Kona Historical Society

Living History in Kona by Christine Thomas At its root, Kona remains a committed farming and ranching community. While the coast may be dotted with visitors and resorts, the mauka region is dedicated to growing crops,raising cattle and working the land. Housed in the old H. N. Greenwell general store in Kealakekua, the Kona Historical Society (KHS) upholds the mission of preserving Kona’s past to share it with future generations. It manages a robust Kona-centered archive and two historic sites--the Greenwell Store and adjacent Uchida Coffee farm, both run as living history museums. When KHS acquired the 7-acre coffee farm that had been run by the Uchida family for three generations in 1996, preservation was the goal. KHS decided to not only preserve the coffee mill, but the entire farm as a second living history museum to showcase the way of life of generations of Kona residents. Historic Hawaii Foundation (HHF) helped KHS find consultants and conservators to help bring the farm back into working order, restore the orchards and 100-year-old trees, and create an unforgettable experience that brings visitors back to the 1920‘s-1940‘s era of the farm during the coffee heyday. The property was painstakingly repaired to ensure historical accuracy, and today even includes chickens and a donkey, which would once have been used to pack and deliver bags of coffee. HHF continues to help celebrate and acknowledge volunteers and community members who actively preserve the Kona way of life, the way generations of Kona residents were raised. Farms provided a lasting foundation and ethic of hard work that can be seen in such pioneering families as the Uchidas. What was a way of life then, for many Kona residents, still is.   Fast [...]