May 8, 2015

Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site

Located in Honolulu, Hawaii, the Mission Houses Museum preserves and exhibits missionary and native Hawaiian history from roughly 1820 to 1863. Notable buildings at the site include the Oldest Frame House, Chamberlain House, and Print House used by the missionaires.

When the Protestant missionaries arrived from New England in 1820, they began learning the Hawaiian language in an effort to publish a Hawaiian version of the Bible. As a result, they worked with locals to develop a Hawaiian alphabet and began teaching them to read and write. The Print House on site demonstrates how missionaires and native Hawaiians worked together to produce early materials in the Hawaiian language. Today the archive of the Mission Houses holds over 3000 Hawaiian, Western, and Pacific artifacts.



Oldest Frame House built in 1821.













Print House built in 1841 as an extension to the Frame House.


Chamberlain House built in 1831.