Kahikolu Church is one of only two stone churches from the 19th century on the island of Hawaii. It was built from 1852–1855 on the site of an earlier building known as Kealakekua Church that was built around 1833 in the Kona district.
History
English missionary William Ellis (1794–1872) toured the island in the summer of 1823 to determine locations for mission stations and suggested the village of Kaawaloa at the north end of Kealakekua Bay as one of the first sites for a church.
In February 1824 High Chiefess Kapiolani built a thatched house in the village of Kaawaloa for use as a Christian church by Rev. James Ely (1798–1890) and his family. Ely left Kaawaloa in 1828, replaced by Rev. Samuel Ruggles (1795–1871), who brought some coffee trees with him from the Hilo mission. Ruggles was replaced due to ill health in June 1833 by Rev. Cochran Forbes (1805–1880). Forbes built a house at a cooler elevation, at a site called Kuapehu which had been used to grow taro. In 1839, under the direction of Kapiolani, Forbes moved the mission to the south side of Kealakekua Bay, in an area called Kepulu, just inland from the village now called Nāpoopoo. Another house was built here, and a church which was by of stone and coral lime. In 1841 the Kealakekua Church was finished, and used until June 1845, when Forbes resigned because of his wife's ill health.
After six years with no pastor, Rev. John Davis Paris (1809–1892) arrived in 1852. His family had been at Waiōhinu for several years, returned to the United States, and then came back to the island and were posted to the Kealakekua congregation. He found the large old church in ruins. He set about building a more solid but smaller stone church called Kahikolu on the site of the old one. Kahikolu means "three in one" in the Hawaiian language, which refers both to the Holy Trinity of the Christian faith, but also that it was the third attempt to build a church here. The width of the old church became the length of the new one, resulting in a building about by , with walls thick.
Kahikolu took three years to build, and included a bell donated by William E. Dodge of New York. It could hold a total of about 1200 people. Paris went on to build eight more churches (including Hale Halawai O Holualoa), and died in the area in 1892. There are grave sites located on both sides of the church, some of which are unmarked. Several bear the name of "Kamakau", probably descendants of a chief Kelou Kamakau, born about 1773 who was mentioned in Ellis' journal as a good source of history.
Decline and restoration
In 1925 a layer of plaster was added to the inside walls, and the ceiling and floor replaced. In 1929, an earthquake caused one of the gable ends to tumble into the church. They were replaced with horizontal wood strips. Once the largest church on the west side of the island, its influence declined as population moved to other areas. On August 21, 1951, an earthquake with magnitude 6.9 was centered almost under the church. The roof collapsed after more earthquakes in 1952 and 1953. The stone church was abandoned in 1953 due to the damage.
Kahikolu church was added to the National Register of Historic Places listings on the island of Hawaii on November 15, 1982 as site 82000148, and the state list as site 10-47-7215 on July 30, 1982. The only other stone church from this era on the island is Mokuaikaua Church, about to the north. P A rebuilding effort lasted through the 1980s. Kahikolu Church restoration was completed around 1984.