Honokaa: Cinema, Culture and Architectural History
Accommodation in Honokaa
Honokaa can be explored through several specific themes: a cinema with a long history, a range of architectural styles, and the religious history of different communities. When looking for a hotel, it helps to decide on your main interest in advance: Would you like to focus on architecture, plan a movie night, take an event into account, or include nature in the surrounding area? The following places offer different starting points for doing so.
A Cinema with Its Own Architectural History
The Honokaʻa People’s Theatre was built in 1930 and has 525 fixed seats; this number may change if it is renovated. Locally, the building is considered an architecturally significant theater in the Neoclassical style. It dates from the 1920s and 1930s, when theaters in this style were also built in rural Hawaiʻi. The theater is used mainly as a cinema and shows a mix of popular and independent films on five evenings a week. Since the film program and frequency of screenings may change, check the schedule before your trip. This allows the building’s architectural history and its film offerings to stand as two distinct aspects.
Buildings and Their History
The Honokaʻa Heritage Center is located in the historic Botelho Building. The M.S. Botelho Building and Garage was built in 1927 and served as the town’s USO headquarters during World War II. The Hasegawa Building adds another architectural example for comparison: it is a good example of commercial wood architecture in the regional Plantation style. The Our Lady of Lourdes Sanctuary dates from 1926. The Honokaʻa Catholic Properties combine Plantation vernacular architecture eclecticism with the late Gothic Revival style of the late 19th and 20th centuries. Together, these examples offer insight into different architectural forms and uses, without reducing the area’s building history to a single style.
Religious and Community Heritage
Since the first services were held in Honokaʻa in 1904, the Honokaʻa Hongwanji Buddhist Mission has been a center of religious and community activities for several generations of the local Japanese population. The temple building also tells this story through its architecture: it combines elements of Indian, Japanese, and Western traditions. Its religious heritage can therefore be considered both through the mission’s role and through the design of the building.
The Honokaʻa Methodist Church was historically significant because it served the religious needs of immigrant groups in Hawaiʻi. It is also a good example of the Gothic Revival style built in wood. Its history thus adds another religious institution and a distinctive architectural expression to the Buddhist and Catholic connections.
An Event and Nature Nearby
Honokaʻa Western Week has grown into a full week of activities. If you would like to plan your trip around the event, check the dates for the year in question. Another option is the Kalopa Nature Trail in the area near Honokaa: this easy loop trail passes through a native ʻŌhiʻa rainforest. Western Week brings together activities over the course of a week, while the trail offers a loop through nature. Trail access information may change; check it before your hike.
For the broader travel overview: Hawaii.
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