The first stone church in Hawaii, Waineʻe Church was built in 1832 then hit with a run of bad luck. In 1858 the belfry collapsed. In 1894 royalists, enraged that the minister supported Hawaii’s annexation, torched the church to the ground. A second church, built to replace the original, burned in 1947. The third blew away in a storm a few years later. The fourth version, now renamed Waiola Church, has stood its ground since 1953 and still holds Sunday services.
The adjacent cemetery holds several notables, including Governor Hoapili, who ordered the original church built; Reverend William Richards, Lahaina’s first missionary; and Queen Keʻopuolani, wife of Kamehameha the Great and mother of kings Kamehameha II and III.
