Historic Markers in Hawaii

East Honolulu, HI

This memorial remembers nine U.S. naval aviators who died on April 5, 1942, when their Consolidated PBY-5A 'Catalina' crashed near here while returning from a 12.5-hour patrol of Hawaiian waters. In the anxious months after Pearl Harbor, such long over-water patrols hunted for enemy forces; in foul weather and darkness the crew mistook the Makapu'u light for Barbers Point and struck the hillside. Placed by the Hawaii Museum of Flying, it names each man lost.

Kauaʻi County, HI

This statue on Kauaʻi honors the British navigator James Cook (1728–1779), whose Pacific voyages brought the first sustained European contact with the Hawaiian Islands in 1778. A cast of a monument in Cook's home port of Whitby, England, the figure was sculpted by Sir John Tweed. Cook's charts opened the islands to a wider world, with consequences both momentous and, for Native Hawaiians, profoundly disruptive.

Kaneohe, HI

This cenotaph carries the words of Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwoʻole (1959–1997) himself, hope for the survival and flourishing of his people echoing his song "Facing Future." The Hawaiian singer's blend of gentle voice and cultural pride made him an enduring symbol of the islands after his early death, and his best-selling album remains the most popular Hawaiian record ever made.

Hawaiʻi County, HI

This memorial marks the place where Dr. David Douglas, the Scottish botanist, met his death in 1834 after falling into a wild-bullock pit on the slopes of Hawaii Island. Douglas had traveled the Pacific coast cataloging plants, and the towering Douglas-fir carries his name. His strange and untimely end closed a short but influential career of exploration.

Honolulu, HI

Perched beside the ancient tuff cone of Diamond Head, this lighthouse has guided ships toward Honolulu since the early 20th century, its beam a fixed point on Oahu's volcanic coast. The crater itself was born of explosive eruptions thousands of years ago, and the light later became one of the islands' most recognizable maritime landmarks. It ties together Hawaii's dramatic geology and its history as a Pacific crossroads.

Honolulu County, HI

Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwoʻole (1959–1997) became the voice of modern Hawaiʻi, his ukulele and soaring falsetto — above all his medley of "Over the Rainbow" — carrying the islands to the world. Rooted in his family's Niʻihau heritage, he sang of aloha ʻāina, love of the land, and of Hawaiian dignity and a dreamed-of sovereignty. This memorial honors a beloved figure who died young but whose music still defines the islands.

Honolulu, HI

This monument marks a century of Japanese immigration to Hawaii, a migration that began in earnest in the 1880s as thousands crossed the Pacific to labor in the islands' booming sugar plantations. Recruited for backbreaking field work, these immigrants and their descendants built enduring communities, language schools, temples, and traditions that reshaped Hawaii's culture. By the time of the centennial, Japanese Americans had become one of the islands' largest and most influential communities.

Honolulu, HI

This 2018 plaque honors the many O'ahu residents who, over four decades, resisted urban development along the wild Ka Iwi coastline between Hanauma and Makapu'u. Guided by aloha 'aina—love of the land—they helped preserve the coast's natural landscape, native plant habitats, and cultural sites. It commemorates one of Hawai'i's long-running grassroots conservation movements.

Honolulu, HI

Kāhi Hāli‘a Aloha — "The Place of Loving Remembrance" — marks a Native Hawaiian burial ground, a sacred resting place for ancestral iwi (bones) in the Hawaiian tradition that regards such remains as living links between the living and their forebears. In Hawaiian culture the care and protection of iwi kūpuna is a profound spiritual duty. The name itself invites all who pass to honor the ancestors laid here with reverence.

Hawaiʻi County, HI

Lot Kapuāiwa reigned as Kamehameha V from 1863 until his death in 1872, the last ruler to carry the Kamehameha name. He worked to restore authority to the Hawaiian throne—promulgating a new constitution in 1864 that strengthened the monarchy—and his reign was marked by public improvements across the islands.

Honolulu County, HI

This marker records the dedication of the Lāʻie Social Hall on September 30, 1913, as a gathering place for the people of Lāʻie on Oʻahu's windward coast. Lāʻie had grown as a close-knit community centered on faith and shared labor, and a social hall gave it a hearth for meetings, celebrations, and everyday fellowship. Such community halls were the civic heart of small early-twentieth-century towns.

Hilo, HI

This garden by Hilo Bay honors Queen Liliʻuokalani, the last reigning monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom, whose 1891–1893 rule ended when American business interests backed the overthrow of the monarchy. A composer and writer as well as a queen, she is remembered for her devotion to Native Hawaiian people and culture during a wrenching political transition. The Japanese-style gardens that carry her name reflect Hilo's own layered immigrant and island heritage.