KAILUA-KONA -- The Kona Historical Society launched a project to
build the Kona Heritage Ranch, a living history attraction that
will show what a ranching homestead in the area was like in 1890.
The project is taking shape at the site of the society's museum
in Kalukalu, south of Kailua-Kona.
Until it is completed in about five years, visitors can indulge
in the historical society's other attractions -- a living history
coffee farm, a museum and a walking tour of Kailua-Kona.
The ranch under construction will have an original ranching
house, a butter house and a saddle house.
Guides dressed in 1890 period costumes will offer a tour of the
ranch, and there will be "activity on the ranch as it was in 1890,"
said Kuulani Auld, project director for the ranch. "We will try to
re-create life on a ranching homestead," said Auld. "We picked 1890
because by that time ranches in the area were pretty much
established."
The main part of the exhibit re-creates the Waihou House, which
was a place for cowboys to rest when moving cattle and a spot for
travelers, who included Robert Louis Stevenson and Jack London, to
stay.
Auld said ranching got its start on the Kona side of the Big
Island when Capt. George Vancouver brought King Kamehameha I a gift
of cattle in 1793 when he landed at Kealakekua Bay.
The historical society also has the Kona Coffee Living History
Farm in nearby Captain Cook. This is a 1912 home and coffee mill
set up by Japanese immigrants.
Interpreters and guides dressed in the clothing styles of the
1925 to 1945 period offer visitors historical interpretations and
demonstrations of the operations at the coffee farm during that
period.
The Kona Historical Society also has a museum at its Kalukalu
headquarters and offers walking tours of Kailua-Kona.
Kona Coffee Living History Museum
Phone: (808) 323-2006
Kailua-Kona walking tours and Kona Historical Society
Phone: (808) 323-2005