Hale Pa'i

Hale Paʻi is a small printing museum on the grounds of Lahainaluna High School in Lahaina. It preserves the story of one of Hawaiʻi’s earliest print shops, where workers produced a Hawaiian-language dictionary and, in 1843, the first world atlas. The collection also includes a pictorial sign-language booklet printed in the 1830s. Look for examples of early printing and woodblock work to see how publications were made and how the Hawaiian language was recorded in print.

Printing at Lahainaluna

Hale Paʻi stands on the grounds of the former Lahainaluna Seminary, now a high school. The building housed one of Hawaiʻi’s earliest printing presses. In the 1830s, the press was used to produce a dictionary of the Hawaiian language as early missionaries worked to document and codify it.

Using Hawaiian in educational materials let missionaries teach Christian beliefs directly in the language spoken by local people, rather than first translating ideas through English. The print shop’s history is therefore tied both to the development of printing in Lahaina and to the written record of Hawaiian.

Publications and printing methods

Among the works associated with the shop are a pictorial sign-language instruction booklet printed in the 1830s and the first world atlas, printed in 1843. The museum also presents traditional Hawaiian designs made with woodblocks. Examples of early currency are another part of the material visitors may see.

Hale Paʻi is a compact stop for understanding how printing connected education, language and public life in Lahaina. Its location on school grounds is useful to know when planning a visit, and checking ahead can help avoid arriving when the museum is closed.