to
Update
is the largest census-designated place (CDP) in West Maui, Maui County, Hawaii, United States, and the gateway to the famous Kaanapali and Kapalua beach resorts north of the community. As of the 2000 Census, the CDP had a resident population of 9,118. Lahaina encompasses the coast along Hawaii Route 30 from a tunnel at the south end, through Olawalu up the CDP of Napili-Honokowai is to the north. During the heavy tourist seasons, the population can swell to nearly 40,000 people. Before Hawaii's annexation by the United States, Lahaina was the "Royal Capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom" as city signs proclaim. The name means "merciless sun" in the Hawaiian language, describing the long hot days; Lahaina averages only of rain per year, much of which occurs from December through February. In the 1800s, Lahaina was the center of the global whaling industry with many sailing ships anchored in at its waterfront; today a score of pleasure craft make their home there.
In antiquity it was the royal capital of Maui Loa, 5th Moi of Maui, after he ceded the royal seat of Hana to King of Hawaii Island. In Lahaina, the focus of activity is along Front Street, which dates back to the 1820s. It is lined with stores and restaurants, and is often packed with tourists. Banyan Tree Square features an exceptionally large banyan tree planted in 1873 to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the arrival of the missionaries. It is also the site of the reconstructed ruins of Lahaina Fort, originally built in 1832.
Prior to unification of the islands, in 1795, the town was sacked by Kamehameha the Great. Lahaina was the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1820 to 1845. In 1824, at the request of the chiefs, Betsey Stockton started the first mission school open to the common people. It was once an important destination for the 19th century whaling fleet, whose presence at Lahaina frequently led to conflicts with the Christian missionaries living there. On more than one occasion the conflict was so severe that it led to the shelling of Lahaina by whaleboats.