colville (1892-1896; Laws continued as Colville’s clerk, D.C. Lindsay became clerk by early 1895)[Paia Plantation manager]; and D.C. Lindsay (1897-1900)[Paia Plantation overseer].

Dickey owned a store in Paia and the post office was kept there until it moved to the Paia Plantation office while Laws was postmaster. Postal affairs of Paia, Haiku and Hamakuapoko were closely linked (see the text at Haiku for more detail). Paia was a busy office, judging from a November, 1889 letter from PM Heinemann to PMG Wundenburg. Heinemann was urging an expansion of the Paia office but he doesn’t seem to exaggerate the work. He wrote: “… two trains run daily, and during the six months the sugar season lasts, three trains will run, which again means increased Post Office work, as letters pertaining to shipping business will go frequently between all parties, and they expect them to go forward by first chance. There is always more or less Money Order money on hand …” Heinemann described the difficulty of keeping the post office and attending to his business at the same time and proposed a clerk. He went on to describe the post office work: “The receiving of mails from all parts, and the dispatching to all points of the compass, keeping track of the mail carriers and pay them off, dispatch extra mails, and besides all that, to handle 100 letters daily (average) outside of Honolulu mails, taking care of the Postal Savings bank etc ad infinitum, and ad nauseum.” Later he added “keep stamp account” to his duties and handling all the transient mail to and from Honolulu.

PMG Oat described Paia as a post and money order office in his 1893 trip report and that daily mails were dispatched to the various points beyond. (Hawaiian Gazette, October 17, 1893, p. 10.)

Stamp sales in 1884-1885 were about $215 annually and grew to $420 in 1898. In May, 1889, the Paia PM said he was out of stamps and sent unstamped letters to Honolulu. In July of the same year, he requested “Registered” and “Too late” handstamps.

Paihiihi, ?
"neat, tidy"
1878-1879

Postmaster: W. E. Rinnell (1878-1879)

Listed in some references but this location and nature of any postal facility at a place by this name is unknown.

No postmarks are known.

Pauwela, Makawao District
"burned up"
1894-1900

A small village just northeast of Haiku.

Postmasters: W.B. Kikoopaoa (_-1894); D. W. Kakopaa (1894); Kukopaa (1894), P. Keaupuni (1894-1900). PMG Oat described Pauwela as a postal agency in his 1893 trip report. Keaupuni was appointed PM in 1894.

Before a postal agency was approved, mail was left unattended at a store. Stamp sales in 1898 were unrecorded, but the postal agent was paid a salary of $5 per month.

No postmark known.

Peahi, Makawao District
"fan"
1894-1900

Plantation town on the north west coast of East Maui, between Haiku and Huelo.

Postmaster: T. K. Pa (1894-1900).

Stamp sales in 1898 were unrecorded, but the postmaster was paid a salary of $5. Thomas K. Pa was the Peahi policeman as well as postmaster. PMG Oat made no mention of Peahi in his 1893 trip report. (Hawaiian Gazette, October 17, 1893, p. 10.)

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